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GBT Operations & Commissioning Meeting

10th February 2006

AGENDA

Az Track, Antennae Report -- Bob

Carol put together the request for NSF approval to award contracts. It is in Charlottesville's hands. I have also put together a WBBS for the project and given that to Mike and Christine, and have plotted a cash flow plan to track cost vs. budget. I'm also putting the finishing revisions on the project schedule.

GBT: The cable for the lower elevator came in and Bob and the mechanics are installing it this morning.

140': Dennis and I are visiting Sterling Engineering next week to discuss materials and fabrication methods for the brake springs - they have some new ideas, based on the results I sent them.

Observing News -- Ron

We had a remarkably successful week. We had about the normal number of proposals (17) and observing sessions (24), including two successful radar runs on Venus, a fair fraction of high-frequency projects, and one of the first uses of the CCB. Average setup time was under 15 minutes. The telescope was also scheduled for 8.5 hrs of maintenance and 13 hrs of software tests.

Nearly nothing to report concerning lost time. 2.1 hrs or about 1.5% of the time scheduled for observing.

Of the 11 incidents of lost time, only 1 (a Spectrometer computer failed to reboot on the first try) cost us more than 15 minutes.

Scheduling Status -- Carl 

Last Week
=========

Observations for proposals
   GBT06A-062, GBT05A-041, GBT06A-066, 
   GBT05C-042, GBT05A-011, GBT06A-001, 
   GBT04C-031, GBT05C-065, GBT05C-010, 
   GBT06A-014, GBT06A-027, GBT04A-038, 
   GBT04A-027, GBT06A-009, GBT05C-018, 
   GBT01A-005, GBT05C-019

Completed proposals
   GBT05A-041, GBT05A-011, GBT05C-010

Next Week
=========
Observations scheduled for **
  GBT06A-062 [F  ] Jean-Luc Margot
       Venus spin dynamics                               
  GBT06A-030 [F  ] Don Campbell
       Lunar surface studies via S-Band radar imagery    
       and interferometry                                
  GBT05B-042 [  B] Michael Kramer
       Timing and General Relativity in the Double       
       Pulsar System                                     
  GBT06A-066 [  B] David Nidever
       HI Mapping of the Extended Magellanic Stream      
  GBT06A-022 [F  ] Jim Braatz
       Water Vapor Megamasers in an X-Ray Selected       
       Sample of AGNs                                    
  GBT05C-064 [F  ] Jean-Pierre Macquart
       A Targeted High Frequency Search for Pulsars at   
       the Galactic Center                               
  GBT06A-001 [F B] Vincent Fish
       SiH: The Hiding Hydride                           
  GBT06A-013 [ P ] Jim Braatz
       Finding Signatures of a Maser Disk in a Quasar at 
       z=0.66                                            
  GBT04C-043 [  B] Scott Ransom
       Timing the Eccentric Millisecond Pulsar Binary in 
       Globular Cluster NGC 1851                         
  GBT05C-023 [  B] Fernando Camilo
       PSR J1833-1034, the Very Young Pulsar in the SNR  
       G21.5-0.9                                         
  GBT06A-049 [ P ] Tony Readhead
       Definitive Detection of Excess Arcminute Scale    
       CMB Anisotropies                                  
  GBT05C-046 [F  ] Ingrid Stairs
       Timing of a Relativistic Binary and other Pulsars 
       from the Arecibo PALFA Survey                     
  GBT06A-027 [F B] Karen Masters
       Mapping Matter in the Nearby Universe with 2MASS  
  GBT06A-028 [  B] Jack Hewitt
       Mapping Radio Recombination Line Emission Toward  
       SNRs W28 and W44                                  
  GBT06A-009 [ P ] Jim Condon
       H_0 and Dark Energy                               
  GBT01A-005 [ P ] Barry Turner
       A High-resolution Spectral Survey Of Tmc-1 At     
       Q-band                                            
  GBT06A-050 [F  ] Steve Begin
       Timing of the Binary and Millisecond Pulsars in   
       M28, NGC6624 and NGC6522                          
** Scheduled as F-ixed, P-rimary, B-ackup

Contact Information for 02/23/2006 - 03/09/2006
=======================================
Proposal   PI                 Bands Email [NRAO contact]    
---------- ------------------ ----- --------------------
GBT06A-051 Marcel Agueros     8     agueros@astro.washington.edu [Scott Ransom]
GBT06A-062 Jean-Luc Margot    X     jlm@astro.cornell.edu [Frank Ghigo]
GBT06A-030 Don Campbell       S     campbell@astro.cornell.edu [Frank Ghigo]
GBT06A-053 Scott Ransom       S     sransom@nrao.edu [Scott Ransom]
GBT06A-042 Raghvendra Sahai   K     raghvendra.sahai@jpl.nasa.gov [Ron Maddalena]
GBT06A-054 Paul Demorest      8     demorest@astron.berkeley.edu [Scott Ransom]
GBT06A-043 Larry Morgan       L     lmorgan@nrao.edu [Larry Morgan]
GBT05C-041 Marcel Agueros     8     agueros@astro.washington.edu [Scott Ransom]
GBT05B-042 Michael Kramer     L8    mkramer@jb.man.ac.uk [Scott Ransom]
GBT06A-066 David Nidever      L     dnidever@virginia.edu [Jay Lockman]
GBT05C-042 Scott Ransom       S     sransom@nrao.edu [Scott Ransom]
GBT05B-032 Steve Thorsett     L     thorsett@ucolick.org [Scott Ransom]
GBT05C-020 Tony Remijan       K     aremijan@pop900.gsfc.nasa.gov [Phil Jewell]
GBT06A-001 Vincent Fish       C     vfish@nrao.edu [Toney Minter]
GBT05C-032 Yancy Shirley      BQ    yshirley@as.arizona.edu [Ron Maddalena]
GBT05C-065 Jim Braatz         K     jbraatz@nrao.edu [Jim Braatz]
GBT06A-046 Glen Langston      U     glangsto@nrao.edu [Glen Langston]
GBT06A-014 Andrea Tarchi      K     atarchi@ira.cnr.it [Jim Braatz]
GBT05B-023 Adrienne Juett     SC    ajuett@virginia.edu [Scott Ransom]
GBT05C-022 Jim Braatz         K     jbraatz@nrao.edu [Jim Braatz]
GBT05B-034 Ingrid Stairs      L     istairs@astro.ubc.ca [Scott Ransom]
GBT06A-003 Chris Clemens      L     clemens@physics.unc.edu [Scott Ransom]
GBT05C-023 Fernando Camilo    8     fernando@astro.columbia.edu [Scott Ransom]
GM062      M. Orienti         L     orienti@ira.inaf.it []
GBT06A-004 William Reach      K     reach@ipac.caltech.edu [Toney Minter]
GBT06A-038 Tom Troland        L     troland@pa.uky.edu [Jay Lockman]
GBT06A-027 Karen Masters      L     kmasters@cfa.harvard.edu [Karen O'Neil]
GBT06A-049 Tony Readhead      B     acr@astro.caltech.edu [Brian Mason]
GBT06A-028 Jack Hewitt        C     j-hewitt@northwestern.edu [Ron Maddalena]
GBT06A-018 Joe McMullin       Q     jmcmulli@nrao.edu [Dana Balser]
GBT04A-038 Brian Mason        B     bmason@nrao.edu [Brian Mason]
GBT05C-026 Tom Devlin         XQ    devlin@physics.rutgers.edu [Brian Mason]
GBT04A-006 Joel Bregman       Q     jbregman@umich.edu [Frank Ghigo]
GBT06A-009 Jim Condon         K     jcondon@nrao.edu [Jim Braatz]
GBT05C-029 Trinh Thuan        L     txt@bluecompact.astro.Virginia.EDU [Karen O'Neil]
GBT01A-005 Barry Turner       Q     bturner@nrao.edu [Frank Ghigo]
GBT06A-060 Andrew West        L     awest@astro.berkeley.edu [Karen O'Neil]

Scheduled hours [backup]
========================
Category/Month-> February  March     April     May       
    Astronomy ~  510 [238] 613 [403] 542 [492] 477 [326] 
  Maintenance ~   33 [026]  23 [077]  16 [102]  20 [068] 
  Test & Comm ~  128 [028] 102 [041] 147 [046] 144 [039] 
  Un-assigned ~    1         6        17       103       

Proposal Checkouts
==================
Awaiting checkout - 0
  Active checkout - 0
          On Hold - 22
         Schedule - 71
        Completed - 452


Current backlog [hours prior to 06A*] = 1057
   [2001:7(1), 2002:60(1), 2003:19(1), 2004:182(12), 2005:661(34), 2006:128(3)]
Total time to discharge [hours] = 3222
* Includes projects that are on hold for trimester 06A

Microwave Electronics Status -- Roger

Operations:

Projects:

Other:

Digital Electronics Status -- John

Rich is on travel to DesignCon? this week.

No operational problems.

Progress is being made on the CCB construction, and on 43m upgrade work.

We have been assigned to work out the fix for the bias module connector problems for ALMA.

Software Status -- Nicole

Work on additions to the GBT Status application is complete, with the exception of the four lowest priority items on the MR

Penn Array FITS Header Keywords completed.

Standardization of different versions of Peak/Focus scan types: completed. Focus now requires that source be specified.

Add default LO1 tolerance to config tool. Completed.

Stop & Abort for Pulsar Observations: Not completed, due to uphaval caused by OS and compiler changes (no simulator available).

Spectral Line Capabilities in GFM for Astronomers. Network (NFS) issues prevent this from working as planned. Only works if GFM is running on earth (spectrometer host).

GBTIDLv2.0 w/Flagging. Development continues, flagging almost done.

GCC3/RHEL4 M&C Simulator now on-line.

2 integration tests of the new GCC3/RHEL4 M&C system completed.

Change Control Committee -- John

No meeting this week due to Zpectrometer meeting

Pulsar Related -- Scott

MIT/LL 43m Project -- Glen

Computer engineers will be in driving down with additional disk recorders. Jeremiah Gale, Hyrum Anderson, and John Stueve are planning to drive down on Monday February 13 and back on Friday February 17.

Carla has confirmed the 43m computer rack has sufficient RF shielding. She is coordinating the welding work to tighten the shield on the MIT/LL trailer. The welding should happen the morning of February 10.

John F. reports we're nearly on schedule, having to spend a little more time on replacing the limit switch cables with new cable. We have got the computer/network rack certified RFI-free, and Tim, Jerry and I installed it this afternoon. We still lack the MCB cable and the Linux PC to to Console serial cable for deimos.

We had to install it further to the North side of the building than we wanted to, since the old relay rack is still in there. Some fibers needed re-arranged, but we got it all back together, it seems.

Plans for tomorrow include John S., Preston, and David checking out the limits and forcing outputs on to test them, while Tim and I start working on bringing up the servo system on the new computer, and installing the citect system on the rackmount machine. We will debug as much of the system as we can on Friday and Saturday.

Glen has found a potential cause of the deimos.gb.nrao.edu hangup when wazat.gb.nrao.edu was off. An RPC client create was not being followed by a client destroy under this circumstance.

Steve White has a design for an up/down coversion system that will put the entire 100 to 1700 MHz 43m RF into the GASP IF at 400 MHz. We are discussing the possibility of building a part of GASP for realtime display of 43m data. This effort will be put on are project list and worked on as time and money permits. These components could become hot spares to the GBT GASP system.

Any other Business

-- RichardPrestage - 09 Feb 2006

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