MDM Trouble Report for 2010 Sep 11

Telescope: 1.3m
Observer(s): Dietrich & Henderson (OSU)
Instrument: CCDS

Problem(s) Encountered:
Around 3:20 local time, tracking in declination failed and 
pointing was lost since no paddle commands were accepted (error
message: socket is not connected). Telescope was moved with the
hand paddle to zenith and the pointing was restored. Around 
3:55 local time we lost tracking in dec again, rtel was not 
active (ERROR: where m_dec not homed). Moved the telescope with
the TCS command home RA Dec was only successful in RA while in 
dec the telescope movement abruptly stopped at a declination of
~21deg. Again moved telescope with hand-paddle to the zenith 
position and restored pointing. At 4:35 local time the telescope
and the dome were back. We continued to record two more spectra. 
Still there were error messages that the socket was not 
connected in rtel was not active. Around 4:50 local time the 
telescope was jittering in dec with an amplitude of 5 to 10
arcsec and then settled down again.

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Submitted on 2010 Sep 12 [5:53:07]