Some of the most experienced observers in the world observe with the Shane, but in recent years the telescope has become available to a much wider community, some of whom are not so experienced. It is to this less experienced segment of the community that we address the following advice.

The Shane is not a difficult telescope to use, because the instrumentation (and particularly the Kast) is user friendly, and knowledgeable help is usually readily available. However, if you have not observed with a world-class telescope before, please appreciate what a valuable commodity observing time is on such an instrument. It is only fair to yourself, the TAC, and the UC astronomical community if you try hard to maximize the use of the time which has been assigned to you.

With this in mind, we state here the First Principle of Big-Time Observing: try to keep the telescope busy at all times. Come to the telescope as fully prepared as possible. It should be a very unusual circumstance that required you to make a finding chart during the night. The time to plan your strategy is not between observations, but the week before, or before the night begins, or at the very latest, during a prior exposure. When one observation has ended, you should already know what you are going to do next, so you can quickly start a new data taking cycle. If you are debating what to do next, it's usually better to start something, so at least some data in rolling in while you're fretting over the next move; but if you're planning ahead well, this will rarely happen. If the next move depends on the outcome of the present observation, don't wait for the observation to conclude to consider the alternatives; have your contingency plans already made, so you are prepared to make a quick decision.

If it's your first time with the Kast, or if it's been a long time and you feel you need a refresher, contact the person who will check you out in advance to arrange a time to meet. This service is free, required on your first visit, and strongly recommended if you have any doubts later. Our point of view is that we want to do everything we can to make the science successful, and to protect the equipmnt for the entire community.

Go out to the telescope, where there are five things to do.

There are four things to look at, and one to set up for yourself. The look at items are

1. Make sure the CCD temperatures for both chips are reasonable.
2. Check that the x-y stage settings are properly set (probably to the nominal 10.0).
3. Visually check the dichroics to be sure the ones you want are where you expect.
4. Visually check the grating tray contents (tilt must be at 5400 or "load").

Back in the control room, update the "Current Setup" list to reflect your grating choices, dichroics/mirror selection, and user filter wheel contents. This list hangs on the electronics rack.

From the user account on shanepc start the following software:

• The Kast motor controller by typing kast in an xterm window.
• The Data Taking System by typing dx in an xterm window.

Although it has never been clearly necessary, it just seems to us to be good practice to reinitialize the spectrograph controller at the beginning of each run, or following a power failure. This is done by loading any setup which does not include any asterisks (which would cause that item to be skipped), select R (for "Set Spectrograph"), and answer yes to the reinitialize question.

When you get a data taking window on the x-term, update the header with the observer's name under Z-3. This information will be added to every image header.

As soon as possible after you have things started, do a short integration to be sure everything is ok. The most complete check is to read the whole 400x1200 window for both chips. Be sure the shutters open and close, and that the chips read and display correctly. The point is, of course, to find any serious problems early enough to get them fixed before observing time.

Set up the spectroscopic windows. This is best done by illuminating a full length slit with the blue flat field lamp, mirror cover open, diagonal mirror position 3 or 4, and reading out the whole chips (or you can just check the windows left by the last observer if they look reasonable). In particular for the gratings, the dispersed illuminated areas may not be precisely the same, although they should be close. You will probably choose to use one window which covers only the area of the overlap, or one all-inclusive window.

Select any order separating filters you may require. On the red side, you will need to suppress second order if you go beyond twice the effective cut-on point of the dichroic you use. If you are not using a dichroic, the glass in the lenses cuts off at about 3800 A, and therefore will suppress any second order below 7600 A, but beyond that you will need to suppress with an order separator.

Determine where the direct windows are. Use decker setting "open" for a wide open decker, and slit setting "open" for a wide open slit, no disperser. A suggested blue side window (option D in the DTS window) is 210, 200, 0, 530. For the red side, with the tilted flat mirror in the grating tray at grating tilt 19000, use window 200, 200, 25, 450. (These may change if the dewar x-y stages are changed from their nominal positions.) Check direct windows with the top lights, not the TUB lights.

If you will be using the direct mode to find and center faint objects, you will need to know the row and column number of the center of the slit. Close the slit to spectroscopic size, and with illuminations from the dome continuum lamps (not the tub lamps!), take a direct (undispersed) frame. Use the cursor to find the center and record it for later use.

It is useful both as a convenience and as a precaution to record your setups. You might want to do this both on paper and for future reference, and on the disk for quick recall during the night. The Kast controller allows you to store up to 20 (!) different setups.

Use mirror position 2, dispersed setup, and record image to disk and tape. For the best solution, use a two-pixel slit or greater to avoid aliasing.

Most people who are doing "ordinary" spectroscopy (that is, not trying for accurate radial velocities), do a set of line lamps at the beginning and (just as a check) another set at the end of the night. Remember that between San Jose and night sky emission, there are comparison spectra available for zero point corrections on every frame, except possibly the shortest exposures.

Red dome lamp (unless very narrow band), mirror cover open, diagonal mirror positon 3, direct setups.

Wait until after sunset to do dispersed flats so as to avoid the possibility of getting solar features in your flat. Use the blue or superblue dome lamp, mirror cover open, mirror position 4 (or 3), dispersed setups. For low resolution setups, you may need the BG 14++ filter stack. If you do use the BG 14++, be sure to remove it from the light path when done.

It is ordinary practice to open the dome in mid- to late afternoon, weather permitting, in order to let the inside air reach equilibrium with the outside. If you're working in the control room setting up, the night assistant will probably ask you when it will be convenient for you to have the dome opened. If you are not around, the night assistant will normally open the dome anyway as soon as the outside temperature begins to be less than that inside the dome.

At the beginning of the night, the night assistant will choose a bright star with good coordinates from Apparent Places, and set to it first. You may focus the telescope if you wish, or the NA will do it for you. The NA will put the focus star in the center of the slit and reset the telescope coordinates, then will mark the location on the TV in mirror position 2 which corresponds to the center of the slit.

Before each exposure, be sure the spectrograph setup and selection is appropriate. Set the integration time and object name. Try to anticipate the need for an offset guide star so the NA can be setting up that while you are setting up the spectrograph.

The autoguider is nearly always used and will be set up by the night assistant, so there is not usually much that's required of you during an exposure, except to check the guiding now and then.