General: DEIMOS development is essentially
completed and official handover from Lick is expected soon.
Slitmasks: A new guide was installed in July in an
effort to fix the longstanding problem with buckling
slitmasks. No buckling was observed in 3 subsequent nights of
observing.
Gratings: A minor mechnical modification to the
grating tilt stage known as slider 4 should help the stage
position more reliably and reduce FCS lock time.
Filters: Filter weights are not equal and thus the
filter wheel is unbalanced in certain configurations. A
software fix has been applied and we're investigating a
mechanical fix.
CCD system: New software automatically adjusts the
detector readout window in direct mode such that only
illuminated rows are acquired. This typcially cuts the image
readout/write time in half, speeding slitmask alignment, plus
saves disk space.
Slitmask milling: a new computer and software for
milling DEIMOS and LRIS slitmasks has been installed and
tested at the summit. This system will soon be activated,
replacing the existing SURFCAM system.
Two significant implications:
we will now mill DEIMOS masks at the summit instead
of having them shipped from Lick
LRIS observers will now use the DEIMOS web form at
Lick to submit slitmasks
