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CTIO CCD-TV Acquisition Cameras (1Jun92)
(from CTIO, NOAO Newsletter No. 30, 1 June 1992)

We are happy to report that the first two cameras for ESO, out of a
total of four, were completed and successfully saw first light in March
on La Silla. On a clear night, two days away from full moon and in 1.5
arcsec FWHM seeing, a V = 20.5 object could be clearly seen with a 3
sec integration at the Cass focus (about 0.2 arcsec/pixel) of their
3.6-m telescope, where one of these cameras will be in regular use.

This is the first time that a collaboration on a major instrumentation
project has taken place between CTIO and ESO. Aldo Pizarro, one of
their electronics engineers, has spent about 50% of his time over the
last year and a half working with us to familiarize himself with the
camera hardware and software and to participate in the replication of
the four systems for La Silla. This long production period reflects the
time it took to order and receive all the necessary parts, to have the
cameras assembled and tested in Santiago, and then finally to fine tune
them in our own labs in La Serena.

This successful joint effort was aimed at the replacement of some of
the older ISIT-based cameras that have been in use on La Silla for many
years. Our solid state, thermo-electrically cooled CTIO CCD-TV design
confirmed on La Silla our experience obtained at CTIO telescopes, i.e.
that there is a net gain in excess of two to three magnitudes to be
realized with such a replacement.

Ricardo Schmidt, Alistair Walker

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