• See http://wiki.gb.nrao.edu/bin/view/Mechanical/WebHome for shop work schedule

• Accomplishments
  • Device availability, and the ability to schedule e.g. receiver changes, is now in place
  • Work was done on: cleaning up the appearance (look and feel), calendars to show e.g. upcoming receiver changes and monitoring projects, importing Carl's project database into the DSS database, and including observer contact info, getting out statistical information on the schedule.
  • Larry has started a user's manual for the summer tests
  • Project meeting was held where we went over the calendar before the summer tests

• Upcoming
  • SDD group will be finishing the projected calendar/statistical analysis software next week
  • The database will be populated by all the backlog project next week
  • Larry will continue work on the user's manual
  • Only 12 more weeks until the tests begin

• Concerns
  • We are still short astronomers for the upcoming tests, but we are working on a solution.

• We changed out two of the Subreflector drive motors this week with reconditioned ones. One failed functional test, and appears to be a resolver issue. Time Weadon will take it to the vendor and discuss it with them. The original motor was reinstalled. A third one will be tried today.

• Normal maintenance activities.

• Power supply on converter rack needed to be power cycled after brown out.

• Phase Shifters and 45 twists returned from electroplating for finishing.
• Indentified a test dewar for single pixel tests.
• Completed thermal analysis for IR loading of wg window.
• Updated schedule with more detail as suggested by CDR panel.

We supported 19 projects in 34 observing sessions, including 1 VLB run. The telescope was also scheduled for 13 hrs of PTCS tests and 9 hrs of maintenance. We were at half speed for 16.5 hrs due to low temperatures. Lost time was rather high (16.6 hrs, about 10.5%) of which 13.4 hrs were due to one or another weather factors.

• Snow (3 instances) - 9.6 hrs
• Winds (7 instances) - 2.4 hrs
• Ka-band hardware setup - 1.6 hrs
• Power 'glitches' (2 instances, 4 problems) - 1.4 hrs
• Hardware setup problems (2 instances) - 0.7 hrs
• Observers scripts - 0.6 hrs
• Astrid - 0.33
• Others (Archivist, Low temperatures) - 0.1 hrs

We're hoping to isolate the cause of the Ka-band hardware problems during maintenance today or next week.

Using Zpectrometer, Andy Harris and Andrew Baker have a very solid detection toward a high redshift (z ~ 2.2) object that had been previously detected with the Spectrometer.

• • Visiting Committee handout produced
  • Modeled the effect of the center row actuator offset problem on the beam efficiency and sidelobes at 38, 43 and 90 GHz
  • Obtained the first all-sky Ka-band pointing run -- results looks good. There is no significant forward/backward offset, suggesting that the new hysteresis term in the model is working well.

Digital Electronics Operations -- Randy

Digital Electronics Operations -- John

• Spectrometer turned itself off. Turned out that a brownout THursday evening caused the chiller to go off-line and overheat the spectrometer.
• Nothing else to my knowledge

• • Developing specifications for new servo system

• GUPPI
  • Jason completed a preliminary 8-bit bit packing block for the initial GUPPI release. Later releases will be configurable for 2,4,8, or 16 bits of output word width.
  • Randy completed and tested a vector accumulator complete with buffer BRAMS since the output burst rate is faster than the 10 Gb Ethernet link. The BRAMS are used to FIFO out the data into the bit packing routine.
  • Only work remaining is to integrate the 10 Gb Ethernet "yellow block" into the design. John is the anchor on that part
  • Software being developed by Ron, Scott, Paul, and now Patrick Brandt, who is here on a 1 year appointment.
• K band FPA spectrometer
  • Discussions with Canadian NRC to possibly build a spectrometer for the array.
  • Developing specifications for spectrometer
• Got a new computer for building Xilinx designs. It has more cache and processor cores than our best machine, and should run a bit faster.

• Normal Spacecraft tracking
• Working on Ibob Spectrometer for low frequency mapping. Initial 2K channel version is operational and expect a dynamic web page soon.
• Expect MIT/LL group will arrive in early April with 1.5 to 3.0 GHz feed.

%META:FILEATTACHMENT{name="43mSpectrum.png" attr="" comment="43m 2K Channel Spectrometer" date="1204841214" path="43mSpectrum.png" size="4545" user="GlenLangston" version="1.1"}%

• • Items/actions completed:
  • Successful iteration of sponsor tests
  • Fixes for last of the defects found during testing.
  • MUSTANG OOF analysis handed off to PTCS/OOF team
  • Effort requests completed
• Decisions made:
  • First draft of tests to be run with MUSTANG during observation runs and criteria for selecting the run.
• Near-term activities (next ~2 weeks):
  • GB MUSTANG hardware team meeting
  • Finalize GB involvement in summer work on MUSTANG
  • Construct list of items to test/check for array #3 this summer

PTCS program -- John

PTCS program -- Marty

• Items/actions completed:
  • Telescope test time requests submitted (100 hours, 25% servo, 50% holography, & 25% other)
• Items/actions in progress:
  • Analysis of newly provided OOF data from MUSTANG scans.

Activities List

Activities List

Last Week =====

Observations for proposals BB240 , GBT05A-040, GBT08A-011, GBT08A-077, GBT07A-087, GBT07A-066, GBT07C-033, GBT08A-058, GBT07B-034, GBT08A-014, GBT06C-033, GBT07C-024, GBT08A-006, GBT08A-018, GBT05C-035, GBT07A-029, GBT07C-060, GBT07A-040

Completed proposals GBT07A-040

Next Week ===== Observations scheduled for ** GBT08A-076 [ B] Nissim Kanekar The nature of damped Lyman-alpha systems, as traced by their spin temperatures GBT07C-084 [F B] Laura Kasian GBT Timing of a Young Highly Relativistic Binary Pulsar GBT07B-020 [ B] Ingrid Stairs The Pulsar Triple System in M4 GBT08A-056 [ P ] Simon Dicker Observations with MUSTANG on the GBT at 3.3mm GBT07A-066 [ P ] Jim Braatz The Megamaser Cosmology Project GBT08A-057 [F B] Jennifer Donovan A Continuing Search for Wet Mergers in a Dry Sample GBT07A-101 [ P ] Clive Dickinson Ka-band CCB high-resolution mapping of spinning dust GBT08A-014 [ B] Jay Lockman On the Trail of Smith's Cloud GBT07B-034 [ B] Robert Ferdman Timing Binary and Millisecond Pulsars from the Parkes Multibeam Survey GBT08A-058 [F B] Léo Barriault GBT OH Observations at high galactic latitudes GBT06C-033 [FP ] Andy Harris A CO(1-0) Survey of Dusty Galaxies with Elusive Redshifts GBT08A-006 [F B] Tom Bania Solving "The 3-Helium Problem" GBT08A-018 [ P ] Nami Sakai Production Pathways of Sulfur-Bearing Carbon-Chain Molecules GBT07A-029 [ B] Dick Crutcher A Definitive Test of Star Formation Theory GBT08A-083 [ B] Daniela Goncalves The North Celestial Pole Loop GBT08A-073 [ B] Viswesh Marthi A deep search for associated HI 21cm absorption in red quasars GBT07A-051 [ B] Mike Hollis A GBT Legacy Survey of Prebiotic Molecules Toward SgrB2?(N-LMH) and TMC-1 GBT07C-060 [ B] Fernando Camilo GLAST timing at GBT: six key radio-faint pulsars ** Scheduled as F-ixed, P-rimary, B-ackup

Contact Information for 03/20/2008 - 04/03/2008 =================================== Proposal PI Bands Email [NRAO contact]

Scheduled hours [backup] ==================== Category/Month-> March April May Astronomy ~ 655 [415] 622 [480] 599 [361] Maintenance ~ 22 [068] 9 [102] 42 [051] Test & Comm ~ 44 [024] 56 [040] 43 [032] Un-assigned ~ 23 34 60

Proposal Checkouts #[hrs]* ===================== Awaiting checkout - 0[0] Active checkout - 0[0] On Hold - 0[0] Schedule - 114[2915] Completed - 537[6566] * All but completed queue applies to GBT only proposals

Current backlog of Reg & RRS proposals [hours prior to 08A*] = 1374 [2005:63(5), 2006:251(10), 2007:1060(44)] Backlog includes 67 hrs of monitoring projects 292 hrs of vlbi projects Total time to discharge [hours] = 4704 Includes 114 hours++ of monitoring (not Large or Spec) after trimester 08A

1. 1. 1. 1. hours of Regular & RRS proposals
         2. hours of Large proposals
         3. hours of VLBI proposals

• Operational Support:
  • Investigate cause of Warning status on LO1A with no message - no leads yet, but no reoccurrence either
  • Brought Spectral Processor back up after power hit
  • Sdfits user support
  • Minor BOS support
  • Observing script writing support
• PlanOfRecordC22008

Parts for the servo room arrived and I am on the telescope right now fitting them.

• Accomplishments since last report
  • A Zpectrometer chassis power connector was causing noise. The connector was unplugged and re-plugged which eliminates the noise temporarily.

• Upcoming activities
  • Andy Harris will replace the noisy power connector on Friday the 7th.

%META:TOPICINFO{author="RichardPrestage" date="1204819980" format="1.0" version="1.1"}% %META:TOPICPARENT{name="CommissioningMeetings"}%

GBT Operations & Commissioning Meeting

7th March 2008

GB137 and by video-con from CV-Conf

AGENDA

• Upcoming Activities -- Carl
• Operations
  • Scheduling Status -- Carl
  • Observing News -- Ron
  • Commissioning Plans -- Ron
  • GBT Telescope Operations -- Bob
  • Mechanical Division Operations -- Dennis
  • Microwave Electronics Operations -- Steve
  • Digital Electronics Operations -- Randy
  • RFI Group Operations -- Carla
  • Software Operations -- Amy
  • Computing and Network Operations -- Chris
  • Business Services -- Mike
  • 43m Operations -- Glen
• Project and Development Work
  • Dynamic Scheduling -- Karen
  • MUSTANG -- Brian
  • PTCS program -- John
  • CICADA program -- John
  • Ka-band Rx / Zpectrometer -- Galen
  • K-band Focal Plane Array -- Steve
  • Other Project Notes
• Upcoming Meetings
• Any other Business

Upcoming Activities -- Carl

Operations

Scheduling Status -- Carl

Observing News -- Ron

Commissioning Plans -- Ron

GBT Telescope Operations -- Bob

Mechanical Division Operations -- Dennis

Microwave Electronics Operations -- Steve

Digital Electronics Operations -- Randy

RFI Group Operations -- Carla

Software Operations -- Amy

Computing and Network Operations -- Chris

Business Services -- Mike

43m Operations -- Glen

Project and Development Work

Dynamic Scheduling -- Karen

MUSTANG -- Brian

PTCS program -- John

CICADA program -- John

Ka-band Rx / Zpectrometer -- Galen

K-band Focal Plane Array -- Steve

Other Project Notes

Upcoming Meetings

Any other Business

-- RichardPrestage - 06 Mar 2008