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General Comments

This chapter provides a basic summary of the information required to modify and interface instruments to the ING telescopes. Some of this material is covered in more detail in other sections of this manual.

The interfacing of non-standard equipment to unfamiliar telescopes is always a difficult task. Users of such instruments should be prepared to undertake last minute modifications due to the inevitable detail that gets overlooked. The ING has the technical staff and facilities to cope with a limited number of last minute modifications and repairs. They are however often fully occupied with the day to day maintenance and operation of the ING telescopes and instrumentation. Thus every attempt should be made to arrive on the mountain as well prepared and as self sufficient as possible.

One important aspect in the planning of an observing run with your own instrument is that of getting your equipment to the mountain top. Particular attention should be given to this, ensuring that equipment is shipped well ahead of time with an ample margin for the unforseen (strikes, bad weather, etc). See Section gif for more information on freighting equipment to La Palma.

Finally it should be stressed that this chapter provides only a basic outline of the information required to put a new instrument on a telescope. It is essential to obtain more specific, detailed and up--to--date information in advance of an observing run by contacting ING staff. The Telescope Manager of the particular telescope should be the initial contact, names and email addresses of Telescope Managers are published regularly in Spectrum.




Tue Aug 15 16:42:46 BST 1995