Session Notes for RD0801 Prepared by D. Behrend, NVI, Inc./GSFC =========================================================== PURPOSE AND GENERAL NOTES =========================================================== The rd0801 is the first of two or more R&D sessions dedicated to the observation of high redshift radio sources (z>1). This schedule uses the frequency setting of the R1 sessions (256 Mbps), as well as the same SNR and weighting schemes. All stations are fully scheduled. The best 60 sources have been selected from a list of 515 not unstable sources with high redshift (z>1). The "high redshift" R&Ds were proposed by O. Titov (Geoscience Australia) with the goals of increasing the positional accuracy of high redshift radio sources for a more precise estimation of the Hubble constant anisotropy and of reducing the effect of radio source structure on the accuracy of the EOP estimates. Kokee and Wettzell will observe INT I08016 and join rd0801 at about 1950 UT. 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 may be required. Stations must plan for disk changes by referring to the drudg listings that display the number of Gb recorded during the experiment. =========================================================== Parameter values for experiment RD0801 Experiment description: R&D-01 2008 Scheduler: NASA Correlator: HAYSTACK Nominal start: 2008-016-18:00:00 Nominal end: 2008-017-18:00:00 Current yyyyddd: 2008016 (2008.04) ( 14482 MJD, WED. 16JAN.) Greenwich sidereal time: 1:42:12.00 (18: 0: 0 UT) Sun's RA and DEC: 19h 51.9m -20d 57.1 =========================================================== First observations Observation listing from file ./rd0801.skd for experiment RD0801 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Kk Ny On Tc Wf Wz 1038+52B 08016-180000| 43 62 62 | 2149-306 08016-180221| 200 200 | ...... 1617+229 08016-195255| 109 125 125 | 0335-122 08016-195400| 200 200| End of listing. =========================================================== Last observations Observation listing from file ./rd0801.skd for experiment RD0801 Source Start DURATIONS name yyddd-hhmmss Kk Ny On Tc Wf Wz ...... 1123+264 08017-173408| 40 40 | 0220-349 08017-173432| 200 200| ...... 3C418 08017-175633| 43 43 | 1745+624 08017-175637| 200 200 200| End of listing. =========================================================== SKED Summary from file ./rd0801.skd for experiment RD0801 (all scans with at least one subnet station) 4 chars/hour SOURCE | 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 | #SCANS #OBS #Obs/bl 0121+560| x x x x x x x| 7 59 7.0 0127+145| x x x x xR x S | 7 23 5.0 0130-171| x x | 2 2 1.5 0216+011| x x x x | 4 10 2.6 0220-349| x x x x x x x x x x | 10 10 11.6 0227+403| S x x x x x x R | 6 24 2.2 0229+230| S x x x xx x x x x x x x x R | 13 38 5.0 0319+121|xR x Sx xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx xx x x x x xx x x x x | 34 106 23.5 0335-122| x x x x x x | 6 6 2.7 0400+258|x R x x x xxS x x x x x x xx x x xx x x x x x x xx xx xx x x xx x | 35 129 20.1 0418+532| x x x x x x x| 7 59 7.3 0426-380| x x x x x xx x x | 9 9 11.5 0514-161|x x x x x x | 6 6 3.5 0514+109| S x xx x x | 5 7 1.5 0552+398| x x xR xx xx xx xS x xx x x xx xx x xx x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x| 45 236 30.8 0636+680| x x x x x x x | 7 13 1.5 0654+244| x R x S x x x x x x x | 9 32 4.7 0727-115|xx xx x xx xx x xx xx x xx x xx xxx x xxx x x x x x x x | 34 75 41.4 0821+394| R x S x | 2 9 .9 0830+115| x x x x x | 5 7 1.0 0919-260|x x x x x xx x xx xx x x x xx x | 18 18 19.6 0928+008| x x xx x x x x | 8 8 3.0 1015+359| R x x S x x x x x | 7 31 3.9 1020+191| R x S x x x x x | 6 19 3.5 1026-084| x x x x x x x x x x | 10 10 4.4 1038+52B| x xx x x x xx xx xx x x x xx x x xx x x x x xx x xx x xx x xx x x x x x x| 42 240 27.7 1123+264| x x x x x R x xx x S x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x | 25 80 11.7 1131+730| x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x | 16 138 13.8 1142-225| x x x x x x x x x | 9 9 8.6 1212+087| x x x x x x x x | 8 23 7.9 1232+366| x x x R x x S x | 6 39 4.7 1255-177| x x x x x x x x | 8 8 4.9 1313+200| x R S x x x x x x | 7 16 2.3 1356+022| x x x x x x x x | 8 20 5.9 1406+564| x x x x x x x xx x | 10 82 9.7 1424-418| xx x xx x x x x x | 10 10 51.9 1434+235| x x R x S x x xx x x x x x | 12 31 4.6 1435-218| x x x x | 4 4 3.9 1520+437| x x R x xS | 4 28 2.8 1535+004| x x x x x x x x x x x x | 12 24 9.2 1556-245| x x | 2 2 2.2 1617+229|x x x x x R x xSx x x xx x x x x x | 17 30 5.1 1722+401|x x x R S x x x | 6 20 1.9 1734+063| x x x x x x | 6 13 2.8 1745+624| x x x x x x x x x | 9 35 4.2 1830-21B| x x x x | 4 4 3.5 1848+283|x x x x x R S x x x x x | 10 20 2.5 1851+488| x x x x x | 5 35 4.7 2022+171| x x x x x x x x x x R S x | 12 14 1.8 3C418 |x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x xxx x x x x x x | 25 125 15.6 2134+00 | x x x xx x xx xx x xx xx x x xx x | 20 46 10.0 2136+824| x x x x x x x x x x x | 11 85 8.5 2149-306| x x x x x x x x xx xx x x x x x x x x x x x| 23 23 29.6 2201+171|x x x xx xx x x x x x x xx x x x x xx x xx x x x R xSxx x x x xx x | 36 103 17.1 2206+650| x x x x x x x x x x | 10 71 8.0 2207+356| x x x x x x x R x x x S x | 11 36 4.2 2301+060| x x x x x xx x | 8 12 2.5 2335-181| x x x x x x | 6 6 3.9 2351+456| x x x x x x x xx x xR x S x | 14 56 4.5 2356+196| x x x x R xS x | 6 19 3.1 Total scans, obs: 724 2453 4 chars/hour STATN | 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 | #SCANS #OBS %OBS KOKEE |xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx| 386 801 32.7 NYALES20|xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx| 461 1110 45.3 ONSALA60|xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx| 386 962 39.2 TIGOCONC|xx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx xx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx x xx xxxxxxxxxxx| 129 181 7.4 WESTFORD|xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx| 384 929 37.9 WETTZELL|xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx| 375 923 37.6 Average number of obs. per baseline per source(normalized by up-time) = 7.5 Min = .0 Max = 75.8 (Baseline Tc-Wf on 1424-418) RMS = 10.6 Total time: 1440 minutes ( 24.0 hours). Key: Kk=KOKEE Ny=NYALES20 On=ONSALA60 Tc=TIGO Wf=WESTFORD Wz=WETTZELL Kk Ny On Tc Wf Wz Avg % obs. time: 55 64 61 24 58 58 53 % cal. time: 4 5 4 1 4 4 4 % slew time: 18 19 22 4 15 10 15 % idle time: 21 11 12 69 21 27 27 total # scans: 386 461 386 129 384 375 353 # scans/hour : 16 19 16 5 16 16 15 Avg scan (sec): 122 120 136 161 132 133 133 # data tracks: 16 16 16 16 16 16 # Mk5 tracks: 16 16 16 16 16 16 Total GBytes: 1838 2161 2030 792 1958 1925 1784 Total GB(M5): 1634 1921 1805 704 1740 1711 1586 # of tapes : .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 tape change times (hhmm): Total number of tapes: .4 Total GBytes (M5) recorded: 9514.8 # OF OBSERVATIONS BY BASELINE | Kk Ny On Tc Wf Wz StnTotal ---------------------------------------- Kk| 249 122 83 231 116 801 Ny| 309 14 262 276 1110 On| 11 199 321 962 Tc| 50 23 181 Wf| 187 929 Wz| 923 Number of 2-station scans: 342 Number of 3-station scans: 181 Number of 4-station scans: 113 Number of 5-station scans: 86 Number of 6-station scans: 2 Total # of scans, observations: 724 2453 =========================================================== Recording mode Name Code GEOSX SX Recording mode setup for: KOKEE NYALES20 ONSALA60 TIGOCONC WESTFORD WETTZELL Mode Tot.Rate Tot.BandW #chan #bits Barrel Mk341:2 256.000 Mbits 128.000 MHz 14 1 16 Chan.BW #Subpasses Tracks(*fan) Tot.tracks Speed 8.00 MHz 1 16(*2) 32 .01 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 10.000 6.000 16.000 =========================================================== Tape types ID Station Tape length Density Passes Kk KOKEE Mark5A Ny NYALES20 Mark5A On ONSALA60 Mark5A Tc TIGOCONC Mark5A Wf WESTFORD Mark5A Wz WETTZELL Mark5A =========================================================== SNR Targets Minimum SNR by baseline for multi-baseline scans X-band (margin 5) S-band (margin 3) Kk Ny On Tc Wf Kk Ny On Tc Wf Ny 20 Ny 15 On 20 20 On 15 15 Tc 15 15 15 Tc 12 12 12 Wf 20 20 20 15 Wf 15 15 15 12 Wz 20 20 20 15 20 Wz 15 15 15 12 15 ====================================================================== DISK MODULE CHANGES ====================================================================== This session will require 1 or 2 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 may have to change modules during this session, and plan accordingly. There are a few of things to consider: 1) It is desriable to precondition all modules ahead of time that you will use for the session. Recording often works better if the modules have been preconditioned since their last shipment. If you don't have time to precondition all the modules that are needed, plus one or two spares, please precondition as many as you can. 2) 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. Unfortunately it is not possible to predict the module change times exactly. For various reasons, a module can be finished at a different time, usually earlier than expected. As long as a module does not end a great deal earlier than expected, this should not cause a problem. 3) 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 possible after it is called for, because then a new one is available in case the module in use should end prematurely for some reason. If you have any questions, please contact Ed Himwich (Ed.Himwich@nasa.gov).