- 1.1) About This Manual
- 1.2) Graduate in One Night!
- 1.3) Technical Problems
- 1.4) Transportation and Area Maps
- 1.5) Accommodation and Meals
- 1.6) Observing Preparation Form
- 1.7) Telephones & Fax
- 1.8) Publications
- 1.9) Sending Documents and Parcels To MDM
2 What Every Observer Should Know
- 2.1) Observing
- 2.1.1) Obtaining the best seeing!
- 2.1.2) Limits on observing conditions
- 2.2) Weather Conditions
- 2.2.1) Weather radio
- 2.2.2) Weather Monitor II
- 2.2.3) What to do during bad storms.
- 2.3) Emergency Conditions
- 2.3.1) Telephone help
- 2.3.2) Emergency radio
- 2.3.3) Emergency generator and the UPS
3 Telescope Specifications
- 3.1) Historical Introduction
- 3.2) Optical Specifications
- 3.3) Mechanical Specifications
- 3.4) Geographical Coordinates
4 Telescope Control & Data
Acquisition Computers
- 4.1) Introduction
- 4.2) Basic Operating Instructions
- 4.2.1) Turning the machines on
- 4.2.2) Re-booting from a computer ``crash''
- 4.2.3) Turning the machines off
- 4.3) The Telescope Control Computer
- 4.3.1) Logging on
- 4.3.2) Directory structure
- 4.3.3) Disk storage space
- 4.3.4) Starting the Telescope Control Software
- 4.3.5) Restarting individual windows
- 4.3.6) A primer on windows
- 4.4) Some Useful Computer Commands
- 4.4.1) Internet Access
- 4.4.2) Storing Data on DAT or EXABYTE tape
- 4.5) Quick Look and Data Reduction
5 Telescope Control System
(TCS)
- 5.1) Introduction
- 5.2) The TCS PC
- 5.3) The Telescope Control Console
- 5.4) Manually Restoring Coordinates Using the Tilt Meters
- 5.5) Telescope Hand Paddle
- 5.6) The Dome
- 5.6.1) Introduction
- 5.6.2) Dome controller
- 5.6.3) Back-up procedure for closing a disabled dome
- 5.6.4) Obtaining dome flat fields with the white screen
- 5.7) Moving The Telescope Away From the Horizon
- 5.8) Time Synchronization
- 5.9) What to do When Things Don't Work
6 The Multiple Instrument System
(MIS)
- 6.1) Introduction
- 6.2) The MIS Cameras
- 6.3) The Multiple Instrument System Control Software, xmis
- 6.4) Finder
- 6.4.1) Wide field acquisition of astronomical objects (Obsolete)
- 6.4.2) Spectroscopic calibration
- 6.5) Guider
- 6.5.1) xmis guider parameters; preset pop-up menu
- 6.5.1) Off-axis guiding for direct imaging
- 6.5.2) Slit plate guiding for spectroscopy
- 6.6) How to Focus the Finder (Obsolete), Guider, and the Instrument
- 6.6.1) Focus procedure: direct imaging
- 6.6.2) Focus procedure: spectroscopy
- 6.6.3) Coarse focus of the guider
- 6.7) MIS Filter Wheels and Filters
- 6.7.1) Two-inch filter wheel
- 6.7.2) Four-inch filter wheel
- 6.7.3) The MDM 1999 2" UBVRI filter sets
- 6.7.4) The MDM 2004 4" UBVRI filter set
- 6.8) Technical Reference Section
- 6.8.1) Guest instrumentation and the MIS mounting plate
- 6.8.2) MIS Controller: FORTH commands (for staff use only)
- 6.8.3) xmis software configuration (for staff use only)
7 The Autoguider
- 7.1) Introduction
- 7.2) The Pentium PC-Based Autoguider
- 7.2.1) Introduction
- 7.2.2) Basic Startup and Operation
- 7.3) Marking the Field Centers with the Guider
- 7.4) Field Orientation Maps
- 7.5) Troubleshooting
- 7.5.1) Autoguider is unstable or oscillating
- 7.5.2) Autoguider is taking a long time
- 7.5.3) Autoguider is not sending
8 The Instrument Rotator
- 8.1) Introduction
- 8.2) Moving the Rotator
9 The LN2 Storage Dewars
- 9.1) Pressurizing LN2 Storage Dewars
- 9.2) Hints on Filling Instrument Dewars
APPENDIX A: Startup Checklist
APPENDIX B: Shutdown Checklist
Emergency Lightning Shutdown
Procedure