East Dome Committee Meeting Minutes
June 6, 2007
A meeting of the FBAC East Dome Committee was held June 6, 2007 at America Buffet in southwest Houston.
Attending EDC members were Bill Dillon, Joe Dellinger, Don Jarvis and Dennis Borgman. The meeting was
open to all FBAC members and Derek Newton attended.
The meeting's primary focus was on repair/replacement of the drive system on the telescope. Example information
from three prospective drive system vendors was presented by Dennis and Don. The drive vendors were Gemini used
on Losmandy german equatorial mounts, ServoCAT from StellarCAT, and SiTech from Sidereal Technology. We quickly
determined that further details of each system was needed, but there was a general agreement that one or more of
the systems presented would be a suitable drive replacement. Most suggested that reliability be used as a
primary factor in choosing the replacement drive system. There are many satisfied customers using the ServoCAT
drive and the user forum doesn't indicate any big problems. The SiTech drive has far fewer customers, but is a
more recent entry into the drive system market. SiTech's user forum doesn't indicate any big problems either. Both
ServoCAT and SiTech are primarily directed to DOB users, but a few of each system have been installed on equatorial
mounts. A previous reference from Wes Whiddon indicated he had no problems with his Gemini Losmandy drive, although
it was not the latest system offered by Gemini. Don Jarvis suggested it would be good if the new drive had
capability for Periodic Error Correction (PEC). The Gemini system has PEC, but that would have to be checked for
the ServoCAT and SiTech systems.
Derek Newton brought up the topic of refurbishing the interior walls of the dome. Joe and others have commented
for several month's on the delapidated condition of the old paneling. It is generaly understood that the dome and
dome repair are the monetary responsibility of the George Observatory. FBAC is responsible for notifying the
observatory in a timely manner of maintenance needs. This has been done verbaly, but not in writing. A suggestion
was made by Dennis to proceed with club funds to redo the paneling and seek a refund from the George Observatory
for the cost of materials. This up front expenditure would have to be approved by the club at a future meeting.
Joe Dellinger accepted the task of getting with Tracy Knauss to get price estimates for the paneling and other
materials.
A brief discussion was held concerning difficulty getting volunteers for public nights in the East Dome. The domes
deteriorating paneling appearance and continuous problems with the telescope drive were sited as probable
contributing factors.
Joe Dellinger brought the XP license sticker off the old failed imaging computer box and passed it on to Don Jarvis. This is the club's proof that we
have a valid Windows XP license. FBAC has two Windows XP licenses.
Bill Dillon will schedule another training day possibly in July.
Status of go do's and commitments from last meeting:
- Dennis Borgman - Investigate paneling availability and cost. Incomplete, Joe Dellinger picking up.
- Dennis Borgman - Contact Robo-Focus about repair. Incomplete, not sure if RoboFocus is still wanted.
- Dennis Borgman - Investigate guide scope focuser problem. Incomplete, still on Dennis' go do list.
- Joe Dellinger - Get Windows XP sticker from old imaging PC. Complete, passed on to Don Jarvis.
- Bill Dillon - Schedule training day for March. Complete. Alicia Tristan, Bob Askey and Jim Scott received training on March 4, 2007.
New go do's and commitments from June 6 meeting:
- Dennis Borgman - Investigate guide scope focuser problem. Holdover from last time.
- Dennis Borgman - Get further details on SiTech and ServoCAT drive systems.
- Don Jarvis - Get further details on Gemini drive system.
- Joe Dellinger - Investigate paneling replacement cost with Tracy Knauss.
- Bill Dillon - Schedule training day for July.
Items completed or removed from the ED open task list
Progress on open items from the ED task list
- There are 14 open items on the ED task list.
- Item 39 Paneling repair in dome: Joe Dellinger has picked up this task and will work with Tracy Knauss
to determine material cost.
New items added to the ED task list
- Item 40 Replace Quadrant Drive System:
Dennis Borgman