1) Prepare the shell on lofarx with a running ssh-agent:
- log in on lofarx with "ssh observer@lofarx" from a machine in the mpifr LDAP network (e.g. your desktop or portal or so.)
- if it asks for a password, don't bother, it won't work. You can try running "kinit" on you local machine before doing the ssh.
- ssh-agent /bin/tcsh -l
- ssh-add
2) Boot up the station:
- log into the LCU with "ssh de601c"
- Check the destination of the beam-formed (pulsar) data:
- grep lofar /opt/lofar/etc/RSPDriver.conf
-
- The result should look like this for the lofarAN computers:
- RSPDriver.LANE_00_DSTMAC = 00:30:48:34:74:5f # lofarA1
RSPDriver.LANE_01_DSTMAC = 00:30:48:34:74:73 # lofarA2
RSPDriver.LANE_02_DSTMAC = 00:30:48:34:74:69 # lofarA3
RSPDriver.LANE_03_DSTMAC = 00:30:48:bb:90:2f # lofarA4 - and like this for the lofarBN computers:
- RSPDriver.LANE_00_DSTMAC = 00:19:99:ba:42:cb # lofarB1
RSPDriver.LANE_01_DSTMAC = 00:19:99:e2:21:46 # lofarB2
RSPDriver.LANE_02_DSTMAC = 00:19:99:e2:21:ba # lofarB3
RSPDriver.LANE_03_DSTMAC = 00:19:99:e2:20:ce # lofarB4
- (The destination for the TBB data is chosen later byt thedump-script, and does not require change of the swlevel)
- swlevel 2
- RSPDriver and TBBDriver need to be running
- tail -f /log/RSPDriver.log
- wait till no more lines: "port ??? has not yet completed sync or had errors, trying to continue..." show up for several seconds
- If anything strange appears, write it down in the observing logbook and tell the station team: lofar-ops@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
- end it with <CTRL-C>
- tbbctl --version
- all 12 TBB-boards should show up with their firmware and software versions, if one is "board not active", then please contact the station team for a "48V reset"
- swlevel 3
- In addition to RSPDriver and TBBDriver also BeamServer needs to be running
- beamctl --antennaset=HBA_JOINED --rcus=0:191 --rcumode=5 --beamlets=0:243 --subbands=100:343 --anadir=0,1.5708,J2000 --digdir=0,1.5708,J2000&
- beamctl --antennaset=LBA_OUTER --rcus=0:191 --rcumode=3 --beamlets=0:243 --subbands=100:343 --digdir=0,1.5708,J2000&
- This should reach "All pointings sent and accepted" pretty fast.
- hit <enter> to get a clean commandline
- Wait several seconds for all tiles to start up
- rspctl --rcu
- all 192 RCUs should be "ON" and in "mode:5"
- if some are "OFF", wait a few seconds and try again
- if some don't become "ON" then go bach to swlevel 1 and try again
- Check if the beam-formed data arrives at the correct computers:
- in another window, log into the data recording-computer and run:
- sudo tcpdump -ni eth1
- you should see lots of packets arriving
- rspctl --stati --int=3
- check if the spectrum of all antennas look O.K.
- killpointing
- hit <enter> to get the confirmation that beamctl terminated
3) Observe
- Go back to lofarx
- Run one of the scripts:
- tbb-psr-observe.py (only TBBs)
- tbb-psr-sametime-observe.py (only recommended for LBA observations)
- tbb-psr-HBAsingle-observe.py (Should work for rcumode 5 and 7, I'm unsure about rcumode 6)
- The scripts should manage everything you need for a TBB dump with interleaved pulsar observations. Call it with "-h" for help.
- You can put many calls to these scripts into one script to perform continous observations.
- During an observation you can check with "ps -fluobserver" or "top" if the data-writers are running.
- After an observation you can check the logfiles with "tail PSR_Logs/udpdump_pulsar.out" or "less /media/scratch/observer/TBB-dumps/TBBraw2h5.log"
4) Finish up:
- check with "ps -fluobserver" if there are lingering jobs on the lofarN machines. If there are, please kill them.
- shut down the hardware of the station with "swlevel 0"
Comments:
- If at any time RSPDriver, TBBDriver, or BeamServer crash ("swlevel" show them as "DOWN") you need to go back to swlevel 1 and boot the station up again. (And note the fact in the logbook.)
- If nothing fails there is no need to change the swlevel on the station when observing multiple pulsars. Just leave it in "swlevel 3"
