A brief article appeared in the December 1996 NOAO Newsletter with the rather bland title "Status of Laboratory Measuring Equipment to be Reviewed." In case you missed it, and especially since we received no responses, we would now like to emphasize that the PDS microdensitometer and the associated fast scanner ("Monet machine") will not be supported after this spring and will not be available for use in Tucson. It is no longer possible for us to support the current system without significant expenditures of staff time and money, which the lack of interest and rapid decline in usage do not justify. It is also true that alternative facilities with better support exist elsewhere.
If you have a need to scan photographic plate material here in Tucson to complete a project, please send a request and justification to the Director immediately with a request to be scheduled in the very near future.
Nigel Sharp, Jim DeVeny