Postcard from the Summit – The Usual Mess
Category: Working at Keck
Working atop The Mountain
The Forecast was Correct
It does appear that we got a substantial amount of snow last night. Webcam images show quite a bit of snow. No tracks either, no one has attempted the summit yet, the snowplows have not made it up.
I am not scheduled to go up today, or even again this week. Fresh snow can be pretty, shoveling snow? Not so much. Actually, I expect that the summit crew will be sitting at Hale Pohaku much of the morning, waiting for the plows to complete their job, not the most productive way to spend the day.
The snow is expected to last through today and into tomorrow. The White Mountain should be white for a while.
A Little Snow in the Forecast
It was a gorgeous day when we arrived on the summit. A deep blue sky above brilliant white snow covering the slopes. It was difficult to put much faith in a forecast calling for truly dire weather. I could see nothing to the southwest, the direction this weather was approaching from, just the blue Pacific stretching to the horizon.
Not a bad day, I accomplished everything on my to-do list for the day. Some work in AO to check for any stray light, removing some old servers to make way for a new system, locating and labeling some optical fibers that are already in place for this same system. Everything went well, except the lunch time cribbage game, I lost badly.
The weather was degrading all day, first the clouds loomed overhead, then they descended as a heavy fog while the temperature dropped. It did indeed begin to look like the forecasts might have a bit of truth. The prediction is for heavy snow, as much as 6-10 inches. Not sure if that will materialize, it would be nice, we have not had any real snowfall this winter. I will just have to check the webcams tomorrow morning.
It was beginning to snow when we pulled out.
Postcard from the Summit – Keck 2 Construction
A White Mountian
It was not in the forecast. But It came anyway. The night crew abandoned the summit around 3am in the face of ice and snow.
Summit webcams show an increasingly white mountain this morning. Given the numbers in the met data, it is not going to stop anytime soon. Temperatures of well below freezing, -6°C (20°F) and 100% humidity tell the tale of continuing snow.
No sign that our holiday crew has made it to the summit as of yet. I expect them to make an attempt, even if they stay just an hour or two to perform those few tasks that must be done each day. Not much problem for me, a snowy weekend makes for a quiet weekend on-call.
Mauna Kea Claims Another…
The mountain claimed another vehicle this afternoon.
A rented Nissan Altima parked at the Hoku Kea telescope rolled off the ridge, a steep cinder slope about 400ft high. Fortunately neither passenger was hurt, the woman in the passenger seat exited the vehicle when it began rolling, her companion was already out. Witnesses describe the vehicle rolling several times as it descended the slope.
Now the Mauna Kea Rangers have the unenviable task of removing the vehicle and cleaning up the mess. The rangers report indicates that the vehicle does not appear to be leaking any fluids. Hopefully the vehicle can be removed without further damage to the summit. OMKM’s Natural Resources Manager and an entomologist are being consulted before removal.
Just another reminder to take our mountain seriously…
A Video Project
Trying to finish up a new video project for Keck Week. As one would guess, the video features the history of Keck. Looking for material has been a great excuse to dig through the Keck archives. Through the expertise of our staff librarian, Peggi Kamisato, I have pursued hundreds of photos and other material from the history of these great telescopes. Turning page after page of photos albums from the construction of the two telescopes, thumbing through observing log #1 to read the notes from those first nights of science observations. I have a new appreciation for the history of this place.
Not all of this material can make it into the video. Some of the best can, hopefully resulting in a worthwhile result. Just a teaser for today, one of the photos from construction that did not make the cut. What about the video? Come to Keck Week and see the premiere!
Employment Opportunity at Keck – Electronics Engineer
W. M. Keck Observatory position announcement…
Responsibilities
- Provide electronic engineering expertise to support upgrades and new development projects
- Participate in system level specifications, develop hardware specifications, interface control documents, and lifecycle design documents
- Write, analyze and document test plans, conduct design tests and evaluate results
- Generate and maintain production documentation, including schematics, wire diagrams, assembly drawings, data sheets, manuals, and project notebooks
- Support project managers by providing and maintaining accurate cost and labor estimates and Bills of Material. Help to maintain project plans through good communication
- Coordinate the electronic interfacing of new instrumentation;
- Direct the efforts of associate engineers and technicians, coordinate and schedule engineering activities
- Assist in the investigation of chronic performance and reliability problems in existing systems and develop and implement solutions to resolve these problems.
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering or equivalent
- Three or more years of applicable work experience, preferably in a team environment
- Working knowledge of AC and DC electronics theory
- Experience in analog and digital electronics, computer interface electronics, and real-time control systems
- Understanding of grounding, shielding, and electrical safety
- Experience with schematic capture, PCB design and layout
- Experience in the design, debug, simulation and validation of electronic circuits and products
- Skilled user of test and analysis equipment including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, bus analyzers, cable and fiber optic test equipment, power measuring equipment, and signal generators
- Experience planning and implementing PLC based solutions including I/O selection, communication and programming (Rockwell/AB ControlLogix and RSLogix); experience with National Instruments RIO and LabVIEW FPGA; use of PADS, E3 Wireworks (Zuken), SolidWorks; and experience with programmable multiple axes motion controllers such as DeltaTau PMAC or Galil would be a plus
The W. M. Keck Observatory operates the largest, most scientifically productive telescopes on Earth. The two, 10-meter optical/infrared telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii feature a suite of advanced instruments including imagers, multi-object spectrographs, high-resolution spectrographs, integral-field spectroscopy and a world-leading laser guide star adaptive optics system. The Observatory is a private 501(c) 3 non-profit organization and a scientific partnership of the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and NASA.
To learn more about this position and to apply, go to: www.keckobservatory.iapplicants.com
Equal Opportunity Employer
Setting Up
Postcard from the Summit – Supplies
The summit of Mauna Kea is a long way from anywhere on this island. If something breaks we really need to have the parts on-hand to fix it. The result is that just about any unclaimed space in the building is used to store spare parts. We have stuff stashed everywhere!
This goes for the electronics lab too. A little bit of everything we might need is available. Now you just need to spend a few months learning where to find everything…
