September produced a record for the number of measurement pairs. The new record is 17,599,663 measurement pairs. Nearly everything worked well during September. Near the end of the month a couple of rain showers caught TOM2 and TOM3. The rain detector closed the dome, but not before rain landed on the lenses. It then got inside the lenses and produced cloud chambers that were fed by the flocked paper. The fix will properly come in next month's report.
Dan produced a splendiferous box and the upgrades were sent out for Arne to fix ARNE.
I wrote some code during the month that finds lots of variables. I can now output VizieR input lists and quickly check on candidate variables. I can produce lists that are anywhere from 80% TO 10% known variables. With looser restrictions one gets more junk but also more new probable variables. There is now enough data for you mathematically inclined variable hunters to find lots of new variable stars. If I can find them, then some of you should have a great time.
Dan put together a bunch of new computers. I now have four computers, two of them dual processor, hooked up to one monitor/keeyboard/mouse. I have set up six pipelines so that I can split each camera into two computers for processing. This allows me to get through a good night of data taking by early the next evening. Writing all the CD's is still the most painful part of the operations, though I now have that automated so it is as painless as possible. Still, I have to mostly just sit there writing 18 to 20 CD's for an evening's run. Stuff has to be done just often enough that there is little else one can do. Well, I have an unbroken string of over 1000 Free Cell wins.
I have recruited a local mechanical engineer, Jim Fisher, who has a wonderful machine shop in his garage. I sent him of with the 10" LX200 that I bought several years ago with the idea that I would use it to follow up on new variable discoveries. $3K+ that I have never used. The hope is that he will get interested enough so that he will grab the Mark V drawings and start building. We shall see.