Observations: GMVA@2 Gbps (DBBC2, Mark6)

Prerequisits

• Go through the system-setup and make sure the system is operational. Setup should be done in PFB mode.
• Make sure the Field System is configured for DBBC2 in PFB mode
• Assumption: Fibre cable is connecting the FiLA10G to eth4 recorder1
• A single module is loaded and connected into slot 1 of recorder1
• Make sure you have loaded the correct module intended for recording the GMVA session

FiLA10G Setup

• On the DBBC2 desktop double-click the icon labeled "fila10g_GMVAMode_Mark6.bat". This will setup the FiLA10G for recording on the Mark6 and will do the time-synchronisation. (The icon is a shortcut  to the following file: C:\DBBC\bin\fila10g_GMVAMode_Mark6.bat).

• Confirm settings. In the terminal window that has opened the last page lists the output of the sysstat command. Inspect the output; in particular check that VDIF timesync is showing "yes" and "Output" is showing "started" (see image below).

• Confirm the time synchronisation as described here.

Mark6 module initialization

• Skip this section if there is already recorded data on the module! The following steps will delete all data on the module!
• log-into recorder1 as user oper: ssh recorder1
• execute: da-client
• in da-client:

  mod_init=1:8:{VSN}:sg:new            replace     {VSN} with VSN as indicated on the module label
  group=new:1
  

Mark6 setup

• log-into recorder1:     ssh recorder1 -l oper -X
• execute:     m6service_restart
• execute:     da-client
• in da-client:

mstat?1

make sure the group is NOT in "open" state. If it is in "open" state you must first do:

group=close:1

Otherwise continue with:

input_stream=add:DBBC2:vdif:5032:50:42:eth4:::1
input_stream=commit
group=open:1
mstat?1

The last statement should report the group to be in open:ready state, e.g.:

!mstat?0:0:1:1:MPIH%016/48008/4/8:8:8:45160:48008:open:ready:sg;

Loading/starting the schedule

• log-into recorder1 as user oper: ssh recorder1 -l oper -X
• Download/copy the vex file into the directory: /home/oper/vex
• Translate the vex-file

cd /home/oper/vex
vex2xml.py -f {vexfile} -s PV

• Check the contents of the produced xml-file. It should not be empty and contain several scan entries, similar to this:

<experiment name="a90xx" station="PV" start="2015090003000"  end="2015090032200">
        <scan experiment="a90xx" source="3C279" station_code="PV" start_time="2015090003000" duration="420" scan_name="090-0030"/>
        <scan experiment="a90xx" source="3C279" station_code="PV" start_time="2015090004500" duration="420"
        <scan experiment="a90xx" source="3C279" station_code="PV" start_time="2015090031500" duration="420" scan_name="090-0315"/>
</experiment>

NOTE: If the file is empty check that the station code given in the vex2xml.py command matches the station code for Pico Veleta of the vex-file.

• Start the schedule
  • Method 1 (prefered):

start_gmva.py {xmlfile}

where {xmlfile} is the xml-file produced by vex2xml.py (see above).

The script will start the schedule and in the scan gaps will display graphical information about the 16 PFB channels (bandpasses, and 2-bit statistics). The output is also stored in text-format under /home/oper/GMVA/{code}.
 

• Method 2 (backup):

M6_CC -f {xmlfile}

where {xmlfile} is the xml-file produced by vex2xml.py (see above)

Field system

• log-into mrt-vlbi as user oper
• Download/copy the vex file into the directory: /usr2/sched
• run the vex file through drudg
• if not already running start the field system (click on the "field system icon" on the desktop)
• in the oprin window issue the command:

schedule={vexname}pv     (where vexname denotes the basename of the vex file: e.g. c171a)

End of session / Module change

When the session has ended or when a new module needs to be inserted:

• in da-client:

group=close:1
group=unmount:1

turn the module key off and remove the module.