Session Notes for RD0609 Prepared by D. Behrend, NVI, Inc./GSFC =========================================================== PURPOSE AND GENERAL NOTES =========================================================== The purpose of rd0609 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 rd0605 and rd0608. Wettzell and Kokee will observe INT I06319 and join rd0608 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 RD0609 Experiment description: R&D-09 2006 Scheduler: dbb Correlator: HAYSTACK Nominal start: 2006-319-18:00:00 Nominal end: 2006-320-18:00:00 Current yyyyddd: 2006319 (2006.87) ( 14055 MJD, WED. 15NOV.) Greenwich sidereal time: 21:38:43.00 (18: 0: 0 UT) Sun's RA and DEC: 15h 23.4m -18d 34.8 =========================================================== First observations Observation listing from file ./rd0609.skd for experiment RD0609 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Kk Ny On Wf Wz 4C39.25 06319-180000| 40 40 40 | 0133+476 06319-180158| 118 212 212 | 2145+067 06319-180648| 40 40 40 | 1739+522 06319-180844| 53 98 98 | 1749+096 06319-181156| 44 61 61 | OQ208 06319-181355| 104 230 230 | ...... 0059+581 06319-194108| 40 53 53 | 0119+115 06319-194309| 109 109 | 0106+013 06319-194524| 183 183 | 1611+343 06319-195003| 65 50 65 50 40| 1622-253 06319-195158| 103 103 | 2201+315 06319-195236| 92 75 92| End of listing. =========================================================== Last observations Observation listing from file ./rd0609.skd for experiment RD0609 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Kk Ny On Wf Wz 3C446 06320-174753| 40 40| 0003-066 06320-174919| 40 40| 2145+067 06320-175050| 40 40 40 40| 2209+236 06320-175212| 108 159 159 98| 0955+476 06320-175552| 62 56 65 65| 0642+449 06320-175730| 76 85 85 60| End of listing. =========================================================== SKED Summary from file ./rd0609.skd for experiment RD0609 (all scans with at least one subnet station) Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 7.7 Min = .0 Max = 135.0 (Baseline Ny-On on 1741-038) RMS = 12.2 Total time: 1439 minutes ( 24.0 hours). Key: Kk=KOKEE Ny=NYALES20 On=ONSALA60 Wf=WESTFORD Wz=WETTZELL Kk Ny On Wf Wz Avg % obs. time: 39 48 57 52 44 48 % cal. time: 3 5 5 4 5 4 % slew time: 11 21 24 16 11 17 % idle time: 46 25 14 27 39 31 total # scans: 261 459 410 372 398 380 # scans/hour : 11 19 17 16 17 16 Avg scan (sec): 130 90 120 120 96 111 Total GBytes: 4887 5959 7084 6430 5523 5976 Total GB(M5): 4344 5297 6296 5716 4909 5312 # of tapes : .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 tape change times (hhmm): Total number of tapes: .7 Total GBytes (M5) recorded: 26561.5 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Kk Ny On Wf Wz StnTotal ----------------------------------- Kk| 195 131 203 134 663 Ny| 366 291 353 1205 On| 257 358 1112 Wf| 238 989 Wz| 1083 Number of 2-station scans: 162 Number of 3-station scans: 150 Number of 4-station scans: 169 Number of 5-station scans: 90 Total # of scans, observations: 571 2526 =========================================================== Recording mode Name Code GEOSX8N 8F Recording mode setup for: 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 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) Kk Ny On Wf Kk Ny On Wf Ny 80 Ny 60 On 80 80 On 60 60 Wf 80 80 80 Wf 60 60 60 Wz 80 80 80 80 Wz 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).