East Dome Committee Meeting Minutes
June 28, 2005
A joint meeting of the FBAC officers and the East Dome Committee was held June 28, 2005 at America Buffet
in southwest Houston. Attending officers were David Jenkins, Jim Ellis, and Joe Dellinger. EDC members
attending were Bill Dillon, Don Jarvis, Cynthia Gustava, and Dennis Borgman. Invited guests were Barbara Wilson,
Director of the George Observatory, Keith Rivich, FBAC ED scheduler, and Wes Whiddon, FBAC web master.
There were two primary topics that the meeting was called to address, budgetary items for the George Observatory,
and improvements to scheduling for the east dome.
George Observatory budget items suggested were:
- Paneling replacement in both small domes. To include funds for radiant barrier in both domes.
- Replace west side door of east dome due to severe rusting.
- Replace east observing deck outlets, boxes and covers.
- Add a hand rail on the east wall of the stairway in the research dome.
- Purchase V4.xx upgrades for the Zilkha funded MaximDL_CCD in bothe the east and research domes.
- Resubmit the emergency power generator for the observatory.
East Dome Scheduling Improvements:
Discussion indicated a common belief that more consistent scheduling requests needed to be made. It was decided
that a primary request would be made each Monday with a follow-up request as needed on Wednesday. Keith Rivich
agreed to make a more concerted effort to meet that goal. To assist Keith when he was unavailable or out of town,
Cynthia Gustava and Dennis Borgman agreed to provide backup for scheduling. It was agreed by the three schedulers
that they would communicate with each other to provide seamless scheduling for FBAC's East Dome operations. To
assist in that effort, it was suggested and agreed that a new email/calendar was needed that could be shared
by the schedulers and provide a consistent communication link to FBAC prospective east dome volunteers. Wes Whiddon
agreed to set up a new Yahoo account specifically for east dome scheduling. It would include an email account and
calendar accessable by the three schedulers as well as provide a central east dome schedule interface to FBAC club
members.
Further discussion was held to address the issue of reduced participation by FBAC members volunteering for the
east dome on Saturday nights. A general concensus was reached that heated discussions on netslyder about ED issues,
personal and personality conflicts, and the general perception of east dome operation complexity were deciding
factors in the clubs lack of interest in participating in east dome activities. The east dome committee members
MUST keep issue discussions off of the netslyder list. The unfortunate incident of an EDC email being copied to
netslyder has resulted in the humiliation and loss of a frequent volunteer in the east dome. This issue was taken
very seriously by all meeting attendees.
In addition, the group discussed ways to promote more FBAC volunteering in the east dome.
Suggested were:
- Thank you messages to individuals and/or netslyder in recognition of the previous weeks east dome volunteers.
- Regularly scheduled training in the east dome.
- Newsletter article for each previous training session.
- Newsletter article outlining the basic simple operation procedure for the east dome.
- Testimony from trainees at meetings.
- Certificates for east dome trainees presented at meetings.
- Consistent stocking of FBAC flyers in the observatory fourier and the east dome.
Go do's and commitments were as follows:
- Keith Rivich, Cynthia Gustava, and Dennis Borgman - provide seamless Saturday scheduling for east dome.
- Wes Whiddon - create new east dome scheduling Yahoo account.
- Wes Whiddon - get a supply of FBAC flyers made.
- Dennis Borgman - purchase a lexan holder for the east dome to hold FBAC flyers.
- Dennis Borgman and Bill Dillon - design and have ready certificates for new trainees at next FBAC meeting. Also design a certificate to be presented to east dome volunteers ready for main telescope operator duty.
- EDC - keep east dome issues off netslyder unless absolutely required to inform members of safety or operational situation.
Several items were suggested for the east dome task list:
- Complete plugging of dome wall channels where wasps get in.
- Darken inside of dome.
It was also noted and agreed that the EDC has not completed the task of formalizing a test to measure east dome
trainees progress toward being a main east dome telescope operator.
Dennis Borgman