Kuhn Telescope Status Report
from Snowbound Anza.

Today I was at Anza for its largest snowfall in my recollection. I had scheduled my visit for the full moon to update the comptuer and install the new imaging system. As I arrived a winter squall hit and I found myself four wheeling to the obervatory. By the time I finished my work and left at 8 PM there was 4 to 6 inches of snow blanketing the observatory. I took a couple of pictures of the site at twightlight to remember the scene.

Despite the cold and snow I did succeed in my major objectives. I cleaned some of the trash and swept the biggest chunks out of the observatory. I replaced the old LX200 emulator PC and monitor with a faster smaller machine and monitor. The replacement machine remembers the date and time reilably and will not fail to boot automatically. The lower profile monitor and chasis, makes more working space available at the control desk.

In addition to the controller PC, I have permanently mounted the CCD Camera controller* on the telescope drive base below the telescope motor controller and run flat cable back to the Main PC. The CCD controller will power up if the Telescope Accessory breaker is turned on. It is wired into the main controll PC.

Below is the cold work crew with the imager mounted:

Other Notes
Bill Kuhn called me the other day. He is very pleased to see the scope getting some attention. He mentioned that he has slides documenting the construction and history of the scope. I would love to borrow his slides. I have a film negative scanner and I add them to the CDROM telescope documentation archive I have been building.

The above article has been generated from a much longer and more detailed document that John provided to describe his maintenance work. I have taken the liberty to edit out parts of his report which are only required for Star Member running of the Kuhn.

*John Hoot has generously donated a Meade 416 CCD Camera to the club for use by Star Members. This CCD system is simpler to use and more widely compatible with mainstream software that the clubs Patterson cameras (which will still be used by some Star Members).

Liam Kennedy

As a little extra - below are some relevant Anza WeatheCAM images taken just as John was arriving and also the next morning showing the snow being "boiled" away by the Sun.