For assistance on matters of building or vehicle maintenance, supplies, or direct assistance in lifting heavy objects, etc., you may request help from the mountain support crew by calling their building (ext. 5201). If you need to request more than an hour or two of support, check it out in advance with Karen Myres, the station manager.If you encounter problems with electrical power or communications, you should first check with the MMT operator (ext. 6747) to see if they know what the problem is, and, if necessary, call Tom Welsh, who manages these areas.
For small purchases of supplies, components, etc., consult Grace Alegria, our purchasing agent. Our truck goes into Tucson on Tuesdays and Thursdays to make pickups.
If you need to borrow tools, supplies, components, etc., beyond what the support operation can furnish, try the ridge operations (60-inch telescope and gamma-ray facility) first. These are basically Smithsonian facilities like IOTA, and do their business through Grace, as we do; therefore it is easy to replace things for them or otherwise to return favors. It is more complicated to work with the MMT in this way, because they are administratively separate, and do most of their business through the Univ. of Arizona. They are very gracious about furnishing small amounts of assistance, but we should not abuse their kindness. The basic principle of mutual help on the mountain is, of course, to ask first except in case of real emergency, to leave notes documenting any borrowing, and to be scrupulous about returning or replacing things.
The machine shop at the MMT is the only real shop on the mountain, and it is understood that others will use it, so long as they are both competent and suitably careful and courteous (which includes cleaning up after a job). If you need to use the shop facilities and are competent to do so, introduce yourself to Phil Ritz, the shop manager, and get him to check you out on shop usage. It is a good idea to introduce yourself to Dan Blanco, the MMT site manager, as well. Even if you have used the shop before, please check in with Bob Hutchins on each subsequent trip, to see what may have changed since your last visit.
Telephone numbers for mountain personnel are listed on the one-page Whipple Observatory directory sheet, on the FLWO Online Directory and also in the main CfA directory (which also give e-mail addresses).