[Aavso-photometry] Possible Bottlenecks for Using a small telescope (12" Meade LX200 ) from Antarctica

[Steve Beckwith]

I'll echo Russ's comments about the telescope to use.  Particularly his
comment about Astrophysics' AP900 mount.  A few of their products  have
already been used in the Antarctic and I'm sure they have experience solving
problems arising in an extreme environment including special lubricants and
how to insure the electronics won't fail (logic semiconductors start to fail
below -10C).  

Last month I saw a presentation of one researcher using a prototype of their
new "el Capitan" German Equatorial in Antarctica. I believe the researchers
worked directly with AP on these programs.  Your best bet is to contact
Astrophysics directly and get some advice.   They're good people and will
help you out.  


- Steve


-----Original Message-----
From: aavso-photometry-bounces at mira.aavso.org
[mailto:aavso-photometry-bounces at mira.aavso.org] On Behalf Of Russ Durkee
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 10:09 AM
To: aavso-photometry at mira.aavso.org
Subject: [Aavso-photometry] Possible Bottlenecks for Using a small telescope
(12" Meade LX200 ) from Antarctica

Hello Mukund,
I had the opportunity to work for a short time at South Pole a few years ago
and heard a bit about the difficulties with telescopes and operating small
telescopes in Antarctica.

Most of the telescopes I have seen on the continent are on platforms off the
ground to get above the blowing snow and turbulence. This SETI telescope is
an example:

http://www.polartransits.org/SPwinter2004/SPwinter2004-Pages/Image1.html

and the scopes at Dome C

http://www-luan.unice.fr/Concordiastro/sitetesting.html

The other consideration is the quality of the hardware you are considering.
I would recommend that you bring duplicates of everything, scope, CCDs,
power supplies, cabling.  You will need them when parts mysteriously fail or
castings crack or break.  The Antarctic cold does strange things to
hardware...the vast majority of it bad.   

In particluar I would not recommend the LX200 but use an Astrophysics 900
with either a Meade 12" OTA, or a Celestron 11".   Also, contact the French
team at Dome C for specific recommendations for lubrication and cabling and
power considerations.

Good luck. Sounds like a fun project!

Regards,

Russ Durkee
Shed of Science Observatory
Minneapolis, Minnesota.



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