In general, telescope power is turned off at the circuit breakers for safety when not in use. Upon entering the Tauchmann Dome, the storeroom on the right contains the master switch and circuit breakers (see Figure 1). To turn power on, do the following:

1. Turn on the master switch.
2. Turn on the light.
3. Turn on all circuit breakers.

The Oscillator (Figure 3) and ALTEC power supply/amplifier for the telescope Right Ascension (RA) drive power are located on the desk on the dome floor. To turn them on and set it up for proper operations, do the following:

1. Make sure the Function is set to Sine Wave.
2. Set the Range to 10x (its lowest setting).
3. All attenuators should be Out.
4. Turn on the ALTEC power (via toggle switch on the back of the unit).
5. Set the output level to midrange (this turns on the oscillator AC).
6. Adjust large center dial as needed to have good tracking.

It takes about an hour for the Oscillator to warm up, so the RA tracking rate will vary during that warm up time and need adjustment. If the object is drifting east in the eyepiece, increase the rate. If the object is drifting west in the eyepiece, reduce the rate.

For reference, the sidereal rate on a 40F evening is approximately 85Hz. Before adjusting the tracking rate, be sure the RA clamp is properly engaged.

Do not touch or adjust the level knob on the back of the ALTEC amplifier. If an observatory technician (and only a qualified observatory staff member) needs to adjust the level, note that when the potentiometer is all the way down, the scope won't get enough voltage out of the amplifier to track. Slowly increase it until it tracks and don't take it much further.

Figure 3: RA Drive Oscillator

Figure 4: ALTEC Power Supply