Boyden update
[Source: mnassa, 2002 October, vol 61, 9&10, p 115-116]
The University of the Free State (UFS) - Boyden 1.5 m telescope was extensively refurbished between 2001 August 16 and September 11.
The telescope was equipped with a new DFM telescope control system, new DC motors on the declination and RA drives, as well as dome control. Two hand paddle sets were also installed, one in the pit on the telescope, while the second hand paddle is used in the telescope control room.
The total cost of the refurbishment was $98 000, and was largely financed by the NRF (R300 000) and the University of Notre Dame (UND) ($46 000), while an amount of $19 000 was provided by the University of Pennsylvania, which helped finance the import taxes for the DFM control system.
The upgrade was a success. The pointing accuracy after the refurbishment is approximately 20 arc seconds, both west and east of the pier. The telescope tracking and dome control is also satisfactory. The telescope was re-commissioned on 2001 September 11.
During 2002 February Dr Kem Cook from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) visited Boyden. During his stay at Boyden a 1k x 1k Pixelvision CCD camera system and control PC ($55 000) was installed on the Cassegrain end of the telescope. The camera system is thermo-electrically cooled and mounted on an acquisition box with an X-Y slide, accommodating an ST-6 autoguider CCD camera. The CCD system is also equipped with a standard UBVRI filter wheel, which allows UBVRI photometry to be carried out. The system was fully operational by the end of 2002 February. After the installation was complete, image acquisition software was developed to automate and speed up observations. The new system, called spica, was developed by UFS astrophysics MSc student, Mr J J Calitz, as part of his MSc studies, under the supervision of Dr P J Meintjes.
From 2002 March, the UFS-Boyden 1.5 m telescope has been participating in several international campaigns, for example the Microlensing Planet Search project (Principal Investigator: Prof Dave Bennett of UND), the REACT Gamma-Ray Burster follow-up search (PI: Dr's Kem Cook (LLNL) and P J Meintjes (UFS)) as well as the study of galactic accretion driven systems (PI: Dr P J Meintjes, UFS). We shall also participate in the monitoring of near earth objects that may pose a threat to Earth (PI: Prof C Alcock (U Penn) and Dr K Cook (LLNL)).
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