Session Notes for RD0605 Prepared by D. Behrend, NVI, Inc./GSFC =========================================================== PURPOSE AND GENERAL NOTES =========================================================== The purpose of rd0605 is to continue the series of Gb/s tests. This session has all stations fully scheduled. The schedule uses 80 sources as the previously scheduled sessions rd0601 through rd0604. Wettzell and Kokee will observe INT I06200 and join rd0605 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 RD0605 Experiment description: R&D-05 2006 Scheduler: dbb Correlator: HAYSTACK Nominal start: 2006-200-18:00:00 Nominal end: 2006-201-18:00:00 Current yyyyddd: 2006200 (2006.55) ( 13936 MJD, WED. 19JUL.) Greenwich sidereal time: 13:49:33.00 (18: 0: 0 UT) Sun's RA and DEC: 7h 55.9m 20d 46.3 =========================================================== First observations Observation listing from file ./rd0605.skd for experiment RD0605 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz 0552+398 06200-180000| 40 40 40 40 | 1611+343 06200-180246| 40 40 40 | 0059+581 06200-180805| 40 63 142 142 | 1044+719 06200-181622| 40 58 79 79 | 4C39.25 06200-181914| 40 40 40 | 1334-127 06200-182111| 44 44 | ...... 3C274 06200-194532| 90 90 | 0642+449 06200-195114| 40 79 62 145 145 78| 0823+033 06200-195544| 73 73 | 1739+522 06200-195553| 40 69 69 40| 2136+141 06200-195832| 44 44 40| 2201+315 06200-200003| 137 101 137| 1803+784 06200-203507| 67 70 124 124 64| End of listing. =========================================================== Last observations Observation listing from file ./rd0605.skd for experiment RD0605 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz OQ208 06201-172942| 40 143 291 291 122| 2234+282 06201-173338| 137 137 | 1334-127 06201-173545| 40 40| 0235+164 06201-173828| 40 40 55 55 | 1611+343 06201-174106| 40 40 40 40| 0804+499 06201-174340| 210 129 210 174 118| 1053+815 06201-174807| 62 149 330 330 169| NGC6251 06201-175209| 137 137 | End of listing. =========================================================== SKED Summary from file ./rd0605.skd for experiment RD0605 (all scans with at least one subnet station) Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 5.3 Min = .0 Max = 135.0 (Baseline Ny-On on 1741-038) RMS = 8.5 Total time: 1435 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: 15 29 37 51 41 37 35 % cal. time: 3 2 4 4 3 3 3 % slew time: 67 6 18 22 13 10 23 % idle time: 14 61 40 23 43 48 39 total # scans: 245 169 328 310 273 301 271 # scans/hour : 10.2 7.1 13.7 13.0 11.4 12.6 11.3 Avg scan (sec): 53 148 97 141 128 105 111 Total GBytes: 1867 3612 4593 6274 5037 4545 4321 Total GB(M5): 1659 3211 4083 5577 4477 4040 3841 # of tapes : .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 tape change times (hhmm): Total number of tapes: .9 Total GBytes (M5) recorded: 23046.5 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Ap Kk Ny On Wf Wz StnTotal -------------------------------------- Ap|245 106 193 163 200 160 822 Kk| 169 138 100 116 104 564 Ny| 328 279 226 267 1103 On| 310 201 275 1018 Wf| 273 199 942 Wz| 301 1005 Number of 2-station scans: 81 Number of 3-station scans: 74 Number of 4-station scans: 84 Number of 5-station scans: 138 Number of 6-station scans: 36 Total # of scans, observations: 413 2727 =========================================================== 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).