The remote observing station at the MPI für Radioastronomie in Bonn has been used on various occasions. We have connected it via internet when the available bandwidth was high (e.g. on weekends). Otherwise it can be switched rapidly to a digital telephone line. Observers from the Bonn area who are interested to use this facility should contact Frank Bertoldi (bertoldi@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de) or Dirk Muders (muders@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de).
We are planning a fourth remote station (after Granada, Grenoble and Bonn) at the ENS in Paris. We hope to have it operational by the end of this year.
Remote observers might be interested in our web-camera which delivers online pictures of the Pico Veleta sky (accessible from our home page http://www.iram.es).
Every frequent visitor to the Pico Veleta telescope knows that winter transport is often a challenge. If you as an observer plan to come with more colleagues than strictly necessary, please ask the station manager (mauers@iram.es) or the scheduler (thum@iram.fr) for authorisation, even if these observers are paying for their stay.
If transport conditions are difficult, we might ask those ``extra'' observers to stay in Granada and make use of our remote observing station.
In winter 2000 - 2001, transports between Granada and the observatory on Pico Veleta are organized according to the time table below. Maximum snow car capacity is 11 people.
| Departure | Departure | |
| Granada - Veleta | Veleta - Granada | |
| Mon | 8:15 | 10:45 |
| Tue | 8:15 | 10:45 and 16:15 |
| Wed | no transport | |
| Thu | 7:00 (people & goods) | 10:00 and 16:15 |
| Fri | 8:15 | 10:45 and 16:15 |
The comment sheets received from visiting astronomers are a valuable feedback for the IRAM 30m staff to further improve the hardware, software and service at the 30m telescope. We read them carefully and try to answer them individually.
Now the Observers' Comment Sheets can be filled out electronically, which makes it easier for us to distribute them to the staff involved. The corresponding web page can be accessed under the URL http://www.iram.es/forms/ocs/ocs.html ; alternatively any comment can be sent by conventional E-mail to ocs@iram.es . Just give it a try.