return to Sites form
return to Equipment form
The Site & Equipment pages exist to document your observing site and the equipment packages you observe with. This information is required for observers planning to use Spectra DB and ExoPlanet DB [both are coming soon]. You are encouraged to report your observing site and equipment even if you are not planning to submit spectra or exoplanet observations. In the future we may integrate this information into other AAVSO applications or use it for special observing projects.
The information you enter in the Site and Equipment forms will not show up in your AAVSO website profile. They will not be seen or used by anyone but AAVSO HQ staff unless you submit Exoplanet data or spectra to the AAVSO. In these cases, certain parts of the information you enter will become part of the publicly available data record. Details on what will be displayed for each of these applications is described in those applications. How this data gets to outside is an issue for GDPR and any application that you use that needs this data will ask you explicitly for your consent.
Sites
To create a new site, ensure that the Select Site dropdown selection is set to “add new” then fill in all the fields on the form. To edit an existing site, select it then make your modifications. Click “Save” to save your new site or changes to an old site. Clicking “Delete” will remove your observing site. You can add as many observing sites as you need.
Choose a “Site Name” that you will remember (45 characters max). For apps such as ExoPlanet DB and Spectra DB you will have to select the site and equipment package you used from a dropdown list that contains all of your Site Names.
Longitude should be reported in degrees east or west of Greenwich (where west is negative).
Here is an example:
Site Name: AAVSO HQ
Latitude: +42.386
Longitude: -71.144
Altitude: 3
Equipment
To create a new equipment package, please enter a descriptive name in the “My Equipment Name” field, fill out all the applicable fields on the form and click the “Save” button at the bottom. To edit an existing record, select it from the drop-down list at the top of the form, make your changes, then click “Save”. To delete an equipment package, select it from the drop-down list then click the red “Delete” button.
Please create a new record for each equipment configuration you use. For example, if you have a CCD camera that you use for making variable star observations, then you sometimes attach a spectrograph to it, you should create one package that includes the spectrograph and one without. Similarly, if you sometimes use a focal reducer for your variable star work, you should create yet another equipment package that reflects this change. You can make as many different equipment packages as you need. Just be sure that you can tell them apart based on the name you give to your equipment setup.
Note that if you submit an observation using ExoPlanet DB or Spectra DB with a specific equipment package, then you subsequently modify that same package, the observations you submitted before you made the change would still be associated with the old version of the package.
Most of the fields on the Equipment form are self-explanatory, but here are a few notes and hints on some of the fields in each section.
Telescope/Binoculars – describe your telescope or binoculars. For example: Celestron 11.25 SCT, or 10 x 50 binoculars.
Camera characteristics – Describe your CCD or DSLR camera as best you can. You should be able to find the information you need to complete this portion of the form in the manufacturers’ specifications. Of course, if you have characterized your own camera, use those values since they are likely to be more realistic. The AAVSO CCD Photometry Guide (Chapter 3) describes how to determine your camera's linearity.
Required fields for submitting Exoplanet data – These fields describe your CCD detector. In addition, you should give the filters available to you in a comma-delimited list. For each filter, please use the “AID Abbreviation” given here: https://www.aavso.org/filters
Required fields for submitting Spectra – Describe your spectrograph as best you can. Please report the upper and lower wavelength limits for your system in Angstroms.
Comment – This field can be used by anyone who would like to add more information about their system or feels that the rest of the form does not adequately describe their setup. Please be concise.