With the cryostat warm and off the gondola, it was opened up yesterday for diagnostics and repairs. Matt forgot the bring his camera back with him so I (with some assistance) had to take enough pictures for the both of us.
In the morning we stopped to finally explore the Hood Ornament of Death—a sculpture at the graveyard near CSBF.
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- The Hood Ornament of Death
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- Closeup of the HOoD
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- The lightning path, also part of the sculpture
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- Angel on the Wind, official name and bible verse
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- Laura, yet again balancing the inner frame
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- Laura is one half of Team Balance
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- Sun shields hanging high in the air They are eventually reattached
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- Charcoal getter, for absorbing helium leaks
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- Kevlar string: bulletproof and very useful
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- This aluminum cylinder was supposed to be attached was not
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- The copper piece that looks slightly domed (the pot) is supposed to be flat. It has exploded
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- Slightly closer view. Notice the gap along the inside; there should be no gap
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- Copper braided heat straps
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- They give the optics box a great big octopus hug
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- The whole helium 3 fridge
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- The cryostat-integrated optics box table, being used fr random things
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- The other side of the fridge
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- Plumbing for the (exploded) pot
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- Matt and Mark opening the optics box
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- Lorenzo looks terrified as he begins to inspect the half-wave plate
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- Fridge and HWP, with Matt in the background also taking a look
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- The Black cover for the detector-side of the rotation maechanism
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- The potentiometer/encoder on the front of the HWPR
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- The HWPR front on. Better view of gears and soon-to-be-replaced flexible motor coupling
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- Potentiometer rails and gear teeth, from above
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- All-important blue lines and dot on the HWP. These show that it hasn’t moved since last being mounted
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- One of the motorized valves, with a loose set screw. This is why it didn’t seal correctly
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- Nick is no more, there is only The Hand
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- The Hand blackens the innnermost shield/insulation layer
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- The man behind The Hand. Tristan makes more black goop
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- Starts by mixing black epoxy
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- Add a hefty helping of carbon
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- Artist Quality
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- Mix until doughy texture
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- The blackened shield then dries under a heat lamp
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- Mark poses with Pot Man (I’mt the type that constantly sees faces in inanimate objects)
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- The exploded pot (aka Pot Man). Top blown open
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- Blackened plate from the side of the optics box
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- To proceed with cryostat disassembly, the HWPR and HWPT (half-wave plate table, pronounced “hooptee”) must be removed
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- Closeup of the cold stage of the fridge
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- Beneath the HWPT. This is now as disassembled as I’ve ever seen the cyostat
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- HWPR and HWPT on the holing table
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- Tristan plays with spinning the HWPR, using the obsolete flex coupling
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- Random things, on the holding table
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- My first look at the JFET cavity. One of the targets of this disassembly, I wasn’t sure I would ever see it
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- All of the cables for all the detectors need to go through here
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- As a bird sees it. Under each blue connector is a JFET module, the black lines carry the bias to each set of detectors
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- At each thermal stage, the cables are clamped. They also help prevent vibration and microphonics
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- Vibrationally isolating the optics/detectors when looking for microphonics
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- Tap, tap, tap. Searching for microphonic responses
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- Oligatory shot of the optics box, now that it’s more open
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- Elio at Work
THANK YOU STEVE FOR MY LITTLE BROTHER’S PICTURES.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
GO ELIO GO. MANY KESSES
Thank you Patrizia. It’s always great to have feedback!