RDV26 (Astrometric/Geodetic VLBA-26) 2001 March 12 Notes prepared by Nancy Vandenberg, NVI/GSFC Schedule name: rdv26.skd Pointing files: rdv26crd.br, rdv26crd.fd, rdv26crd.hn, rdv26crd.kp, rdv26crd.la, rdv26crd.mk, rdv26crd.nl, rdv26crd.ov, rdv26crd.pt, rdv26crd.sc ftp://aspen.nrao.edu/home/aspen6/astronomy/mar01/rdv26 Summary file for correlator: rdv26.sksum on aspen PCFS file: vlbigeo@cddisa.gsfc.nasa.gov/vlbigeo/mar01/rdv26.skd http://lupus.gsfc.nasa.gov/sess/2001/sesshtml/rdv26.html Nominal Start: 14:00 U.T. on March 12 (day 071) first observation at 13:45 U.T. on 1803+784 for Br-Fd-Hn- La-Nl-Ov-Pt-Sc first observation at 14:00 U.T. on 0552+398 for Hh-Ma-Mc-On-Wz first observation at 14:00 U.T. on 1803+784 for Kk-Kp-Mk-Ny-Ts Duration: 24 hours + 1 hour extra for Br-Fd-Hn-La-Nl-Ov-Pt-Sc Nominal Stop: 14:00 U.T. on March 13 (day 072) last observation at 13:07 U.T. on 3C120 for Hh last observation at 13:52 U.T. on 0014+813 for Kk-La-Ma-Mc-Mk- Nl-Ny-On-Pt-Ts-Wz last observation at 14:02 U.T. on 1803+784 for Br-Fd-Hn-La-Nl- Ov-Pt-Sc Correlator: VLBA at Socorro Station Codes # of tapes # of obs Occupation Code Brewster B Br 2.4 (TT) 328 76149901 Fort Davis D Fd 2.4 (TT) 340 76139801 HartRAO J Hh 2.0 (TT) 152 72326201 Hancock H Hn 2.4 (TT) 300 76185001 Kokee K Kk 2.0 (TT) 289 72983001 Kitt Peak L Kp 2.4 (TT) 337 76109401 Los Alamos M La 2.4 (TT) 347 76119601 Matera I Ma 2.1 (TT) 262 72435701 Mauna Kea N Mk 2.1 (TT) 271 76175501 Medicina C Mc 2.4 (TT) 313 72308801 North Liberty O Nl 2.4 (TT) 332 76129701 Ny Alesund Q Ny 2.1 (TT) 278 73313301 Onsala T On 2.1 (TT) 281 72137701 Owens Valley R Ov 2.4 (TT) 323 76165401 Pie Town S Pt 2.4 (TT) 342 72348601 St. Croix E Sc 2.4 (TT) 300 76159001 Tsukuba U Ts 2.1 (TT) 292 73452301 Wettzell V Wz 2.0 (TT) 242 72247801 Total number of observations (delay measurements): 29703 Total number of scans in the schedule: 570 Special notes for this session: - The VLBA stations will use automatic tape allocation and automatic tape reversal. - Most VLBA stations record two initial long (5-min) scans an. two final long (5-min) scans. - GGAO (MV3), Fairbanks, and Westford will not participate in this session because of a conflict with the IVS Technical Operations Workshop. - Onsala will participate in this session. - Wettzell and Kokee will leave the schedule on day 071 to observe intensive schedule i01071 which starts at 18:30. They will rejoin the RDV schedule at about 20:20 at pass 7F. Purpose ======= This is the second of six bi-monthly coordinated astrometric/geodetic experiments in 2001 that use the full 10-station VLBA plus up to 10 geodetic stations capable of recording VLBA modes. This year's series is a continuation of the highly successful RDV series begun in 1997. These experiments are being coordinated by the geodetic VLBI programs of three agencies: USNO, NASA, and NRAO. The experiments have been designed so that the same data set may be used by each agency for its particular goals. USNO will perform repeated imaging and correction for source structure. These sources will establish a set of core reference sources with known structure and precisely known positions. These data will provide the basis for evaluating the long term stability of the radio reference frame and the ultimate accuracy of wide angle astrometric measurements of extragalactic radio sources using VLBI. NASA will analyze this data to determine a high accuracy terrestrial reference frame. The data will incorporate the VLBA stations into the VLBI reference frame through the inclusion of other geodetic stations for which we have long histories. The data will also produce the most accurate Earth rotation results ever produced. We will use these data to make accurate absolute measurements of UT1. NRAO will use these sessions to provide a service to users who require high quality positions for small numbers of sources. While the quality of these results will be high, the observing and data reduction overhead required will be minimal because such sources can be incorporated into a session of the regular geodetic observations, instead of requiring special observations. Sources for this series of experiments will be selected using the proposed approach. For each experiment we will select a set of 70-80 sources out of the pool of ~400 Northern Hemisphere ICRF sources. About 40-50 of these will remain the same from experiment to experiment and will be chosen to optimize the goals of the three groups. Schedule ======== This is a new schedule generated by Nancy Vandenberg using sked. "Requested" Sources in rdv26 : none Yearly (Y), ROTATING ( ), NEW (N) SOURCES FOR rdv26 : N 1032-199 N 2149-307 0256+075 0420+417 0657+172 Y 0742+103 0743+259 0748+126 0805-077 0805+410 0917+624 1150+812 1155+251 1213-172 Y 1300+580 1406-076 1430-178 1546+027 1705+456 1800+440 1856+737 2023+335 With this session we continue rotating through the large list of candidate ICRF sources. The method was as follows: - Remove sources from the core list of 80 sources used last year. - Add up to 20 sources from the list of candidates that already have some NEOS or VLBA data available (rotating sources). - Add 2 sources from the list of sources to be observed yearly. - Add 2 sources from the list of candidates that have never been observed with the VLBA (new sources). The same criteria were used for generating this schedule as were used during the first year of these sessions. The criteria for sources to be mapped are a minimum of 3 scans and 135 observations. These criteria are relaxed for sources below -25 degrees declination. Most of the sources in this schedule meet the mapping criteria. The schedule was made using a combination of automatic selection plus manual scheduling to improve the coverage of the sources. Automatically scheduled scans were selected first on their improvement of sky coverage in the previous 1 hour, and then the best 60% were evaluated for the minor options: minimize idle time, minimize slewing time, and maximize the number of observations. An individual source was not observed more often than every 90 minutes. An early start of 30 seconds was used for the first scan on a tape pass. The minimum scan length was 40 seconds. NEW: RDV21 was the first schedule made with a new version of sked that takes advantage of the automatic tape allocation at the VLBA stations. For these stations sked assumes that any scan will fit on the tape pass and there is no need to run the tape to the end of a pass if the scan is too long to fit in the remaining tape. Recording Mode and Frequencies: same as previous experiment =========================================================== The data will be recorded using the following setup: 8 channels 1:4 fan-out 16 MHz sample rate 1-bit sampling This recording mode is designated 128-8-1. The correlator speed-up factor is 2. The frequency sequence covers 490 MHz in 8 channels. This span fits in one VLBA receiver passband but it uses both the high and low parts of the geodetic receivers. Because only 8 channels are available when observing with the VLBA stations, a wider spanned bandwidth is not advisable. With the 1:4 fanout at 16 MHz sample rate, all 32 tracks are recorded in one pass, so there will be 14 passes on a tape. These tables list the setup for the VLBA stations, the geodetic stations with VLBA back ends, and the geodetic stations with Mark IV back ends. These are the SAME frequencies used in all the standard RDV sessions. Geodetic stations: please read the special procedures in the next section! VLBA | Fairbanks | Kokee Chan Sky Tracks LO IF BBC | LO IF BBC #| LO IF BBC # 1 X 8405.99 2, 4, 6, 8 7900 B 505.99| 7600.1 A 805.89 3| 7600 A 805.99 3 2 X 8475.99 10,12,14,16 7900 B 575.99| 7600.1 A 875.89 4| 7600 A 875.99 4 3 X 8790.99 18,20,22,24 7900 B 890.99| 8080.0 C 710.99 5| 8100 C 690.99 5 4 X 8895.99 26,28,30,32 7900 B 995.99| 8080.0 C 815.99 6| 8100 C 795.99 6 5 S 2220.99 3, 5, 7, 9 2900 A 679.01| 1540.1 B 680.89 9| 1500 B 720.99 9 6 S 2240.99 11,13,15,17 2900 A 659.01| 1540.1 B 700.89 10| 1500 B 740.99 10 7 S 2330.99 19,21,23,25 2900 A 569.01| 1540.1 B 790.89 13| 1500 B 830.99 13 8 S 2360.99 27,29,31,33 2900 A 539.01| 1540.1 B 820.89 14| 1500 B 860.99 14 VLBA | Tsukuba Chan Sky Tracks LO IF BBC | LO IF BBC # 1 X 8405.99 2, 4, 6, 8 7900 B 505.99| 7680 A 725.99 3 2 X 8475.99 10,12,14,16 7900 B 575.99| 7680 A 795.99 4 3 X 8790.99 18,20,22,24 7900 B 890.99| 8080 A 710.99 5 4 X 8895.99 26,28,30,32 7900 B 995.99| 8080 A 815.99 6 5 S 2220.99 3, 5, 7, 9 2900 A 679.01| 1600 B 620.99 9 6 S 2240.99 11,13,15,17 2900 A 659.01| 1600 B 640.99 10 7 S 2330.99 19,21,23,25 2900 A 569.01| 1600 B 730.99 13 8 S 2360.99 27,29,31,33 2900 A 539.01| 1600 B 760.99 14 Medicina, Wettzell, Matera, Onsala VLBA | Westford, Ny Alesund, HartRAO Chan Sky Tracks LO IF BBC | LO IF VC VC# Patch 1 X 8405.99 2, 4, 6, 8 7900 B 505.99| 8080.0 1 325.99 3 H 2 X 8475.99 10,12,14,16 7900 B 575.99| 8080.0 1 395.99 4 H 3 X 8790.99 18,20,22,24 7900 B 890.99| 8580.1 3 210.89 5 L 4 X 8895.99 26,28,30,32 7900 B 995.99| 8580.1 3 315.89 6 H 5 S 2220.99 3, 5, 7, 9 2900 A 679.01| 2020.0 2 200.99 9 L 6 S 2240.99 11,13,15,17 2900 A 659.01| 2020.0 2 220.99 10 L 7 S 2330.99 19,21,23,25 2900 A 569.01| 2020.0 2 310.99 13 H 8 S 2360.99 27,29,31,33 2900 A 539.01| 2020.0 2 340.99 14 H Procedures ========== With continuous tape motion, the tape starts moving and recording at the beginning of the first scan of a pass. The tape runs and records continuously thereafter to the end of the tape (EOT or BOT). A parity check is done after the tape reaches this point. The tape starts moving in the opposite direction at the early start time (30 seconds) before the next scan. There will be a variable length of time between tape passes. For the VLBA stations, there will normally be a long enough time gap between passes for playback. Special procedures for non-VLBA stations ======================================== The tape motion in this experiment is different from normal start&stop schedules. At the time the antenna gets on source, you should see the command "data_valid=on" from the SNAP schedule. This is the signal that the VLBA correlator will use to determine when to start correlating this scan. At the time the antenna begins slewing to the next source, you will see the command "data_valid=off" from the schedule. This is the signal the correlator will use to stop correlating that scan. There will be no "et" command at the end of a scan. The DRUDG listing has a column that lists the time that the tape will stop. Note the "Start Tape" and "Stop Tape" columns list times only when the tape will start or stop, otherwise the time is blanked out because the tape is moving. For each scan, the "Start Data" column will be the time when the antenna is expected to be on source. The "Stop Data" column is the time when the antenna starts slewing to the next source. After the setup procedure, the tape is started at the beginning of each pass and will continue to move, at record speed, until it reaches the end of the pass. There are no fast tape motions in this schedule. The tape is continuously recording from the initial "st" command at the start of the pass. There are no other "st" commands during a pass and there are no other setup procedures called. If you have to re-start the schedule for a problem or emergency, you will be able to do it either 1) at the beginning of a pass or 2) in the middle of a pass by entering the setup and start tape commands manually. The problem is that the heads cannot be positioned reliably when the tape is moving if there is recorded data on the tape. If the tape is moving the reproduce power level can cause cross-talk with the head positioner and give false indications of position. Another problem is that the data disappears on tape while the formatter resets itself, thus largely eiliminating the benefits of continuous motion. At the end of each pass a parity check is done. You will need procedures named "checkf80" and "checkr80". Check and adjust the timing of this procedure and then make sure it can complete in the 100 seconds that the schedule allows. Special procedures for Medicina, Westford, Onsala, Ny Alesund, Wettzell, HartRAO, Tsukuba, Matera, GGAO ================================================================== These stations have Mark IV formatters. Use the procedures generated by DRUDG. These should be the same as the ones used in previous RDV sessions, starting with RDV13. This is a non-standard setup. There are 8 video converters used: 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, and 14. These were selected so that you will NOT have to change the standard geodetic IF patching. The 6 unused VCs 1, 2, 7, 8, 11, and 12 should be set to frequencies which do not occur in any of the passbands. Any value in the 100-200 MHz range is OK. The Mark IV formatters currently have no barrel roll capability, so please verify that your FORM command has no specification for barrel roll. The IF3 command in the procedure IFDSX assumes that VC3 will be patched to High. Please verify that the switches for your IF3 module are wired this way, and if they are not please edit the IF3 command to change the switches. If you have questions about the wiring, please contact Brian Corey at Haystack. Special procedures for Fairbanks, Kokee ======================================= These stations have VLBA back ends. Use the procedures generated by DRUDG. BBCs 3,4,5,6 are used at X-band with IFs A and C. BBCs 9,10,13,14 are used at S-band with IF B. The unused BBCs 1,2,7,8,11,12 should be set to frequencies which do not occur in any of the passbands. Any value in the range 500-600 MHz is OK. The formatter should be set up to use barrel roll. Please verify that you are using the same barrel roll as you used in previous sessions correlated at the VLBA. CHECKLIST for non-VLBA stations =============================== Please follow the checklist below to ensure you have done all the necessary steps for this experiment: 1. Make .prc file with DRUDG and check them out, or use the procedures from last session. Check out parity check procedures. 2. Make .snp file and listings using DRUDG options 3 and 5. 3. Set up your system to monitor the clocks with the "gps-fmout" or "fmout-gps" commands. If you have questions about this, please contact Ed Himwich as soon as possible. 4. Send a "ready" message an hour or so before the experiment to the ivs-ops mail list. Copy analysts@nrao.edu on your ready message. 5. Send a "start" message soon after you have started recording. Copy analysts@nrao.edu on the message. 6. At the end of the experiment, send a "finish" message summarizing how the experiment was conducted. Copy analysts@nrao.edu on your message. 8. Transfer your log files to your normal log file data center. The directories for three possible servers are listed below: directory on cddisa: mar01 directory on vlbeer: mar01 directory on aspen: /home/aspen6/astronomy/mar01/rdv26 NOTE: If you don't normally use aspen, you should not put your log file on that server. The VLBA correlator knows where to find your log files. Correlation =========== This experiment will be correlated at the VLBA Correlator. Tapes should be shipped to Socorro as soon after the experiment as practical. Summary ======= The following listing is a summary of the observations in this schedule. SKED Summary from file ../schedules/rdv26.skd for experiment RDV26 (all scans with at least one subnet station) Average number of obs. per baseline per source (normalized by up-time) = 3.6 Min = .0 Max = 18.2 (Baseline Ny-On on 1741-038) RMS = 3.0 Total time: 1462 minutes ( 24.4 hours). Key: Br=BR-VLBA Fd=FD-VLBA Hh=HARTRAO Hn=HN-VLBA Kk=KOKEE Kp=KP-VLBA La=LA-VLBA Ma=MATERA Mc=MEDICINA Mk=MK-VLBA Nl=NL-VLBA Ny=NYALES20 On=ONSALA60 Ov=OV-VLBA Pt=PIETOWN Sc=SC-VLBA Ts=TSUKUB32 Wz=WETTZELL Br Fd Hh Hn Kk Kp La Ma Mc Mk Nl Ny On Ov Pt Sc Ts Wz Avg % obs. time: 66 64 20 63 50 62 63 54 39 57 62 54 48 66 64 58 42 56 55 % cal. time: 3 3 1 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 % slew time: 26 26 32 24 14 26 27 18 32 22 26 17 21 26 27 24 15 8 23 % idle time: 2 5 45 8 31 6 5 24 24 15 6 24 27 3 4 13 38 32 17 # of tapes : 2.4 2.4 2.0 2.4 2.0 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.1 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.1 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.0 total # scans: 328 340 152 300 289 337 347 262 271 313 332 278 281 323 342 300 292 242 296 # scans/hour : 13 13 6 12 11 13 14 10 11 12 13 11 11 13 14 12 11 9 12.3 Avg scan (sec): 179 165 118 185 154 163 160 183 128 161 166 173 150 180 164 170 128 204 162 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Br Fd Hh Hn Kk Kp La Ma Mc Mk Nl Ny On Ov Pt Sc Ts Wz StnTotal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Br|328 304 24 267 225 304 312 159 177 241 301 224 198 300 304 239 182 164 3925 Fd| 340 34 276 219 331 339 153 169 238 315 207 189 304 332 263 162 155 3990 Hh| 152 48 0 28 35 110 100 0 40 56 89 17 34 66 41 84 806 Hn| 300 177 268 282 171 192 191 290 219 210 257 279 262 140 173 3702 Kk| 289 224 224 87 102 278 209 151 123 229 224 159 194 107 2932 Kp| 337 333 147 164 244 308 205 185 307 327 256 165 152 3948 La| 347 159 176 241 322 215 196 311 338 265 168 162 4078 Ma| 262 249 92 167 203 236 143 156 159 122 218 2731 Mc| 271 106 186 218 254 160 173 176 131 234 2967 Mk| 313 226 161 131 249 241 171 208 102 3120 Nl| 332 221 206 296 319 269 164 170 4009 Ny| 278 243 203 213 184 181 204 3308 On| 281 181 194 187 154 233 3209 Ov| 323 314 235 174 150 3830 Pt| 342 263 167 159 4037 Sc| 300 106 159 3419 Ts| 292 127 2586 Wz| 242 2753 Number of 2-station scans: 77 Number of 3-station scans: 49 Number of 4-station scans: 17 Number of 5-station scans: 27 Number of 6-station scans: 31 Number of 7-station scans: 27 Number of 8-station scans: 18 Number of 9-station scans: 26 Number of 10-station scans: 29 Number of 11-station scans: 50 Number of 12-station scans: 23 Number of 13-station scans: 34 Number of 14-station scans: 46 Number of 15-station scans: 32 Number of 16-station scans: 35 Number of 17-station scans: 49 Number of 18-station scans: 0 Number of 19-station scans: 0 Number of 20-station scans: 0 Number of 21-station scans: 0 Total # of scans, observations: 570 29703 Average baseline components for all observations Average XY = 4702. Average XZ = 3778. Average YZ = 3415. Average length = 5043.