Here is the status of the AAVSOnet system.
The HQ pipeline processing computer has been upgraded, thanks to Dick Post. Care was taken to move all data and processing scripts to the new computer, and the switchover was seamless to the outside. The original processing computer was getting old and was hanging on several occasions. The new computer is considerably faster. Many thanks to George Silvis and Erik Piip for making this happen!
A CMOS camera was purchased and is undergoing lab testing. The existing SBIG cameras for the BSM systems are getting old and requiring more frequent repair. We are hoping the current improvements to CMOS technology (low cost, very low readnoise, high QE) will provide enhanced capabilities for the BSM network at little or no additional cost.
BSM_Berry is having flatfielding problems right now. We are working on the issue and hope to resolve it and potentially reprocess some of the past month's images to improve them.
BSM_Hamren has been having very poor weather, but it otherwise operational.
BSM_NH is fully operational after a fan failure in late May. It has been experiencing a nice set of clear nights. A slightly better southern horizon was opened up by the removal of some trees. This system may be up/down for the next couple of months as we prototype equipment.
BSM_NM is having moisture problems again. We are running the camera as-is until the summer monsoon shutdown, and then will either repair or replace its camera.
BSM_S is having focuser issues again. This system may be down, or providing poorer images, for a while until the issue is resolved.
OC61 is fully operational.
SRO is fully operational, after a dome control board was replaced a week ago. The summer monsoon has not yet arrived.
TMO61 is having software problems that we hope to have resolved in a few days.
Arne,
Thanks for the update.
I just received 9 nights of data from OC61. The focus and colimation issues that plagued this telescope have been fully resolved. The newest images are the sharpest I've seen from this scope in over a year.
There are some other outstanding issues though. A substantial number of pointings are off by about 15 arc-minutes, causing the target to wind up outside the FOV. I had to delete about 40% of the 163 recent images I received from OC61 for this reason.
On some of the frames that are pointed correctly, the scope has a tendency to reposition itself either during the first exposure (causing double star images) or between exposures (causing jumps between images). This makes it harder to measure images since my photometry software can't track the large jumps. I have to manually register the images first.
Please pass along my thanks for fixing the focus issue as well as my remarks about the other issues to the person in charge of maintaining OC61.
Thanks,
Bob
I would say at least half of the "very poor weather" here at this location has been due to the major eruption of Kilauea volcano, which has been prominently in the news around the world. Hamren is located less than 3 miles from the main Halemaumau crater, near the closed off main section of HVNP. Plus there is another equally severe explosion of lava, ash, dust and gas from the Puna district, Leilani estates (what little is left of it) 20 miles away. All combined, and depending on the precise wind direction and speeds, the skies above Hamren can range from moderately poor to severely impacted by the airborne dust and gas and induced cloudiness effects. A sad reality of life on an active geology!
Mike
Hi Bob,
I was impressed by the image quality at OC61 after the mirror cell fix as well. This problem may have existed for a while, and then suddenly got worse. Hopefully that quality will remain for a while!
I've noticed that the plate model fails pretty badly towards the Magellanic clouds. I think we should spend a night doing a full model, and then turn off updates. In addition, this system is using an old version of ACP and we should update it, so that it will start using astrometry.net when it gets lost. I'll try to move these tasks higher in the priority queue. Every poor image is wasted telescope time.
Arne