Meeting Information

• 1600 UT (1000 MDT)
• AOC 317; IP: 146.88.16.8; phone: +1 575-835-7370

Agenda/Minutes

News, Travel, Visitors (McMullin)

• Overall status: B configuration; continued operational issues principally rooted in issues with the correlator back-end software.
• Key dates:
  • 07 May - 15 Jun: 4-band science observing
• Staff Travel:
• Visitors:
  • 05 Jan - 06 Apr: John Cannon sabbatical at DSOC
  • 28 Feb - 28 Mar: Bob Sault

Hardware status and updates (Langley, Perley, Rupen)

• Array (Perley/Langley):
  • 31Mar: EA13 returns to array (31Mar; EA18 moves out).
    • List at: https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0Al6JLDuYrDsBdFV0SEhDblFmT0l5Sm9vSlh6QlVyaFE&hl=en&output=html
    • *Calibration*: Sault: Wobble tests/revised fshift algorithm (update). A few % effect; still reviewing; Zeeman effect maybe same phenomenon (did Zeeman reduced separately in Miriad and got the same results).
    • *RFI sweep*: Perley: Initial results. Book of RFI; review by engineers for internally generated sources.
• WIDAR (Rupen):
  • Notes (Rupen/Sowinski): Good: Episodes with all four quadrants operating; 4x recirculation tests. Bad: Continued missing scans. Ugly: Memory issues (which may be linked to the missing scans) have led to significant instability, observing time loss.
• Computing (Robnett):
  • New link to Lustre guidelines: https://staff.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/Main/LustreUsersDoc (Robnett).
  • Notes: New lustre node available (so 90 TB available).

Software status and updates (Butler)

• Links:
  • Software versions/updates: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/EVLASoftwareVersioning?sortcol=table;up=#Current_Software_Versions_in_Use
• Executor - updated CALC library to fix/improve planetary parallax calculations; update to MCAF to fix sideband issue identified last week. OPT tests on new production computer - chewbacca is ~3x faster.
• CASA Update (new functionality available/issues/enhancements):Notes (Miriam): 3.3 planning complete and distributed.
• AIPS Update (new functionality available/issues/enhancements): Notes (Eric): TYAPL fixed scaling (1.178); cleaned up integration times; TRUEP task is coming.
• SDM Update: Notes:

Commissioning Group Reports and Test Planning

• Key link: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/EVLACommissioningOrganization

• NOTE: Please cc me on submitted tests so that it can be assigned the appropriate priority!

Commissioning priorities for the week (McMullin, Chandler)

• Mon
  • 1030-1700: Testing/software development time
  • 1800-0900: Science operations and testing
• Tue
  • %RED0800-1700: Testing/software development time
  • 1800-0630: Science operations and testing
• Wed: Maintenance day
  • 0630-1700: Maintenance operations
  • 1800-0900: Science operations and testing
• Thu, Fri:
  • 0900-1700: Testing/software development time
  • 1800-0900: Science operations and testing
• Sat-Sun
  • Science operations + planned testing

• Plan to use Tuesdays/Friday as possible for science observing.

Issues Affecting Science Observing:

• Correlator: Missing/mislabeled scans in data sets (small percentage but recurring). May be related to overall issues with CBE; major focus
• Correlator: fshift sub-band anti-aliasing causing phantom spectral lines when using recirculation for narrow bands (only worry if Michael has to prep your file); Bob's report from last week; wobbles seem to be gone; Zeeman tests indicate another layer of problems.
• Correlator: time mislabeling in SDM data (non-synchronous operation between correlator dumps and CBE can require additional 1/2 integration time padding for online flags);Update from last week; no further work due to other CBE issues; will resume once this is solved.
• Array/Construction: Frequency offset tests (Dhawan/Rupen)
• Correlator: Delay rocking across bands. Barry has written a proposal; pending implementation
• Array: Amplitude wobbles seen on subset of antennas; phase jumps at scan boundaries also seen on subset of antennas (Ka, Q bands only thus far).

Commissioning Groups

• Correlator(Rupen):
  • dtEpoch testing and results (McMullin). No update.
• OSRO User Support (van Moorsel): Link: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/OSROTests
  • Notes:
• Observing Calibration/Flagging Strategies:
  • High Frequency (Claussen/Sjouwerman):Link: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/HighFrequencyObserving
    • Draft User Documentation: http://evlaguides.nrao.edu/index.php?title=Category:HighFrequency
    • Notes:
  • Mid Frequency (Dhawan):
    • Notes:
  • Low Frequency (Momjian): Link: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/LowFrequencyObserving
    • Draft User Documentation: http://evlaguides.nrao.edu/index.php?title=Category:LowFrequency
    • Notes:
• Observing Modes
  • Spectral Line (Goss/Ott): Link: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/SpectralLineModes
    • Draft User Documentation: http://evlaguides.nrao.edu/index.php?title=Category:SpectraLine
    • *Notes: POLCAL results for BP stability/band switch testing: https://bugs.nrao.edu/browse/ECSV-162
  • Polarization (Myers/Perley): Link: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/PolarizationModes
    • Draft User Documentation: http://evlaguides.nrao.edu/index.php?title=Category:Observing_Preparation
    • Notes:
  • Planetary (Butler):
    • Notes:
  • Scheduling/Rapid Response (Frail): Link: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/RapidResponseObserving
    • Notes: Minutes from last meeting posted at: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/23Nov2010
  • Adv: Solar (Perley):
    • Notes: Stephan White here on Friday to pick up work with Rick
  • Adv: Phased array/VLBA/VBLI (Deller, Lazio): Link: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/PhasedArray
    • Draft User Documentation: http://evlaguides.nrao.edu/index.php?title=Category:PhasedArray
    • Notes: Mark 5C scheduled to arrive 15Mar, out at site and ready 01Apr!
      • Summary Status: summary_status_forwardplans.rtf: summary_status_forwardplans.rtf
  • Adv: Pulsar (Brisken): https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/Pulsars
    • Draft User Documentation: http://evlaguides.nrao.edu/index.php?title=Category:Pulsar
    • Notes:
  • Adv: Astrometry (Mioduszewski):
    • Notes:
  • Adv: Low band (Owen):
    • Notes: Pick up starting 27 April with re-installation of dipoles
• Calibrator Models
  • Notes:
• HPC (Bhatnagar/Owen/Golap):
  • Notes:
• Imaging (Ott/Golap):
  • Notes:
• Algorithm (Bhatnagar, Owen):
  • Notes:
    • Tracking for MS-MFS: https://bugs.nrao.edu/browse/CAS-2480
    • Colloquium this week: Bhatnagar: Wide-band wide-field interferometric imaging: Challenges and progress
    • autoflag task: tfcrop ready for internal testing. Algorithm details, how to run/use it, parameter options and a fewsample plots are listed on:
      • http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~rurvashi/TFCrop/TFCrop.html Updates to this; please review.
      • The relevant JIRA ticket is : https://bugs.nrao.edu/browse/CAS-2676

Testing This week

• Correlator: Rupen: Subarray testing; CBE merge??
• Solar: Perley/Bastian: Solar observing tests (20dB testing); Software control of attenuator now available.
• Spectral line: Momjian: HI High resolution bandpass testing
• Spectral line: Momjian: Zeeman test follow-up

RSRO/ECSO Reports

RSRO B configuration status: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/2011BRSROStatus

Individual reports (updates)

Misc:

• RSRO Calendar: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/RSROCalendar
• RSRO DnC, C config status: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/2010CRSROStatus
• Test Project Codes == *TRSR*
• Guidelines for RSRO observing: https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/RSROObservingPreparationGuidelines
• Notes:
  • Current Residents
    • Hendrik Linz (POC: Claire Chandler); area(s): high frequency observing (calibrators); AC982 (RSRO-4): 200G/x7496
    • Ashley Zauderer (POC: Dale Frail); area(s): Time-domain science; scheduling. 10C-145/AB1369; 200G/7334
    • Hau-Yu Liu (POC: Juergen Ott); area(s): mosaicing

Demo Science Status

• https://safe.nrao.edu/wiki/bin/view/EVLA/EVLADemoScience

AOB

• Looking at a public web-based observing log (searchable) (Butler/McMullin).

Misc Actions

• [McMullin]: Review/recover metrics for Priority 0 items.
• [Perley/McMullin]: SPW/IF/BB lexicon and mapper
• Development of WIDAR guidelines document (Michael)
• List of known problems (can be used by OSRO commissioning team (van Moorsel)
  • • Med Priority [TBD]: Added. Phase change when frequency changes (needs to be tested).