Category: MagAO-X

One of the big goals for this visit to LCO was to troubleshoot a coupled pair of actuators on our precious 2040 actuator “tweeter” deformable mirror (DM). Being coupled meant that when we poked actuator 498, actuator 650 moved (not 498). Actuator 650 also moved when we poked 650. We first noticed this problem after shipping MagAO-X in March, when we ran a post-cabling function test. However, digging through our archives we found that it showed up back in November, 2023, but we just didn’t notice.

Now our tweeter is expensive. So we don’t like it when things go wrong, and it makes messing with it really stressful. But having those two actuators acting up means MagAO-X didn’t work perfectly, so we had to do what we can to fix it. We deferred it until after our March and April runs to give us time to plan and do it right.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief: with only minimal shenanigans we got it fixed. After testing various potential cabling problems, we found that a circuit board just needed to be replaced. We had a spare, popped it in, and the couple had split up and gone back to behaving normally.

And we got that done in time for Empanada Sunday:

After lunch we got onto the next set of tasks, which included disassembling a rack shelf so we can get better airflow.

We’re also upgrading the Instrument Control Computer (ICC) to go faster and do more stuff. We like to liquid cool our CPUs and GPUs. Normally we rig that up in Tucson, but we couldn’t get all of the components from our usual supplier in time, so we shipped what we had (and found some substitutes on Amazon!) and are doing some clean room plumbing.

Jay has also been leading the assembly and testing of new ICC. Other than the liquid cooling parts, it was fully working in Tucson before we took it apart to ship it down here. We’re getting it all back together.

Even after our delayed departure, we are making good time thanks to the relatively easy fix to the tweeter. I haven’t had enough running on this trip yet, so I took some time before dinner to go circle around the 100″.

Let me tell you about our trip.

Jared and I were scheduled to leave on Thurs. 09/27, however our Tucson flight was delayed to the point where we would have missed our ATL-SCL connection, so we got the opportunity to rebook. Whether or not this was due to Hurricane Helene, we’re not sure. Because ATL-SCL on 09/27 left on time, more or less, despite being closer in time to peak hurricane’ing. Our original TUS-ATL flight arrived about 3 minutes before the plane to Santiago left the runway, so all in all, it was the right move to rebook.

Because we rebooked, the revised departure date was the next day, Friday 09/28. By about 9a on Friday, the flight was already delayed by 20 minutes (we thought: “here we go again”), but thankfully the delayed departure time didn’t change again…. all the way until the VP landed in TUS which (we painfully learned) shuts down the whole airport for half an hour. This new delay was coupled by the plane being overweight as well because of the unseasonably hot tarmac temperatures this late into September. So, the poor souls on standby who got onto the plane had to be escorted right back off to bring the curb weight of the plane down. After all that, we departed TUS *finally* at around 2:10p, a final delay of about 1hr 20mins. We were set to arrive at ATL by 8:15p EST at Terminal B. Our ATL–SCL flight was set to depart right at 8:55p, from Terminal… E….

We ended up making it with mere seconds to Gate E14, but Delta misjudged our dedication (and ability to sprint) and automatically rebooked us to fly to Santiago the next day while we were still en route to ATL. After a few tense minutes, however, the gate agents were able to get us back on our original flight and thankfully they didn’t close the door on us as it was definitely after 8:40p by this point. After taking our seat, we left the ground a few minutes after 8:55p.

We landed at SCL without incident but about ten minutes past 7a local time. Normally not such a big deal, but because we had gotten rebooked initially, our new flight out SCL–LSC was at 9a on the dot. The line to get through customs was, of course, super long. We finally got through at 7:55a. Boarding began at 8a, so, more running…!

SCL has also moved the security checkpoint to near the LATAM check-in desks. Again, normally not such a big deal, but Jared was never given a boarding pass when we deplaned out flight from ATL, so he had to get one reprinted before we could get through security. It was 8:34a.

Boarding doors close at 8:45! and the B gates were, no joke, like a third of a mile from the security check point.

We. Just. Made it…!

After taking the transport up from La Serena (and sleeping for most of it), we were just in time for lunch and were greeted by some familiar views.

Truth be told, after all the delays and setbacks and just plain bad luck, I never thought we’d make it this far.

Bonus Content

For today’s Bonus Content we were greeted by a ravenous goaty parade at sunset…! This made for many, many small “landmines” when walking down later that evening in the dark. Make sure you wipe your shoes extra good before entering your room during goat season.

Blog Rule

Short trip, simple rule. The blog writer must pick the Song of the Day from the assigned decade below:

Day 0: 1950s
Day 1: 1960s
Day 2: 1970s
Day 3: 1980s
Day 4: 1990s
Day 5: 2000s
Day 6: 2010s
Day 7(?): 2020s

Song of the Day

The song of the day is Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me”, originally released in 1958.