Session Notes for R&D-06 Prepared by N. Vandenberg, NVI, Inc./GSFC =========================================================== PURPOSE AND GENERAL NOTES =========================================================== The purpose of rd0506 is to continue the 2004 series of Gb/s tests. This session uses 7 stations fully scheduled. Wettzell and Kokee will observe INT I05172 and join rd0506 at about 1945 UT. Per the station request, 15 minutes are allowed after the nominal end of the INT schedules before joining the R&D. This schedule was generated using ultra-high minimum SNRs of 80 at X-band and 60 at S-band. An extra 3 seconds is added at the start of each scan for correlator synchronization. These extra seconds are not included in the calculation of the scan SNR. 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 RD0506 Experiment description: R&D-06 Scheduler: nrv Correlator: HAYSTACK Nominal start: 2005-172-17:30:00 Nominal end: 2005-173-17:30:00 Current yyyyddd: 2005172 (2005.47) ( 13543 MJD, TUES 21JUN.) Greenwich sidereal time: 11:30: 2.00 (17:30: 0 UT) Sun's RA and DEC: 6h 1.9m 23d 26.2 =========================================================== First observations Observation listing from file ./rd0506.skd for experiment RD0506 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz 4C39.25 05172-173000| 40 40 40 40 40 | 1739+522 05172-173241| 98 108 255 255 | 2113+293 05172-173523| 130 130 | ..... 0552+398 05172-194814| 40 40 94 40 94 43 48| 1334-127 05172-195121| 40 40 40| 1357+769 05172-195347| 75 241 292 321 321 296| End of listing. =========================================================== Last observations Observation listing from file ./rd0506.skd for experiment RD0506 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz 1923+210 05173-170649| 40 40 | 1611+343 05173-170839| 49 40 49 40| 0552+398 05173-171140| 40 40 213 40 213 40 130| 2121+053 05173-171653| 40 40 | 1606+106 05173-171711| 73 73 61| 0003-066 05173-171833| 40 40 | End of listing. =========================================================== SKED Summary from file ./rd0506.skd for experiment RD0506 (all scans with at least one subnet station) Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 5.5 Min = .0 Max = 46.5 (Baseline Gc-Ny on 2121+053) RMS = 7.5 Total time: 1429 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: 16 39 33 44 46 36 37 36 % cal. time: 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 % slew time: 66 18 8 17 19 11 10 22 % idle time: 14 38 55 35 30 50 49 39 total # scans: 238 282 182 284 258 222 257 246 # scans/hour : 10.0 11.8 7.6 11.9 10.8 9.3 10.8 10.3 Avg scan (sec): 59 120 157 133 154 138 123 125 Total GBytes: 2023 4868 4116 5439 5715 4424 4553 4448 Total GB(M5): 1799 4327 3658 4835 5080 3932 4047 3954 # of tapes : .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 tape change times (hhmm): Total number of tapes: 1.0 Total GBytes (M5) recorded: 27677.6 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz StnTotal ------------------------------------------ Ap|238 168 99 163 125 181 121 857 Gc| 282 171 218 149 148 142 996 Kk| 182 113 70 87 70 610 Ny| 284 202 146 200 1042 On| 258 132 226 904 Wf| 222 117 811 Wz| 257 876 Number of 2-station scans: 147 Number of 3-station scans: 68 Number of 4-station scans: 68 Number of 5-station scans: 78 Number of 6-station scans: 60 Number of 7-station scans: 29 Total # of scans, observations: 450 3048 =========================================================== 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).