Meeting Information

  • 1930 UT (1330 MDT) -- NOTE: Changing!
  • AOC 317; IP: 146.88.16.8; phone: +1 575-835-7370

Agenda/Minutes

Key: BOLD: Minutes/notes from last week; BLUENotes from this week.

News

  • Thursday discussion: 3-bit samplers deferred; focus on zoo of phenomena impacting basic OSRO data acquisition/quality.
  • PASEO meeting: Draft agenda revised; shortening presentation times; draft presentations due 28 Jun.
  • Staff Travel:
    • Chandler: 22 Jun - 27 Jun (vacation)
    • Dickman: 28 Jun - 01 Jul (GB)
    • Dickman: 01 Jul - 11 Jul (vacation)
  • Visitors:
    • Sonja Vrcic: 21 June -
    • Brent Carlson: 5 July- 16 July
  • Key Dates:
    • PASEO Meeting: 15-16 July

Critical Commissioning review/reports

  • Overall status: Tallest nail of lost fringes after ref pointing was resolved; residual issues
  • Highest priority development areas:
    • 1. OSRO blockers
      • Loss of fringes hunted down (Barry) to issue in Executor; resolved.
      • Michael suite of tests to systematically isolate the remaining behavior: 1) C band single frequency; 2) C band two frequencies, 3) C/K with single VCI (same sideband); 4) C/X (two VCI); OSRO1/OSRO2, etc (Report - Rupen).
      • Remaining issues: 1) phase jumps: EA08 (A/C), EA10 (A/C), EA11 (B/D), EA14 (A/C?, B/D); 2) amplitude jumps: EA01 (B), EA06 (B), EA10 (A), EA12 (C); 3) loss of scans (queueing of correlator configurations between CBE/CM); 4) zoo of issues from Cygnus A (Perley)
    • 2. Wide band widths (2 GHz)
      • Tests Friday exposed issues with the configuration that prevented data acquisition; 3 working racks now of BBprs. Plan this week to test as possible given the 1st priority to re-establish RSRO observing (at least at low frequencies).
    • 3. Switched power implementation
      • Numbers now looking reasonable. Awaiting write-up from Michael (Thursday)
    • 4. 3-bit sampler testing
      • Deploy on an antenna next week; possible testing with correlator the following week - EA22; 3 more antennas to be named later (criteria: newer antenna, has all high frequency receivers, not EA24, not clumped together, etc. Rupen - to name the remaining 3.

System Verification/Hardware Commissioning:

Testing and characterization of the array based on the design goals.

Targets

Area Target Priority JIRA Deliver Status
* Switched power gain correction 0 - now  
* RFI Sweep for all bands 2 - 2010Q3 Pending wide band widths

Reports

  • Antenna: Perley
    • EA06 status (pointing, working rxs)
    • Notes: EA07 in barn
  • Receiver: Perley
    • Ku rxs coming (2) next week.
  • Array: Perley
    • Lots of issues seen with the Cyg A dataset (Ants 8,18,10); phase hops, power jumps; 5% integer zeros. More next week.
    • Succinct list:
      • Phase jumps: EA08 (AC), EA10 (AC), EA11 (BD), EA14 (BD and maybe AC)
      • Amp jumps: EA01 (B), EA06 (B), EA10 (A), EA12 (C)
  • Correlator: Rupen
    • 5% zeros/dropped data due to loss of synchronization; working to improve this (Carlson).
    • Sonja visit

Observing Band Checkout

Encompasses principally core operation at those frequencies followed by detailed calibration strategies, flagging.

Targets

Reports

  • Low Frequency (L/S/C): Momjian
    • News/Data Updates: 10B-187 data review: Baselines to EA02 (E02) show a comb in Stokes LL throughout the observations (for instance, see the attached EA02_SPEC.png). The sky frequency is 1420.40575 MHz, and the bandwidth is 1 MHz. The spectral spikes are separated by 0.125 MHz. (ECDATA-261).
    • Status: Operating; users should include one of the canonical flux calibrators in SB.
    • Upcoming:
      • Need switched power
        • Develop set of observations to check Tcal/Tsys/SEFD across bands
    • Links: ECSV-38
  • Mid Frequency (X/Ku): Dhawan
    • Status: Operating; users should include one of the canonical flux calibrators in SB.
    • Upcoming:
      • Need switched power
        • Develop set of observations to check Tcal/Tsys/SEFD across bands
    • Links
  • High Frequency (K/Ka/Q): Sjouwerman/Claussen
    • Status:
      • Operating; users should include one of the canonical flux calibrators in SB
      • Reference pointing in C or X
      • No observing at Ka < 32 GHz
    • Upcoming:
      • Need switched power
        • Develop set of observations to check Tcal/Tsys/SEFD across bands
    • Links: ECSV-30

Observing Mode Support:

Testing and development within broad observing modes distinguished by their science goals (continuum, spectral line, polarization).

Targets

Area Target Priority JIRA Deliver Status
Spectral Line Bandpass stability 1 ECSV-35 2010Q3  
Spectral Line Doppler tracking 1 ECSV-32 2010Q3  
Spectral Line Spectral line setups; calibration procedures recommendations (OSRO/RSRO) 1 ECSV-31 2010Q3  
Polarization On-axis leakage calibration 1 ECSV-25 2010Q3  
Polarization R-L phase calibration 1 ECSV-25 2010Q3  
Polarization Observer Recommendations (OSRO/RSRO) 2 ECSV-25 2010Q3  
Polarization Beam squint calibration 2 ECSV-25 2010Q3  
Polarization Primary beam (off-axis) calibration 2 ECSV-25 2010Q3  
Polarization Polarization calibration service observation plan 3 ECSV-25 2010Q4  
Demo Science SBs for approved EPO projects 1 ECSV-57 2010Q3 Started for a subset

Reports

  • Spectral Line Modes (Ott/Goss): TSPE
    • Testing:
      • Spectral Line general commissioning tests (diff spw widths, diff frequencies, bandpasses, etc): ECSV-92 * Bandpass stability: ECSV-35: Report
    • Links: ECSV-19
  • Polarization Modes (Myers): TPOL
    • Status:
    • Testing
      • Polarization calibration L through Q:
      • C (ECDATA-12): Ready
      • L (ECDATA-42): Ready
      • Combined Low-High Pol checkout test (TPOL0003_sb1378180): Report
      • Post-processing (AIPS): AH1004 data checkout
    • Links: ECSV-29

  • Demo Science (Chandler/Condon): TDEM
    • Status: Begun; list requires prioritization; limited remaining time in D-config
    • Testing
      • Cyg A (Perley): SBs ready; Issues as noted above; will need repeat.
      • Crab Nebula (Frail): SBs submitted; 1 hour trial report (Frail)
    • Links: https://staff.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/DemoScience

  • Advanced: Phased Array (Lazio/Deller): TPHA
    • Testing
      • Adam/Joe gave a presentation on the goals & current/future testing for the phased array; activities are arranged taken advantage of opportunities without impacting other priorities. Key goal of demonstrating improved signal when adding antennas is the next step. Demonstrated on Friday last week!
    • Links: https://staff.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/PhasedArray

  • Advanced Planetary: TPLA
    • Testing
      • Cassini observations obtained.
    • Status:
      • Executor: Ready for testing (Butler).
      • SDM: Ephemerides/motion not supported.
  • Advanced: Solar: TSOL
    • Status: Planning/prototype testing ongoing; working with L, Ku (special Rx setups in these two bands). Perley: On sun fringe check with WIDAR.
  • Advanced: Pulsar (Brisken): TPUL
  • Advanced: VLBI (Walker/Brisken): TVLB
  • Advanced: Astrometry (Mioduszewski)

Observing Support:

Testing and development of the end-to-end capability of the array to support observations to the community (Documentation, OPT, Scheduling, Instrument models, Calibrator survey/models DB, Rapid response observing, demo science, post-processing).

Targets

Area Target Priority JIRA Deliver Status
Software CASA development cycle priorities 0 - now  
Software CBE averaging/decimation (time/freq) 1 - 2010Q3  
Software/Calibration Recommended data path for weights in calibration 1 - 2010Q3  
Flux Calibration SBs for Flux calibrator models 1 ECSV-43 2010Q3 Needed for D config (2 freqs/band)

Reports

  • Meta summary
    • Multi-config SBs in regular use; note 'overhead' in configuration changes; Must add 30 seconds to each configuration change - Gustaaf's group will check projects for this until relaxed, in particular, reference pointing must expand to 3 minutes..

Mode OPT Scheduling Executor/Corr Calibration strategy Archive CASA AIPS Data Distribution Other Overall Status
  wide band modes available only in webtest OST (reconciling status database)

OPT selected limits not possible
Running 20 Hz
18-May CM version

21-May CBE version

    - needs check on short pol'n runs Need decision on large (i.e., RSRO) data set distribution media   Operational for OSRO1/OSRO2
30s overhead with OSRO configuration changes
RSRO beginning

  • Software Systems (Overlord: Butler):
    • Versioning Page: https://staff.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/EVLASoftwareVersioning
    • OPT (Lorant): Slew times messed up; corrected but not yet in production; currently can't un-submit-test in webtest.
    • Scheduling (Joan):
      • First science projects scheduled through OST (last weekend); several issues with the finding algorithm/ability to execute projects. Testing of projects indicate no issues with OST-executed projects versus manual; results okay'd (Momjian, Chomiuk, Krauss). Truitt reviewing issue list from tests to improve heuristics for project selection/execution.
    • Executor (Barry): Changes this week
    • Corr (CBE/CM; Michael): Sonja in town; focusing on CM queueing issues/configuration clearing initially.
    • Archive (John):
    • Post-processing
      • CASA (Nick): Summer school tutorials went well; several comments that it 'looked like AIPS'. Release is out the door (release notes on CASA link; Nick); 3.0.2. announcement out.
      • AIPS (Eric)
    • ASDM
      • Priority 1: SDM total power/switched power table write-up (Rupen)
      • Priority 2: Flag table write-up (Myers/McMullin)
      • Priority 3: Scan table resolution; Resolved after the meeting (for now); STATE table contains the relevant information on scan intents; additional intents for pol'n leakage and angle calibration to be added. split bug currently doesn't copy STATE table (JIRA'd? - Myers).

  • Flux Calibrator Models (Amy/Rick): TCAL * Links: ECSV-43

  • RSRO: TRSR
    • Status: RSRO Readiness (Cycle1) Master List
    • Resident Schedule: Posted on home page of twiki now!
      • 01 Jan - 16 May: Adam Deller (AC982: RSRO-4): 300A
      • 31 Jan - 15 Jul: Laura Chomiuk (AS1015/AK726: RSRO-11/RSRO-6): 200C
      • 04 Feb - 01 Jun: Jacqueline van Gorkom (AV318: RSRO-13): 200D
      • 25 Feb - 01 Jun: James Miller-Jones (AM1014: RSRO-9): 200E
      • 02 Mar - 07 Jun: Manuel Aravena (AA330: RSRO-1): 300G
      • 16 Mar - 08 Apr: Dave Green (AB1345: RSRO-2): 300G
      • 20 Apr - 30 Jun: Crystal Brogan (AB1346: RSRO-3): 200B
      • 20 Apr - 30 Jun: Todd Hunter (AB1346: RSRO-3): 200B
      • 30 Apr - 15 Jul: Joseph Lazio (AC982: RSRO-4): 266
      • 07 Jun - 16 Sep: Laura Perez (AC982: RSRO-4): 200E Welcome
      • 28 Jun - 05 Oct: Volker Heesen (AH1006: RSRO-5): 200G
      • 01 Jul - 31 Oct: Russ Taylor (AT374: RSRO-12): 300G
      • 15 Sep - 15 Dec: Adam Leroy (AL746: RSRO-7): 200C
      • 01 Oct - 01 Jan: Hendrik Linz (AC982: RSRO-4): 200C
      • 01 Jan - 01 Apr: Jane Greaves (AC982: RSRO-4): 300G
      • 02 Jan - 02 Apr: Stuart Corder (AC982: RSRO-4): 300G

    • Current Residents
      • Crystal Brogan (POC: Claire Chandler); area(s): High frequency observing; demo science
        • This week: Review of Ka selfcal issues (with Myers)
      • Laura Chomiuk (POC: Miller Goss; area(s): Correlator checkout; Spectral line commissioning; OSRO data validation
        • This week: Not available
      • Laura Perez (POC: Claire Chandler); area(s): High frequency observing
        • This week: AC982 prep; RSRO/OSRO pointing analysis (as available); optics repair
      • Todd Hunter (POC: Claire Chandler; area(S): science support software interfaces for users and high frequency observing; band/polarization checkout.
      • Joe Lazio (POC: Claire Chandler): Low frequency observing.
        • This week: Phased array tests; rapid response pipeline; RSRO/OSRO pointing tests
    • Past (and future residents)
      • Manuel Aravena (POC: Chris Carilli); area(s): high frequency observing
      • Adam Deller (POC: Michael Rupen); area(s): phased array system design and implementation
      • Dave Green (POC: Sanjay Bhatnagar): area(s): algorithm tests for wideband imaging (currently away).
      • James Miller-Jones (POC: Claire Chandler; area(s): demo science use cases
      • Jacqueline van Gorkom (POC: Miller Goss; area(s): Correlator checkout; spectral line commissioning)

  • Science Support Team
    • McMullin: Scheduling/On-call; test data reviews; review X/C pointing results; PASEO Prep; FLAG table (with Steve)
    • Myers
    • Ott
    • Greisen
    • Dhawan
    • Kogan
    • Rupen
    • Krauss

Advanced Science Support:

These are the testing/development areas needed to fulfill the full capabilities of the EVLA along with additional observing modes for other branches of the community.

  • Astrometry (Mioduszewski)
    • Status: Wait for A array(?)

AOB

Misc Actions

  • [Rupen]: Develop daily/post-maintenance day checklists for the system. To be completed as part of stress tests.
    • Evolving to post-software/firmware/hardware update suite of tests
    • Stress tests still to come.
  • [McMullin]: Review/recover metrics for Priority 0 items.
  • [Perley]: Develop set of frequency accuracy tests (X band is complete).
  • [Wrobel/Butler]: Make use of API criteria consistent throughout tools (OPT->OST).
  • [Perley/McMullin]: SPW/IF/BB lexicon and mapper
  • List of known problems (can be used by OSRO commissioning team (van Moorsel)
      • Med Priority [Rupen]: X, Ku band subbands are inverted (IF 1 is labelled as IF4, IF2 as 3, IF3 as 2, IF 4 as 1). Noted that this had been tested but there were enough changes to warrant a re-do.
      • Med Priority [TBD]: Phase offsets within scans (phase jump at scan boundaries). R&L phase offset on some scans - probably L302 LO problem, needs tracking down. MR: Seen on EA07, EA25 (both RR and LL)
      • Med Priority [TBD]: Added. Phase change when frequency changes (needs to be tested).
      • Med Priority [TBD]: Anti-aliasing does not behave as advertised.
      • Med Priority [TBD]: Occasional zero-amplitude visibilities (needs software fix - what level). UVLOD and FITLD can handle this in AIPS; flagdata clip is effective in CASA; understood as a synchronization issue; currently at 5% of the data for 'most' observations. Carlson/Fort at work on mitigating/eliminating.
      • Low Priority [Rupen/Pokorny]: Delay clunking; software fix pending.
      • Low Priority [TBD]: First scan often bad.
      • Low Priority [TBD]: Phase (and amp) wobbles; long history.
-- JosephMcMullin - 21 Jun 2010

This topic: EVLA > WebHome > EVLACommissioning > ECSVMeetings > ECSV_21Jun2010
Topic revision: 2010-06-22, jmcmulli
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