| PTCS Tests |
| Semester 07A - 1st February through 30th April (finishes one month early) |
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| Band | Task | Shifts | Conditions | Tentative Dates | Comments |
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| X | PNT | 2 | A | Pref Feb/March | Pointing checks under benign conditions, schedule ~ two weeks apart. |
| X | PNT | 3 | C | Pref March/April | Pointing checks under all conditions, schedule after above, and ~ two weeks apart. |
| Ka/Q | OOF | 1 | A | Pref March/April | Test new OOF techniques under thernally benign conditions |
| Ka/Q | OOF | 1 | B | Pref March/April | Test new OOF techniques under thernally extreme conditions |
| X | SERVO | 0.5 * 4 | D | Any | Four hour chunks to test servo improvements, need to move antenna |
NOTE: in the above table "1 shift" means one 8 hour observing shift, on average.
A - clear skies (low opacity), low wind (less than 2.5 m/s), thermally stable (00:00 - 08:00)
B - clear skies (low opacity), low wind (less than 2.5 m/s).
C - clear skies (low opacity)
D - any observing weather.
E - can be done in parallel with maintenance, but needs antenna at access and M&C available.
When scheduled this work may exceed the time required for other maintenance activities.
Total 07A requirements: 64 hours.
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| High Frequency Instrumentation (Ka, Q, Zpectrometer, CCB, Penn Array) Tests |
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| Spectral Baseline Tests |
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| Other Electronics Tests |
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| Software Tests |
Planning cycles for 07A include:
- Cycle 1: Jan 1 - Feb 15 -> Requested release date: 14 Feb 2007
- Cycle 2: Feb 16 - Mar 31 -> Requested release date: 28 March 2007
- Cycle 3: Apr 1 - May 15 -> Requested release date: 16 May 2007
Approximately 6-10 days prior to release date:
- Two blocks of 4 hours each for integration tests; full system and antenna. Preferably during a weekday.
Approximately 2-6 days prior to release date:
- One block of 6 hours for regression tests (full system and antenna) followed by around 8 hours of commissioning time.
- Notes: The commissioning time could be used for calibration tests, pointing, etc. The theory is that if the four hours of regression tests went horribly wrong, we'd revert to the current M&C version, the commissioning tests would then use the old version, and we could re-schedule. If the four hours of regression testing went well, the next eight hours would be a "sympathetic" observer using the new version, and a chance to catch/fix trivial problems. We'd revert to the current M&C version at the end of the commissioning tests.
Within +/- 2 business days of end of development cycle:
- One block of 4 hours for integration tests (to resolve/test any issues/solutions found during regression testing).
- We will schedule our release for a scheduled maintenance day. No additional time required. Ideally, it would be good to have a "sympathetic" observer scheduled to use the system directly after maintenance that day.
Averages 18 hours of time per cycle.
-- AmyShelton - 02 Nov 2006
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| Receiver Maintenance |
- PF1 - Two weeks in the lab Jan or Feb 07.
- C band
- Assuming the Penn Array is on the GBT starting about Sept 1, we would like to do the C-band upgrade in two phases: Phase 1 consists of the refrigerator upgrade and would be accomplished Sept 1 - Oct 15. RCO on the GBT after Oct 15 (or when the Penn Array comes off). RCO should be straightforward (2-3 hrs) since none of the electronics components change, only some cabling. The receiver could then be available for astronomy during November and December, including the global VLBI run in November. (Note: Phase 1 began about Sept 1, and the refrigerator upgrade has been accomplished. The receiver will be installed the week of November 13 - the Penn Array time was extended until that week. RDN 13Nov06)
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- Phase 2 consists of the replacement of the room-temperature RF electronics with an integrated package designed by Mike Stennes. We could begin that on Jan 2, and would like 5 weeks in the lab for installation and thorough testing, including with the Lab Spectrometer - so RCO would fall in 07A. Note that there might be some minor receiver manager (a few digital control bits) and Cleo changes needed during this phase - the details are not yet defined. (Note: The Penn Array will not be reinstalled in January 07, and perhaps not until the fall of 07. Hence, phase 2 will likely be pushed back until the 07 summer shutdown or later. RDN 13NOV06)
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| General Maintenance |
- February 1 - April 30
- One maintenance day (08:00-16:30) per week dynamically scheduled (Tue/Thu)
- priority of paired day possibilities: Tue/Thu, Wed/Fri, Mon/wed (confirm)
- Every Friday morning 08:00-12:00 fixed or dynamically scheduled
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| Track Refurbishment |
- April 30 - July 31 (inclusive)
- No antenna movement - see schedule
- August 1 - 31
- Antenna recalibration
- limited observing (?)
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| Gain Calibration |
- Twelve hours are requested for collecting gain calibration data once per month
- Every other month, a contiguous 12-hour session LST 0500 to 1500, in good weather.
- In alternate months, the 12 hours can be in 4-hour segments scheduled as convenient.
The good weather sessions will be for determining gain curves, the other sessions
for SCALs
-- Frank Ghigo and Ron Maddalena
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| Scheduling Constraints |
- Avoid scheduling project changes exactly at 0700 or 1900 ET to minimize operator overload
- Attempt to have project changes around 0730 and 1930 ET instead of at 0700 and 1900 exactly
- If not possible, attempt a half hour earlier around 0630 and 1830 ET
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