Session Notes for rd0510 Prepared by N. Vandenberg, NVI, Inc./GSFC =========================================================== PURPOSE AND GENERAL NOTES =========================================================== The purpose of rd0510 is to continue the 2004 series of Gb/s tests. This session uses 7 stations fully scheduled. Wettzell and Kokee will observe INT I05341 and join rd0510 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 RD0510 Experiment description: R&D-10 Scheduler: nrv Correlator: HAYSTACK Nominal start: 2005-341-18:00:00 Nominal end: 2005-342-18:00:00 Current yyyyddd: 2005341 (2005.93) ( 13712 MJD, WED. 7DEC.) Greenwich sidereal time: 23: 6:25.00 (18: 0: 0 UT) Sun's RA and DEC: 16h 58.0m -22d 40.5 =========================================================== First observations Observation listing from file ./rd0510.skd for experiment RD0510 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz 1611+343 05341-180000| 40 51 40 87 87 | 4C39.25 05341-180404| 40 40 40 | 0059+581 05341-180847| 40 87 93 93 | ........... 1357+769 05341-194543| 79 246 292 332 332 318| 1741-038 05341-195236| 40 40 40 40 | 0528+134 05341-195244| 45 45 40| End of listing. =========================================================== Last observations Observation listing from file ./rd0510.skd for experiment RD0510 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz 1606+106 05342-174441| 40 54 113 90 113 | 0003-066 05342-174454| 40 40| 2121+053 05342-175020| 40 58 95 95 52| OJ287 05342-175313| 54 67 67 | CTA26 05342-175319| 59 59| 1908-201 05342-175323| 40 40 | End of listing. =========================================================== SKED Summary from file ./rd0510.skd for experiment RD0510 (all scans with at least one subnet station) Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 6.0 Min = .0 Max = 56.1 (Baseline Kk-Ny on 1606+106) RMS = 8.6 Total time: 1434 minutes ( 23.9 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: 15 38 33 42 51 37 40 36 % cal. time: 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 % slew time: 68 19 10 17 20 11 10 23 % idle time: 13 38 55 37 25 49 46 38 total # scans: 243 286 172 294 277 233 279 254 # scans/hour : 10.2 12.0 7.2 12.3 11.6 9.7 11.7 10.7 Avg scan (sec): 52 115 163 122 157 136 122 123 Total GBytes: 1803 4738 4042 5154 6270 4553 4910 4496 Total GB(M5): 1603 4211 3593 4582 5573 4047 4364 3996 # of tapes : .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 tape change times (hhmm): Total number of tapes: 1.0 Total GBytes (M5) recorded: 27972.4 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Ap Gc Kk Ny On Wf Wz StnTotal ------------------------------------------ Ap|243 181 102 177 139 196 138 933 Gc| 286 165 222 161 161 161 1051 Kk| 172 109 79 88 80 623 Ny| 294 222 168 226 1124 On| 277 154 250 1005 Wf| 233 147 914 Wz| 279 1002 Number of 2-station scans: 129 Number of 3-station scans: 66 Number of 4-station scans: 72 Number of 5-station scans: 65 Number of 6-station scans: 76 Number of 7-station scans: 37 Total # of scans, observations: 445 3326 =========================================================== 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 1012.736 Mbits 506.368 MHz 14 2 NONE Chan.BW #Subpasses Tracks(*fan) Tot.tracks Speed 16.00 MHz 1 16(*2) 32 1.80 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 31.648 =========================================================== Tape types ID Station Tape length Density Passes Ap ALGOPARK Mark5A Gc GILCREEK Mark5A Kk KOKEE Mark5A Ny NYALES20 Mark5A On ONSALA60 Mark5A Wf WESTFORD Mark5A Wz WETTZELL Mark5A =========================================================== 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).