MDM Trouble Report for 2011 Feb 24

Telescope: 2.4m
Observer(s): Brendan Miller (University of Michigan)
Instrument: CCDS

Problem(s) Encountered:
After opening the mirror covers, I went to dome (wearing normal shoes) to confirm mirror covers were up, then came back and flipped auto guide on.
I got a shock when I touched that switch, and the TCS monitor went blank for a second, then came back. The telescope began to slew south in dec. After a minute I hit the stop button. 
I then hit stop on the xtcs gui as well, turned all the TCS switches off, then went through the start-up procedure again. The telescope again began to move toward the horizon; I hit stop again and called Bob. 
After trying to slew the telescope back to zenith with the paddle didn't work (it continued to move south, now halted at dec of -18), Bob talked me through closing and restarting the TCS software on the TCS computer. 
When it restarted the telescope was properly stationary, and could be repositioned with the paddle near zenith. (It retained correct coordinates.) Everything performed as expected throughout the remainder of the night. 
I assume that the discharge of static electricity somehow caused this issue. If so, in retrospect I should have turned the auto guide on before checking on the mirror covers, and in general should have made sure to touch something metal just in case before flipping any switches.

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Submitted on 2011 Feb 25 [5:22:26]