Re: Plans for the New Year

[Tom Droege <tdroege@veriomail.com>]

Dear Oscar,

Well, you certainly have a bunch of friends recommending you as a site.  I 
am very interested in having club sites participating in this work.  I am 
also very interested in having sites in the South.  My problem is to try to 
sort out people who are apt to do work, from people who just want to 
collect hardware.

With the Mark IIIs I just sent them out to everyone that seemed 
interested.  A little less than half of the cameras that I sent out 
produced significant data.  I am trying to be more careful this time.  The 
main thing that I use for qualification is continued interest on the 
list.  This means that people are active in the discussions.  It also means 
that they ask for data when it is available and demonstrate that they know 
how to process it to star lists and produce technical papers and the 
like.  We have a mix.  Some are better at the analysis than they are at 
taking data.  Others are very good at running.  Others are distinguished in 
the field.  We need all types.  Still, I have to trust that everyone wants 
to operate a system.  One should not ask for a system unless you want to 
operate it.  I can always send everyone else data.

My guess (I seldom add it up) is that each system I ship out will 
eventually cost me $25,000 to $30,000.   This is the total money I will 
spend divided by the number of  systems I will ship.  At the moment this 
number is more like $150,000 as I have only shipped two systems and have 
most of the parts for many more.    I am not a multi-millionaire, so I need 
to make the best use of my funds.   I really need to have enough 
interaction with possible sites so that I think I know you and can trust 
that you want to do this work.

I also point out that I don't know who anyone is or what reputation they 
might have.  I don't even care.  I am trying to run a democratic 
organization where everyone is judged almost exclusively by what they write 
on this list and how they solve problems and do work.

Having said all this, Oscar why don't you send me the latitude of the 
proposed operating site.

Tom Droege

At 12:41 AM 12/31/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Happy holidays to all TASSs,
>Thanks Tom for your list of the places where the cameras are going
>I would like to remind you that I have offered to become a station,
>with my club in Vicuņa, Chile ( near Cerro Tololo ! )
>I don't think we can participate in the development/construction of
>equipment but, I am sure we can be a good observing site, producing lots
>of data for you guys.
>We got lots of clear skies along the year, and we can complement very
>well with Pretoria in the sky coverage, now, if you  could get a station
>in Australia, you could have a perfect coverage for variables.
>
>Clear skies to all !!
>Oscar
>
>
>Tom Droege wrote:
>
> > First, Happy New Year to Everyone.
> >
> > This year should bring real data from operating stations.
> >
> > I am busy ordering parts to round out the production to 12 complete
> > systems.  I am not sure where they will all go, but I am ordering parts
> > anyway.  Possibly I will have to remake some side plates.
> >
> > Here is where I am pretty sure systems are going:
> >
> > TOM-1           Chicago, IL*
> > ARNE-1          Flagstaff, AZ*
> > MICHAEL         Rochester, NY*
> > MIKE            Cincinnati, OH
> > GLENN   Dayton, OH
> > NICK            Larel, MD
> > CHRIS           ??
> > ARNE-2  Flagstaff, AZ
> > SAREL           Pretoria, SA
> > TOM-2           Chicago, IL
> > TOM-3           Chicago, IL
> >   XXX           XXX
> >
> > As one goes down the list the locations and commitment become more 
> uncertain.
> >
> > I hope to complete MIKE and GLENN before spring is officially over.  By
> > June 21.  It is not really a problem to complete systems, it is more a
> > question of whether I will want to make any more changes.
> >
> > Mike Gutzwiller stopped by Thursday.  He just appeared on my doorstep.  I
> > am always pleased to see any of you and you are welcome to stop by for a
> > tour when you are in the area.  But you should call ahead if you want to
> > make sure I am here.  (630) 879-7609
> >
> > We talked again about looking for planets.  Mike almost has me convinced
> > that it is something worth doing with the Mark IVs.  With all those
> > stations above working, and with the right weather, we could track a piece
> > of sky for 6 hours or so.   We might get hundreds of exposures during this
> > time, and with that sort of statistics, a dip in brightness from a
> > transiting planet might be dug out of the noise.   OK, a little dip would
> > not be very exciting with one Mark IV, but if we saw the same dip on
> > several systems in Chicago, and one in Cincinatti, Dayton, Rochester, and
> > Laurel, it would be pretty convincing.    With a few thousand stars
> > measured, one might find something interesting.  So while I have not been
> > very enthusiastic about putting Mark IVs so close in Longitude, for planet
> > hunting it might be a good idea.  I think almost no one else is set up to
> > do this kind of measurement.
> >
> > Tom Droege