Telescope Safety
ALWAYS watch both ends of the telescope while it is moving. Make sure the ladders, etc. are clear of the telescope. There is no hand-paddle on the dome floor and the telescope is not easily visible from the control room. When moving the telescope via Talon, either with the software hand-paddle, or with a commanded move (button-based) in Talon, use the dome floor camera to monitor the telescope's motion.
If you leave the building for more than a few minutes, turn off the telescope tracking. Tracking is disabled via Talon's user interface, Xobs by a commanded button press. The quickest, safest way to temporarily stop tracking is to command the telescope to 'Zenith' position (zenith button on Talon Xobs UI). Refer to the Quick Start documentation for details.
The telescope control system, Talon and the telescope motion control system are independent, loosely coupled systems. The telescope system is equipped with five hard-wired emergency-stop (e-stop) controls:
- one on the inside of the dome entry door on the northeast jamb,
- two located on the telescope pier,
- one each on the East and West sides of the pier,
- one e-stop button on the left-hand side (facing the control room entryway) door jamb,
- and one inside the control room on the equipment shelf immediately above the 'titan' and 'talon' consoles.
Depress the e-stop button to activate the emergency stop. This will interrupt power to the telescope's motion control system, specifically it will remove power to both the HA/RA and DEC axis servo motors.
The following is critical: These hardware e-stop mechanisms work independently of Talon, the telescope control system. The action of using the hardware e-stop DOES NOT affect the Talon command queue - as such, any commanded motion, or motions in the Talon command queue will resume execution automatically once the hardware e-stop is disabled (i.e. restored to normal operation by turning/lifting the e-stop button head). You MUST use the Talon GUI, Xobs and click the red STOP button in the Xobs interface (the only red button present) to clear the Talon execution queue. Otherwise, the telescope mount and tube may perform unexpected and undesired motion when taken out of hardware e-stop!
If you should happen to bump the telescope into something, you must notify McDonald Observatory observing support manager, Coyne Gibson, by radio or onsite phone (661) immediately.
The dome and dome shutter take a VERY LONG time to close - in the worst-case scenario, starting from far outside the dome's home position, it can take between 13 and 17 minutes to fully close the dome. You must keep an eye on the weather and prepare to close well in advance of a closure condition (rain, dust, wind, snow, hail, etc.). Talon can perform dome closure, In the event of a Talon failure, the dome and dome shutters may be manually closed. Refer to the Quick Start Guide for details.
Observer Safety
Use caution when walking under the telescope/telescope mount - the clearance, especially near the fork arms is low. The area between the mount base, the pier, and the fork arm represents a pinch hazard; do not place hands, limbs, or your head in this area unless the telescope is in e-stop. Use caution when moving about the dome floor, especially in the dark!
Weather
If in doubt about the weather conditions, please see our weather closure rules.