Looking after the safety of the TV

1.

Ensure that all dome lights, including torches, are turned off before turning on the camera. The fluorescent lights are interlocked so that they cannot damage the TV but not so the variable Tungsten lamps controlled from outside the control room door.

2.

Always view a field in DIRECT mode first, NEVER in AVERAGE.

3.

Turn the gain up SLOWLY: there is a lag of about 3 seconds between operating the gain control and the full effect being seen.

4.

Never do a long integration with a bright star in the field.

5.

Always turn the camera gain off BEFORE MOVING the telescope. You just never know which first-magnitude star is lurking around the corner.

6.

DO NOT TWIDDLE knobs at random. Think about what you are doing and if you don't understand some function look it up in the manual (here!).

7.

If in doubt, press the FREEZE button and turn the gain down. This ensures that the TV read beam is not blanked and therefore any over- illumination is discharged. Other panic measures, e.g. hitting the red OFF button, do not guarantee this and so should be avoided. It is always safer to turn the gain control to its clicked-off position than to operate the OFF button.