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Changes in Instrumentation Available at CTIO (1Jun94) (from CTIO, NOAO Newsletter No. 38, 1 June 1994) We are in the process of reviewing the instrumentation that we offer on our telescopes, as part of an effort to minimize operational costs while maximizing scientific utility. Some of the changes announced below are definitive, while others are still under study. In the latter case, the September Newsletter will provide the final decision, but because it comes so close to the proposal deadline, we felt it useful to provide some advance notice. Availability of Plates As most readers of the Newsletter are already aware, Kodak has discontinued a number of plate types and is likely to discontinue more in future. Simultaneously, the demand for plate use of the CTIO telescopes has steadily diminished. At present, requests for plates are restricted to an average of one per semester on the 4-m and roughly two on the Schmidt; the TAC typically grants time to about half of these. As a result, we are adopting the following policy on plate use on these two CTIO telescopes for direct imaging (plate use is not supported elsewhere): 4-m telescope: CTIO will maintain a small stock of plates, of the two or three most popular types (nominally IIIaJ and IIIaF; check the September Newsletter for final details). Users who plan to use more than a couple of dozen plates, or plates of other types, will be expected to make arrangements to supply them. This policy is effective beginning first semester 1995. Schmidt telescope: CTIO currently has a modest stock of IIaO plates. Proposals to use these plates will be accepted until the stock runs out. Since IIaO plates have been discontinued by Kodak, a decision will be made on a replacement type once present stock nears exhaustion. Plates of other types will be provided, if we have them in stock; users should consult the mountain staff or the CTIO staff member in charge of photography (Nick Suntzeff: nsuntzeff@noao.edu). Any additional plates will have to be supplied by the user. This policy is effective beginning first semester 1995. A staff committee is investigating long-term options. Suggestions are welcome, provided they take into account the very limited resources that CTIO and the University of Michigan can devote to the telescope. (Comments may be directed to Mark Phillips: mphillips@noao.edu.) IR Single Channel Photometry As announced in the previous Newsletter, this instrument is no longer available on any telescope. HgCdTe Imager on Small Telescopes During the up-coming semester, we will be testing the HgCdTe Imager on the 1-m and Schmidt telescopes, in addition to providing it for scheduled use on the 4-m and 1.5-m telescopes, starting in October. Given the pressures of commissioning this instrument on the larger telescopes, we will not have completed the tests in time to schedule the instrument first semester of next year. It is our expectation that we will be offering the instrument on at least one of the two telescopes for the second semester of 1995. Check the December Newsletter for further news. 2D-Frutti on 1-m Telescope The cassegrain spectrograph on the 1-m telescope currently sees little use (perhaps once or twice a semester). The image tubes used in the 2d-Frutti are slowly aging and will eventually fail; we have only limited spares. In addition, support of the HgCdTe infrared imager is only practical if we can heavily block-schedule the telescope. We therefore propose to withdraw the 2D-Frutti from service over the next year, as follows: 1) Time will be granted only to continuing programs. 2) It will not be scheduled as a backup for photometric programs (except for continuing programs which include spectroscopy). We do not expect to support it beyond the end of 1995. Tek 2048-2 on 0.9-m Telescope Starting with the current semester, it is our intention to attach one of our Tek 2048 X 2048 CCDs permanently to the 0.9-m telescope. Given that these chips have good UV sensitivity and fast read-out under ArCon, we do not believe that any scientific program will be seriously affected by this policy. This means that only one Tek2048 will be available to serve the needs of the larger telescopes, but we already have considerable practical experience meeting their needs with a single CCD. The 0.9-m CCD will be removed only for engineering tests of other CCDs by local staff, or in the event of a serious failure of the 4-m/1.5-m CCD. J. Elias, J. Baldwin, R. Elston, S. Heathcote, M. Phillips, N. Suntzeff
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