AAVSOnet news, 2014-09-08

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Mon, 09/08/2014 - 20:03

We're getting close to the end of monsoon, and the AZ/NM telescopes will start waking up soon!

Sonoita is using the shutdown to get the Paramount refurbished.  This mount has been in steady duty for about 500,000 images over the past decade, and was due for some servicing.  The RA worm gear is getting replaced, along with regreasing and adjustments to bring it to a "like new" condition.  We expect delivery of the mount in about two weeks, so the system should be ready for operation about the end of September.

BSM_HQ is up and running.  We're still tweaking a few parameters, but it is taking survey data (and some campaign targets like EE Cep).  The weather has been quite good over the past few weeks.  This system only has an ST-7 camera, so 1/4 of the field of view of the other BSM systems (anyone want to donate an ST-8XME to the AAVSO?).

BSM_Hamren is up and running at Mike Linnolt's site in Volcano, HI.  He only gets a few hours per night, as the weather is so changeable that he can't go to sleep and let the system run.  He shuts it down around local midnight.  We just sent a Moonglow all-sky camera to Mike, for testing at his more remote dark site (where there is better weather!).

BSM_South had some camera issues, so Peter Nelson shipped its ST-8XME back to HQ.  We've sent it on to SBIG for repairs.  In the meantime, Peter is loaning us his backup ST-10XME camera, and it has been running superbly.  This means the pixel size and field of view are slightly different, and will remain so for about another month.

Greg Bolt is constructing the enclosure for BSM_Berry at his house in Perth.  We hope to have first light from it in the near future.

Bill Stein is preparing to mount BSM_NM on a permanent pier.  It continues to perform fine.

coker30 has been having some minor mount issues, which result in some frames having slight trailing.  Bill Goff continues to monitor this and trying new fixes.

OC61 is running nominally, and has had a string of good weather recently.  Mt. John is in the last stages of building an instrument selector, so we may be trying that out shortly.

TMO61 should wake from its slumber in a week or two.  We're still working on the instrument selector for this system; its LISA spectrograph (donated by Bart Staels) has already been delivered to HQ and is working well.

Arne

Affiliation
British Astronomical Association, Variable Star Section (BAA-VSS)
SRO-50

Any idea when SRO-50 will come back on-line?

Thanks,

Gary

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
SRO-50

Hi Gary,

SRO-50 is nearly ready to go.  We've had the Paramount refurbished, and the weather has improved.  John Gross says that he will be installing the telescope this coming weekend and getting things realigned.  So I expect new images early next week.

Arne