The SALT HRS spectrograph: instrument integration and laboratory test results

SALT HRS is a fibre-fed, high dispersion echelle spectrograph currently being constructed for the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). In this paper we highlight the performance of key optical components, describe the integration tasks that have taken place and present some first light results from the laboratory. The instrument construction is well advanced and we report on the attainment of the required mechanical and thermal stability and provide a measurement of the input optics performance (including the fibre feed). The initial optical alignment of both the fibre input optics, including image slicers, and the spectrograph optics has taken place and is described.