Session Notes for RD0503 Prepared by N. Vandenberg, NVI, Inc./GSFC =========================================================== Purpose: The purpose of rd0503 is to continue the 2004 series of Gb/s tests. This session uses 7 stations fully scheduled. Wettzell and Kokee will observe INT I05089 and join rd0503 at about 1955 UT. The new Algonquin slewing constants were used. This schedule was generated using ultra-high minimum SNRs of 80 at X-band and 60 at S-band. Early start is 3 sec, as required by the Mark 5 correlator. This session must be recorded on Mk5 disks. Multiple disk modules will be required. Stations must plan for disk changes by referring to the drudg listings that display the number of Gb recorded during the experiment. Refer to the last sections of these notes for reminders about testing and setup for the Gb/s recording mode. Testing prior to the experiment is essential for success. =========================================================== Parameter values for experiment RD0503 Experiment description: R&D-03 Scheduler: nrv Correlator: HAYSTACK Nominal start: 2005-089-18:00:00 Nominal end: 2005-090-18:00:00 Current yyyyddd: 2005089 (2005.24) ( 13460 MJD, WED. 30MAR.) Greenwich sidereal time: 6:32:53.00 (18: 0: 0 UT) Sun's RA and DEC: 0h 37.2m 4d .8 =========================================================== First observations Observation listing from file ./rd0503.skd for experiment RD0503 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz 0552+398 05089-180000| 40 40 40 40 40 | 1739+522 05089-180235| 73 78 171 171 | 0229+131 05089-180654| 49 149 142 268 268 | ..... 0059+581 05089-195439| 40 47 187 43 187 81 105| NRAO150 05089-195943| 40 40 | 1611+343 05089-200018| 55 54 40 55 40| End of listing. End of listing. =========================================================== Last observations Observation listing from file ./rd0503.skd for experiment RD0503 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz 2145+067 05090-174446| 40 40 40 40 | OJ287 05090-174718| 108 108 97| 1741-038 05090-174729| 40 40 | 1606+106 05090-174857| 40 40 | 3C454.3 05090-174935| 40 40 | 0727-115 05090-175004| 40 40| End of listing. =========================================================== SKED Summary from file ./rd0503.skd for experiment RD0503 (all scans with at least one subnet station) Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 6.1 Min = .0 Max = 90.0 (Baseline Ny-On on 1741-038) RMS = 8.6 Total time: 1430 minutes ( 23.8 hours). Key: Ap=ALGOPARK Gc=GILCREEK Kk=KOKEE Ny=NYALES20 On=ONSALA60 Wf=WESTFORD Wz=WETTZELL Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz Avg % obs. time: 14 38 35 44 36 44 36 35 % cal. time: 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 % slew time: 68 19 9 17 18 11 10 22 % idle time: 14 38 53 33 42 41 49 38 total # scans: 247 290 187 295 240 248 263 252 # scans/hour : 10.4 12.2 7.8 12.4 10.1 10.4 11.0 10.6 Avg scan (sec): 50 114 160 130 131 153 120 122 Total GB(M5): 1588 4241 3847 4909 4027 4866 4062 3935 Total number of GBytes (M5) recorded: 27543.9 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz StnTotal ------------------------------------------ Ap|247 193 112 187 109 209 130 940 Gc| 290 177 231 129 183 152 1065 Kk| 187 125 56 113 81 664 Ny| 295 187 185 206 1121 On| 240 127 211 819 Wf| 248 139 956 Wz| 263 919 Number of 2-station scans: 131 Number of 3-station scans: 58 Number of 4-station scans: 65 Number of 5-station scans: 93 Number of 6-station scans: 70 Number of 7-station scans: 27 Total # of scans, observations: 444 3242 =========================================================== Recording mode Name Code GEOSX8N 8F Recording mode setup for: ALGOPARK GILCREEK KOKEE NYALES20 ONSALA60 WESTFORD WETTZELL Mode Tot.Rate Tot.BandW #chan #bits Barrel Mk341:2 1024.000 Mbits 512.000 MHz 14 2 NONE Chan.BW #Subpasses Tracks(*fan) Tot.tracks Speed 16.00 MHz 1 16(*2) 32 3.20 X-band spanned bw= 720.0 MHz rms spanned bw= 280.4 MHz S-band spanned bw= 140.0 MHz rms spanned bw= 50.9 MHz Effective number of channels recorded per sub-pass X S Total 19.780 11.868 32.000 =========================================================== Tape types ID Station Tape length Density Passes Ap ALGOPARK 17400feet (Thin ) 5625000 (DUPER ) 7 Gc GILCREEK 17400feet (Thin ) 5625000 (DUPER ) 7 Kk KOKEE 17400feet (Thin ) 5625000 (DUPER ) 7 Ny NYALES20 17400feet (Thin ) 5625000 (DUPER ) 7 On ONSALA60 17400feet (Thin ) 5625000 (DUPER ) 7 Wf WESTFORD 17400feet (Thin ) 5625000 (DUPER ) 7 Wz WETTZELL 17400feet (Thin ) 5625000 (DUPER ) 7 =========================================================== SNR Targets Minimum SNR by baseline for multi-baseline scans X-band (margin 0) S-band (margin 0) Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Gc 80 Gc 60 Kk 80 80 Kk 60 60 Ny 80 80 80 Ny 60 60 60 On 80 80 80 80 On 60 60 60 60 Wf 80 80 80 80 80 Wf 60 60 60 60 60 Wz 80 80 80 80 80 80 Wz 60 60 60 60 60 60 =========================================================== TESTING AND SETUP ====================================================================== This session requires 4 ribbon cables between the Formatter and the Mark 5 Recorder. If one of these cables is missing, the correlator will not be able to read any of the data. Mark 4 stations should run ftp://web.haystack.edu/pub/mark5/SNAP/chk1024.snp with ftp://web.haystack.edu/pub/mark5/SNAP/chk1024.prc VLBA4 stations such as Kokee Park, should run ftp://web.haystack.edu/pub/mark5/SNAP/vchk1024.snp and ftp://web.haystack.edu/pub/mark5/SNAP/vchk1024.prc Send a copy of the log to dsmythe@haystack.mit.edu, or put a copy in the misc directory on cddisa, with a follow-up e-mail to dsmythe. Do not touch any of the cables between the Formatter and the Mark 5 Recorder after this test has been run without any errors. ====================================================================== DISK MODULE CHANGES ====================================================================== This session will require 2, 3 or 4 disk modules, depending on the sizes that you have available at your station. DRUDG does not know the sizes, so it shows an ever-increasing GByte count. Please be aware that you will have to change modules several times during this session, and plan accordingly. There are several things to consider: 1) Mark module change times. Select the modules you will use for this session, note their sizes, and then mark by hand the places in the schedule where a module change will be necessary, and which bank will need to be changed. You can use the drudg Option 5 listing for this purpose. 2) Change modules promptly. When a module is full, the FS will automatically switch to the next one and put up a notice that you should change the old one. It is good practice to change the module as soon as it's called for, because then you are ready to record on the new one. 3) Create prompt window. The notice to change the disk module will scroll off the screen pretty quickly and you might miss it. It is possible, using the fs.prompt program, to create a prompt window on the screen with a message that you should replace the module. The window will stay there until you dismiss it by clicking on "continue". It is possible to do this so that the schedule will not be blocked while the window is displayed. To do this, edit your "change_pack" procedure and insert the following line as the first line: sy=fs.prompt "change disk module that is not selected" & The use of the "&" at the end is of the line is crucial to making sure that the schedule is not blocked. Please make sure you enter the line exactly as shown (you can adjust the message inside the quotes). One thing to be aware of is that the prompt will not tell you which module to change, so you must be careful to select the right one, i.e., the one that is not currently selected. If you have any questions, please contact Ed Himwich (weh@ivscc.gsfc.nasa.gov).