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EVN SPARE PARTS:
- Directors agreed each institute to invest ~3000 € in spare parts (see minutes from TOG-meeting at Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico, USA, 29/30 Aug 2011)
EVN DISK POOL:
- Stations should spend 7 keur/year on the purchase of disks.
IN ADVANCE OF SESSION:
- Stations should ensure SCHED catalogue information is up-to-date.
- Stations should update the page of the disk inventory. (Contact Alef to gain access.) They should also indicate the disk space on new modules by e-mail to Lindqvist.
SESSION PREPARATION:
- Gunn to send email before each session when the final versions of all schedules are ready for download.
- All should check that Mk5 modules are placed squarely on a flat surface when received; otherwise connectors are easily damaged when bent 8 packs get inserted in Mark 5 units.
- All stations should condition disk packs if time permits, especially those which are to be used for1 Gbps recording. If a disk pack is found to be not suitable for 1 Gbps recording, the label can be changed to 512 Mbps.
- All stations which do both astronomy and geodesy should clearly distinguish between astronomicaland geodetic 8 packs and ensure there is no ”leakage” into the wrong pool, as mixing pools cancreate problems for scheduling.
- Disk packs should be shipped with one European and one US address on covers so they can be easily returned in case a shipment is lost in transit.
DURING SESSIONS:
- All stations should look at data regularly with chchk program, use it to locate significant RFI, report the results to Yun and CRAF representatives and enter them into the RFI-database, and use it to check phasecal throughout the session. The chchk program can be run in gaps, or for example on ftp data files.
- All stations should monitor Tcal throughout sessions. This can be done by running ANTABFS and plotting the results.
- All stations should forward FS error log files to Himwich in the event of a crash, including details of what the FS was doing when the crash occurred.
- All stations should try to run the FS diagnostic tests and investigate the results.
- All stations should ship disk packs as soon as they are full, at least once per week, following the Bologna rules.
POST SESSION FEEDBACK:
- All stations should look at pipeline results available from the EVN data archive pages at JIVE, in particular amplitude corrections found by selfcal on strong, compact calibrators. JIVE support scientists should include a comment on the quality of amplitude calibration results, especially to indicate cases where a problem may have occurred and the amplitude correction factors are unreliable.
- NME calibration files should be made available as early as possible. All stations should look at NME reports sent by JIVE. NMEs should be pipelined as early as possible and email sent to EVNtech when the results are available, to ensure feedback is provided well in advance of the next session.
- Stations must aim to produce ANTAB and RXG files within 2 weeks after the end of a session. For eVLBI, RXG files from the previous session can often be used. ANTAB files for eVLBI experiments should be produced as soon as possible as rapid analysis is often a high priority for these experiments. JIVE should inform Lindqvist of any problems, so that Directors can be asked to prioritise calibration if insufficient time is available at stations.
Last updated, May 22, 2013.
