Sunday 5th April 16:00 CEST

second GRB observation - 090404 - this time first image (off position) at 6 seconds past GRB, first on position at 182 sec post GRB. This time without detection.

Thursday 26th March 13:30 CET

modelling is working - the telescope is autonomously building new model

Wednesday 25th March 22:00 NZDT

discovered problems with focusing - it does not hold on place due to bigger then expected weight of camera-filter wheel stack
continued autonomous operations without any problem
changed storage path for all-sky images

Tuesday 24th March 08:00 NZDT

first fully autonomous night without any presence runs as expected
problems with modelling due to wrong focus of the camera

Monday 16th March 12:00 NZDT

roof fixed (washers put back to expected position), UPS closing tests with telescope running performed - see this video.
Petr left Blenheim

Sunday 15th March 22:00 NZDT

make better focusing interface
telescope was focused at evening through open half of the roof
roof software was updated, error from Saturday fixed

Saturday 14th March 17:00 NZDT

roof stress tests showed weak point - wrong opening sequence can be achieved in some extreme circumstances. There is small damage on right half. We expect Cuddons will come on Monday, asset damage and put it back in shape.
we were able to close roof using some minor aid. Chain on sprocket wheels sometimes jump during closing.
preliminary observations showed no structure damage - washers holding transmission bearings were responsible for loosing energy accumulated in mechanism, and they are free a bit.

Thursday 12th March 23:20 NZDT

tested UPS closing - works as expected, but still I would like to test it with telescope moving
first truly remote opening - all looks good
tidy up cables
bought relay for Apogee remote control and 3 way switch (full manual, manual, automatic)

Thursday 12th March 01:00 NZDT

more cabling tidying - cables put to rack, rack fixed,..
soldered cable for cloud sensor - that takes at least 3 hours
Zelio upgrade tested and works as expected
after some showers it was finally clear during night, telescope works now in fully autonomous mode
UPS is able to handle operation of both halves of the roof with significant margin - that is better as expected

Wednesday 11th March 01:00 NZDT

roof opens and closes both halves simultaneously - with a small glitch, but this is already fixed and will be hopefully fully tested tomorrow
detection of emergency situations (e.g. timeouts) added to roof software and works as expected
auto-activation sequence (switch from standby to auto) works as expected
we hit overheat of the motors, both halves fall ~ 30 cm to opening supports (it looks that when motor overheats, clutch is released as well). No damage occurs and all motors operates properly after cold-down period
telescope driver fixed and operates almost perfectly
images are written to database
cloudsensor setpoints set (to 9 and 10), cloud sensor now have control over weather decisions
various updates and small fixes among code
fixed IP ordered, most probably that is why ADSL stop working properly. I will ask Phil tomorrow.

Tuesday 10th March 03:00 NZDT

Downloading USNO-1B, backup copy send on HDD by courier
Fixed telescope driver
Fixed roof controller issues with opening
Started upgrade of roof controller (Zelio logic)

Monday 9th March 10:00 NZDT

Observatory closed at morning - good
Telescope drive fails again - bad

Sunday 8th March 22:00 NZDT

Petr arrived at Blenheim
Telescope fixed by restarting control cabinet
rts2.ini updated with proper longitude and latitude
Observatory left in unattended mode

Saturday 7th March 18:00 NZDT

Andor rain protector fitted and telescope counterbalanced
Bottom rain protector fitted
Antonio leaves to Chile

Friday 6th March 18:00 NZDT

Dome mechanics fixed
Antonio arrives back at Blenheim

Wednesday 4th March 18:00 NZDT

Petr moves to Brisbane
Dome software bug finally discovered and fixed

Tuesday 3rd March 18:00 NZDT

Dome weather tests - still show minor issue after opening twice
Successful UPS opening/closing tests
Tidy-up cabling, make and use holes for all cables, so the place looks nice and tidy
Tested telescope movement at full speed

Monday 2nd March 18:00 NZDT

Dome tests
Finished new cabling for cloud and rain sensors

Saturday 1st March 18:00 NZDT

Control room finished (in one day)
Server rack moved to control room
Final tests of telescope by Astelco
Andor CCD connected
Telescope first light at final optical configuration
All sky CCD worked quite well

Friday 27th February 12:00 NZDT

Dome cabling complete
Dome tested with Zelio, one minor issue fixed
Emergency stops installed and readied
Everything ready for opening ceremony

Thrusday 26th February 24:00 NZDT

Telescope assembled
Dome cabling finished to level that opening of domes is possible through relays
Telescope tested, with preliminary model created

Wednesday 25th February 18:00 NZDT

Both halfs of dome tested, looks much better then before
Alberto arrived
Welding of telescope support commence

Tuesday 24th February 18:00 NZDT

Dome modifications on one half almost done, tests expected tomorrow
Astelco started telescope assembly
Server rack moved a bit in preparation of its relocation to the dome

Monday 23rd February 18:00 NZDT

Rest of telescopes parts arrived
Telescope interface ready at Blenheim workshop
FLI ↔ Andor interface being manufactured
Dome redesigned, some work on redesign done. First tests are expected on Tuesday afternoon

Friday 20th February 18:30 NZDT

Andor images successfully retrieved - the issue was system having more then 3GB RAM. We are able to get images when OS uses 3GB. There is a request to Andor to fix this issue
Design of roof transmission is finished, we expect some testing tomorrow. So far nobody from the company showed, but they phoned they will arrive with transmission on Saturday

Thursday 19th February 24:00 NZDT

roof will be hopefully fixed by added 1:3 - 1:4 sprocket wheel - chain gearbox. On Friday we shall have detailed design
we do not know how will roof behaves during strong winds. If we can found some aerodynamic expert, that can provide us help
Andor is working, but giving 0s at CCD output. My estimate is that this is software problem. I will run more tests on Friday
Cloud sensors show erratic behaviour (works now). I will try to contact author to give hints where it can be. We suspect RS232 connector short
ssh access to b3-main (port 2222) and b3-allsky (port 2223) works; you will need to ask for password
Florentino complain about heat at sensor rack. ipmitool, which were installed, does not shows any significant heat - but I will keep an eye on that
new Zelio arrived and was tested - works fine
Spanish ambassador called Bill and confirmed his attendance at opening (with a box of Spanish wines)

Wednesday 18th February 18:00 NZDT

second half of the dome installed
Interned connection to Bootes 3 computers works
weather mast installed - cloud sensor, Weather, Outside webcam, rain sensor
UPS tested

Tuesday 17th February 19:00 NZDT

Dome opened a bit by motors
Second half of the roof almost finish, ready for tomorrow placement on top
Weather station mast welded
Davis weather and cloud sensors left on overnight for tests, logging data to computers
ADSL connection fixed
AXIS camera confirmed working
Bought cables for network (AXIS, Zelio, ..)
Andor camera shows problems when exposing (kernel panic), I will look for solutions tomorrow (expected is that driver change will fix it)

Tuesday 17th February 09:30 NZDT

Andor power supply connector arrived
ordered new Zelio logic through local dealer (~ 700 NZD) and 24 V power supply (~ 160 NZD)
both servers successfully ran overnight

Monday 16th February 18:00 NZDT

Antonio arrived
one half of the roof was lifted and installed, Florentino is working to make motors operating
second half of the roof final assembly begins, one plate (out ot 6) is on place
bought Ethernet cables (~50 NZD) and ordered connector for additional Andor power (SATA→IDE interface, ~14 NZD)
successfully tested Apogee CCD and cloud sensor
servers preliminary integrated in rack for testing
mount arrives in a box, we are looking for interface to connect it to pier
it was discovered that we do not have power supply for Andor CCD cooling. CCD will be operational without it, Astelco should carry power supply

Sunday 15th February 14:00 NZDT

finished installation of the servers, going to test them with hardware
bought 1GB switch (187 NZD ~ 100 EUR)
yesterday we find out that the current ADSL Internet connection is way slow. Most probable culprit is missing splitter, that will be installed on Tuesday. Final Internet connection will be solved by own line, which will hopefully be installed sometime next week
also there is a problem with Zelio logic control box - the one bought is incompatible with network module. Temporal solution is to run roof without network control in manual mode, final solution will be in replacement of the Zelio control. The problem is pending confirmation from Schneider-Electrics.

Saturday 14th February 12:00 NZDT

dome is nearing completion
one half of the roof is complete, second half waits for plates to be mated to sites - that will take a few days. I expect that will be finished on Tuesday or Wednesday
Florentino is working on motors, hopefully they will be ready within few days
our servers are up and running, I am installing operation system and RTS2 on them
looking for options how to get network connected to the observatory