Session Notes for RD0601 Prepared by N. Vandenberg, NVI, Inc./GSFC =========================================================== PURPOSE AND GENERAL NOTES =========================================================== The purpose of rd0601 is to continue the 2004 series of Gb/s tests. This session uses 6 stations fully scheduled. Gilmore Creek is not included; this reduced the number of observations from the usual 3300 to 2300. The number of sources was changed from 60 to 80, and the number of scans then increased to 2600. This schedule uses 80 sources. Wettzell and Kokee will observe INT I06025 and join rd0601 at about 1950 UT. 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 RD0601 Experiment description: R&D-01 2006 Scheduler: nrv Correlator: HAYSTACK Nominal start: 2006-025-18:00:00 Nominal end: 2006-026-18:00:00 Current yyyyddd: 2006025 (2006.07) ( 13761 MJD, WED. 25JAN.) Greenwich sidereal time: 2:19:36.00 (18: 0: 0 UT) Sun's RA and DEC: 20h 32.0m -18d 51.8 =========================================================== First observations Observation listing from file ./rd0601.skd for experiment RD0601 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz 1044+719 06025-180000| 40 56 78 78 | 0133+476 06025-180455| 47 184 239 239 | 1611+343 06025-181145| 40 40 40 | ...... 0552+398 06025-195131| 40 40 40 40 40| 1044+719 06025-195447| 40 258 55 76 258 51| OJ287 06025-195714| 148 148 132| 0727-115 06025-200038| 40 40| 1611+343 06025-200103| 40 40 40 40 | 1128+385 06025-200242| 308 159 308 160| End of listing. =========================================================== Last observations Observation listing from file ./rd0601.skd for experiment RD0601 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz 2113+293 06026-173758| 48 372 372 368 367| 0607-157 06026-174534| 40 40| 1611+343 06026-174656| 40 40 40 40 | CTA26 06026-174709| 40 40| 0552+398 06026-174951| 40 40 40| 1739+522 06026-175248| 40 112 70 131 131 67| End of listing. =========================================================== SKED Summary from file ./rd0601.skd for experiment RD0601 (all scans with at least one subnet station) Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 4.6 Min = .0 Max = 57.6 (Baseline Ny-On on 1741-038) RMS = 7.4 Total time: 1434 minutes ( 23.9 hours). Key: Ap=ALGOPARK Kk=KOKEE Ny=NYALES20 On=ONSALA60 Wf=WESTFORD Wz=WETTZELL Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz Avg % obs. time: 16 31 42 48 42 37 36 % cal. time: 3 2 4 3 3 3 3 % slew time: 68 6 16 20 12 9 23 % idle time: 11 60 37 27 42 50 38 total # scans: 252 168 315 297 257 285 262 # scans/hour : 10.5 7.0 13.2 12.4 10.8 11.9 11.0 Avg scan (sec): 56 158 113 140 142 111 119 Total GBytes: 2017 3827 5145 5994 5256 4539 4463 Total GB(M5): 1793 3402 4574 5328 4672 4034 3967 # of tapes : .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 tape change times (hhmm): Total number of tapes: .9 Total GBytes (M5) recorded: 23802.8 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz StnTotal -------------------------------------- Ap|252 126 201 163 208 160 858 Kk| 168 143 102 118 108 597 Ny| 315 262 213 250 1069 On| 297 187 260 974 Wf| 257 178 904 Wz| 285 956 Number of 2-station scans: 89 Number of 3-station scans: 57 Number of 4-station scans: 89 Number of 5-station scans: 115 Number of 6-station scans: 49 Total # of scans, observations: 399 2679 =========================================================== Recording mode Name Code GEOSX8N 8F Recording mode setup for: ALGOPARK 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 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 Kk Ny On Wf Ap Kk Ny On Wf Kk 80 Kk 60 Ny 80 80 Ny 60 60 On 80 80 80 On 60 60 60 Wf 80 80 80 80 Wf 60 60 60 60 Wz 80 80 80 80 80 Wz 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).