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