2004-10-14 ALMA Calibration Group Telecon Agenda and Minutes
ALMA Calibration Group Telecon
  • Date: October 14, 2004 (Thursday)
  • Time: 15:00 UT
  • Duration: 1.0 hr
  • USA Toll Free Number: 1-877-919-7148
  • International: +1-203-566-1039
  • Passcode: 5 1 0 4 6 8
  • Leader: JeffMangum

Table of Contents:



Complete List of Action Items


New Action Items

Assigned to Due date Description State Notify  
JeffMangum 2006-05-01 Seek guidance from ALMA Management on the question of ACA operation. In the meantime, group discussions should consider ACA-related issues within the context of specific calibration categories. (go to action) closed JeffMangum edit
JeffMangum 2005-09-15 Finish ALMA Calibration Documentation "Roadmap" (https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/Main/AlmaReference). (go to action) closed JeffMangum edit

Agenda and Minutes

NOTE: Discussion from the telecon is shown in italic.

Attendees

  1. MarkHoldaway
  2. RobertLucas
  3. JeffMangum
  4. JohnRicher
  5. AlisonStirling
  6. Jack Welch
  7. ThomasWilson


Calibration Plan

Thanks to those who contributed to the recent significant revision to the Calibration Plan. More work needs to be done on this document before it can be considered "done". Recall that we have organized ourselves into small groups concentrate on specific sections of the plan. I list below these groups, with the "lead volunteer" denoted in bold:

  1. Amplitude and Flux Calibration (Welch, Butler, Carter, Gibson, Holdaway, Mangum, Martin-Pintado, Kawabe, Wilson)
  2. Phase Calibration (Hills, Holdaway, Mundy, Richer, Stirling, Wootten)
  3. Bandpass Calibration (Guilloteau, Bacmann)
  4. Polarization Calibration (Myers, Holdaway, Laing)
  5. Pointing Calibration (Mangum, Lucas, Holdaway)
  6. Antenna Location Calibration (Conway, Wright, Morita)
  7. Antenna and Electronic Delay Calibration (Lucas)
  8. Optics Calibration (Butler, Saito)
  9. Total Power Calibration (Holdaway, Mangum, Mundy, Kawabe)
  10. Primary Beam Calibration (Holdaway, Wilson)
  11. Archiving and Accessing Calibration Quantities (Lucas, Mangum)

With regards the updates to the individual Calibration Plan chapters, with the exception of the changes identified through the Action Items, the Calibration Plan appears to be in pretty good shape.

All group members should read through the current version of the plan and suggest changes.


Calibration Group Use of the Wiki

Now that NRAO Computing has completed the installation of the external wiki, Mangum suggested that we adopt the wiki platform as a general interaction tool. In particular, the wiki can serve as an efficient medium through which modifications to the Calibration Plan can be made. All agreed which this approach.

Several points regarding use of the wiki:

  • In order for Calibration Group members to use the wiki, each person must first register at https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/TWiki/TWikiRegistration. Please let Mangum know if you have questions about this process.
  • Following John Richer's suggestion, I have moved all of the AlmaCal wiki topics from my wiki to the newly-created ALMA wiki at https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaSci. Note that if you mistakenly go to the old location under JeffMangum, you can still get to the new location (the wiki keeps track of where things get moved).
  • A nice introduction to use the wiki can be found at PatrickMurphyIntroToWiki. From this intro you can dig further into wiki capabilities.
  • When you edit a page you lock it.
  • A file lock will time out and release after one hour of inactivity.
  • A file lock can be overridden (please do not do this).
  • Please consider signing up to receive email updates of ALMA Calibration Group wiki page changes via the wiki WebNotify function at https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/ALMA/WebNotify. NRAO Computing will enable this feature in the coming weeks (given sufficient demand).
  • The wiki has lots of plugins (like one which allows for an interactive group action item list) which will be installed over the coming weeks.


Calibration Category Issues

The following is a list of "calibration categories" which Mangum suggests we should discuss on a regular basis (note the similarity to the Calibration Plan sections). Please suggest additions/deletions to the following list.

  1. Amplitude and Flux Calibration
  2. Phase Calibration
  3. Bandpass Calibration
  4. Polarization Calibration
  5. Pointing Calibration
  6. Antenna Location Calibration
  7. Antenna and Electronic Delay Calibration
  8. Optics Calibration
  9. Total Power Calibration
  10. Primary Beam Calibration
  11. Archiving and Accessing Calibration Quantities

To catalyze these discussions, JohnRicher suggests that we identify individual categories to discuss at each telecon and ask the leads for each category to suggest topics of discussion. JeffMangum suggests that we discuss issues related to the following three calibration categories at the 2004-11-09 telecon:

  1. Amplitude and Flux Calibration (Welch)
  2. Phase Calibration (Hills)
  3. Bandpass Calibration (Guilloteau)

The calibration category leads (indicated in bold) will suggest topics of discussion. JeffMangum will prompt the group for discussion topics at least one week before the next telecon.
Assigned to Due date Description State Notify  
JeffMangum 2004-11-02 Prompt calibration group members for topics of discussion within Amplitude and Flux Calibration, Phase Calibration, and Bandpass Calibration categories. (go to action) closed JeffMangum edit
Main.JeffMangum suggests that "interconnections" might be a good topic of discussion for each of these three calibration categories at our next telecon.


Amplitude Calibration Subsystem Development Reports

  • Berkeley Absolute Flux Calibration System (Gibson/Welch)
    • Still analyzing data. Many levels of correction needed in this process, making it quite tedious.
  • Semi-Transparent Vane (STV) Calibration System (ThomasWilson)
    • No new news from Jesus Martin-Pintado.
  • Multi-Load (ML) Calibration System (ThomasWilson)
    • MatthewCarter is working on a test setup in Grenoble. Load ready for testing in a few weeks.


Date of Next Phone Meeting

The next ALMA Calibration Group telecon will be 2004, November 9th 17:00 UT. Note that this is shifted by:

  • -1 day to avoid a US holiday (Veteran's Day) on November 11,
  • -1 day to avoid a conflict with the SSR meeting on November 10,
  • +1 hour to adjust for the return to Standard Time, and
  • +1 hour to avoid a conflict with the ASAC telecon.

Note that our "normal" meeting time will continue to be 16:00 on the second thursday of each month.

-- JeffMangum - 14 Oct 2004
Topic revision: r26 - 2013-05-21, JeffMangum
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