Session Notes for RD0602 Prepared by D. Behrend, NVI, Inc./GSFC =========================================================== PURPOSE AND GENERAL NOTES =========================================================== The purpose of rd0602 is to continue the 2004 series of Gb/s tests. This session has 5 stations fully scheduled. Ny is tagged along as station formatter repair might not be finished on time. The schedule uses 80 sources as the previously scheduled rd0601. Wettzell and Kokee will observe INT I06088 and join rd0602 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 RD0602 Experiment description: R&D-02 2006 Scheduler: dbb Correlator: HAYSTACK Nominal start: 2006-088-18:00:00 Nominal end: 2006-089-18:00:00 Current yyyyddd: 2006088 (2006.24) ( 13824 MJD, WED. 29MAR.) Greenwich sidereal time: 6:27:59.00 (18: 0: 0 UT) Sun's RA and DEC: 0h 32.7m 3d 31.8 =========================================================== First observations Observation listing from file ./rd0602.skd for experiment RD0602 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz 4C39.25 06088-180000| 40 40 40 | 1739+522 06088-180203| 72 153 153 | 0528+134 06088-180640| 40 62 94 94 | 0133+476 06088-180954| 181 248 248 | 3C454.3 06088-181456| 40 40 | OJ287 06088-193657| 40 134 218 218 | ...... 0552+398 06088-195035| 40 40 40 40 40| 1611+343 06088-195320| 43 40 43 40| 0727-115 06088-195545| 40 40 40| 0202+149 06088-195651| 137 137 | OQ208 06088-195755| 61 61| 0133+476 06088-200318| 57 179 180 329 329 179| End of listing. =========================================================== Last observations Observation listing from file ./rd0602.skd for experiment RD0602 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz 1418+546 06089-173017| 78 237 237| 1611+343 06089-173449| 46 40 46 | 3C371 06089-173743| 77 237 356 356| 0552+398 06089-174549| 40 40 40 40 40| 0642+449 06089-174819| 40 77 127 127 58| 0528+134 06089-175232| 62 91 91 40| End of listing. =========================================================== SKED Summary from file ./rd0602.skd for experiment RD0602 (all scans with at least one subnet station) Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 4.3 Min = .0 Max = 38.4 (Baseline Ny-Wf on 1741-038) RMS = 6.8 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: 18 30 24 48 42 40 34 % cal. time: 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 % slew time: 65 6 11 19 11 9 21 % idle time: 13 61 62 28 43 47 43 total # scans: 266 165 204 291 249 284 243 # scans/hour : 11.1 6.9 8.5 12.2 10.4 11.9 10.2 Avg scan (sec): 60 156 100 142 145 120 120 Total GBytes: 2285 3707 2945 5965 5192 4899 4166 Total GB(M5): 2031 3295 2617 5303 4615 4354 3703 # of tapes : .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 tape change times (hhmm): Total number of tapes: .9 Total GBytes (M5) recorded: 22216.1 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz StnTotal -------------------------------------- Ap|266 133 157 174 208 172 844 Kk| 165 95 91 119 100 538 Ny| 204 187 176 177 792 On| 291 175 258 885 Wf| 249 171 849 Wz| 284 878 Number of 2-station scans: 112 Number of 3-station scans: 75 Number of 4-station scans: 51 Number of 5-station scans: 106 Number of 6-station scans: 46 Total # of scans, observations: 390 2393 =========================================================== 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).