Some recent progress to report! Here is status news about the AAVSOnet sites.
BSM_Berry. Fully operational.
BSM_Hamren. This system is now operating from Cape Cod. There are still a few minor issues to straighten out, but preliminary data looks impressive. Field of view is 1.5x1.0 degrees with 1arcsec sampling, stars crisp to the corners, vignetting less than 10%. We should be able to work from 2<V<18. However, be prepared for 20 Mpix images!
BSM_NH2. Fully operational. This is the dry time of year in New Hampshire, so this system is obtaining quite a bit of data.
BSM_NM. Fully operational, but this is the Southwestern monsoon and few useful nights are expected until September.
BSM_S. Off-line for a short period, as the operator is unavailable. Otherwise, fully operational.
BSM_TX. Not yet commissioned. Some hardware problems have to be resolved.
OC61. The dome shutter has been fixed. We have been porting the software to the Windows 10 computer, but are moving back to the older computer for a couple of weeks to get some observing done. Once we get imaging working successfully on the Win10 computer, we'll continue testing the eShel spectrograph.
SRO. Fully operational, but this is the Southwestern monsoon and few useful nights are expected until September.
TMO61. There are some computer issues that are keeping this system from working. We're hoping to have them resolved shortly. It is the Southwestern monsoon, so no observing time is being lost while resolving the issues.
We are testing an AAG "cloud watcher" at BSM_NH2 that will become the weather safety control for BSM_Hamren once it is deployed in Hawaii. This sensor works quite well and is 1/3 the cost of a Boltwood. Dick Post has donated three MaxDome II boards for AAVSOnet use; one has been installed at BSM_Hamren. Chroma has donated a full UBVRI set of filters that I'll be testing in NH shortly.
Arne