Down Time

Tables 1 & 2 on the following pages distill all downtime recorded in end-of-night and end-of-run reports for the period 2000-09-18 to 2001-03-01.

• Technical failures on scheduled observing nights: 32 hr ( , assuming an average hr night)
• Technical failures on tech nights: 4 hr
• Technical failures with visitor instruments: 6 hr

The major failures are associated with repeated building crashes arising from three possible independent sources:

1. misalignment of the main hydrostatic bearing causing excessive friction and
2. possible electronic noise in the building/telescope servo loop supplying incorrect data to the TCS.
3. possible problems with the safety system.

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Last modified: December 12 2022