COVER INFORMATION Station: VLBA_MK (Code Mk ) Experiment: Image 3C120 at 90cm - calibrator test Exp. Code: bw067h Schedule Version: 1.00 Processed by SCHED version: Release of 18 Sept. 2003 PI: Craig Walker Address: National Radio Astronomy Observatory P. O. Box O Socorro, New Mexico, 87801 U.S.A. Phone: 505 835 7247 EMAIL: cwalker@nrao.edu Fax: 505 835 7027 Phone during observation: 505 835 7247 Observing mode: 6cm 128-4-2 Notes: COVER LETTER: This project needs about 100 hours times 45 baselines to meet the sensitivity requirements. This time can be accumulated in many separated sessions. One session should be a full track with all antennas to set the calibration and ensure full uv coverage. I have submitted a schedule as bw067c for that session. The other sessions can involve as little as 2 hours and as few as 6 antennas. The observing frequency is 327 MHz. Tropospheric weather is not an issue - any conditions are ok. The ionosphere and the solar corona are potential problems. An outcome of the test observations (bw067a and bw067b) was that we should not observe near the sun. So please don't schedule this in the months of April through July. As per discussions with Dave Medcalf, I have set up this schedule to use a SCHED optimization mode that allows any subset of a full track to be designated by only changing the start time and the overall duration. So, with only modifications to those parameters, this schedule can be used repeatedly to build up the required baseline hours. See the "Initial Scan Information" section in the key file. The schedule uses 1.3 tape passes per hour. Here is the official dynamic scheduling sheet: ================================================================ Preferred Dynamic Contraints. Alter [defaults] as desired. ================================================================ Equipment constraints: Stations. Below each station code, the "o" indicates an [optional] station that is to be used if it is available. Change "o" to "r" if the station is required or change "o" to "n" if the station is not to be used. SC HN NL FD LA PT KP OV BR MK o o o o o o o o o r Minimum number of stations [6]: May we swap PT for a single VLA antenna? [yes] Consult http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~gtaylor/y1gotcha.html to decide. If you adopt the default, then both PT and VLA1 must be in the stations list in the keyin file. Bands and polarizations. Below each band code, insert "R" if the righthand polarization is to be used, "L" if the lefthand polarization is to be used, "d" if dual polarizations are to be used, or "o" if the band is in your setups but scheduling should not be constrained by its availability. 90cm 50cm 20cm 13cm 6cm 4cm 2cm 1cm 7mm 3mm d Weather constraints: [appropriate for bands marked "L", "R", or "d" above and for at least the minimum number of stations] Date constraints: Preferred date(s), usually a series start [none]: Excluded dates plus reason [none]: April through July (too close to Sun). Preferred interval between segments in days [none]: Special conditions (e.g., a series with different spacings in time) [See the comments at the top.]: Schedule for VLBA_MK (Code Mk ) Page 2 Image 3C120 at 90cm - calibrator test UP: D => Below limits; H => Below horizon mask. blank => Up. Early: Seconds between end of slew and start. Dwell: On source seconds. Tapes: Drive, Index, Start footage / Direction, Head Group, End footage. TPStart: Tape motion start time. Frequencies are LO sum (band edge). Automatic tape allocation specified. Tape positions are just estimates. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Start UT Source Start / Stop Early Tapes TPStart Stop UT LST EL AZ HA UP ParA Dwell (see above) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Mon 1 Dec 2003 Day 335 --- Next scan frequencies: 324.49 324.49 332.49 332.49 Next BBC frequencies: 824.49 824.49 832.49 832.49 Next scan bandwidths: 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 05 03 19 3C120 23 20 06 12.8 88.8 -5.2 -70.9 0 1 1 0 05 02 59 05 23 16 --- 23 40 06 17.5 90.5 -4.9 -70.9 1197 F 1 8111 05 25 12 3C147 23 42 02 14.9 41.8 -6.0 -76.8 77 1 1 8111 05 24 52 05 28 11 --- 23 45 02 15.3 42.0 -6.0 -77.3 180 F 1 9442 05 30 11 3C120 23 47 02 19.1 91.1 -4.8 -70.9 81 1 1 9442 05 29 51 05 50 08 --- 00 07 02 23.8 92.9 -4.4 -70.7 1197 F 1 17553 05 50 28 J0423-0120 00 07 23 23.8 100.7 -4.3 -67.6 9 1 2 17553 05 50 08 05 53 28 =0420-014 00 10 23 24.5 101.0 -4.2 -67.5 180 R 1 16221 05 53 48 3C120 00 10 43 24.7 93.2 -4.4 -70.7 9 1 2 16221 05 53 28 06 13 44 --- 00 30 43 29.4 95.1 -4.0 -70.3 1197 R 1 8108 06 14 05 J0423-0120 00 31 03 29.3 103.3 -3.9 -66.3 9 1 2 8108 06 13 44 06 17 04 =0420-014 00 34 03 30.0 103.7 -3.8 -66.1 180 R 1 6776 06 17 24 3C120 00 34 24 30.2 95.4 -4.0 -70.2 9 1 3 6776 06 17 04 06 37 21 --- 00 54 24 34.9 97.5 -3.7 -69.6 1197 F 1 1337 06 39 17 3C147 00 56 19 26.7 43.3 -4.8 -90.5 73 1 3 1337 06 38 57 06 42 16 --- 00 59 19 27.2 43.2 -4.7 -91.1 180 F 1 2667 06 44 16 3C120 01 01 19 36.5 98.2 -3.5 -69.3 77 1 3 2667 06 43 56 07 04 12 --- 01 21 19 41.2 100.5 -3.2 -68.3 1197 F 1 10778 07 04 33 J0423-0120 01 21 40 40.7 110.0 -3.0 -62.2 8 1 3 10778 07 04 12 07 07 32 =0420-014 01 24 40 41.4 110.5 -3.0 -61.8 180 F 1 12111 07 07 52 3C120 01 25 00 42.0 101.0 -3.1 -68.1 8 1 4 12111 07 07 32 07 27 49 --- 01 45 00 46.6 103.7 -2.8 -66.7 1197 R 1 14976 07 28 10 J0423-0120 01 45 20 45.9 114.0 -2.6 -59.3 7 1 4 14976 07 27 49 07 31 09 =0420-014 01 48 20 46.5 114.5 -2.6 -58.9 180 R 1 13644 07 31 29 3C120 01 48 41 47.5 104.2 -2.7 -66.4 7 1 4 13644 07 31 09 07 51 26 --- 02 08 41 52.0 107.4 -2.4 -64.4 1197 R 1 5531 Schedule for VLBA_MK (Code Mk ) Page 3 Image 3C120 at 90cm - calibrator test UP: D => Below limits; H => Below horizon mask. blank => Up. Early: Seconds between end of slew and start. Dwell: On source seconds. Tapes: Drive, Index, Start footage / Direction, Head Group, End footage. TPStart: Tape motion start time. Frequencies are LO sum (band edge). Automatic tape allocation specified. Tape positions are just estimates. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Start UT Source Start / Stop Early Tapes TPStart Stop UT LST EL AZ HA UP ParA Dwell (see above) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Mon 1 Dec 2003 Day 335 --- 07 53 31 3C147 02 10 46 38.6 41.2 -3.5 -105.9 75 1 4 5531 07 53 11 07 56 30 --- 02 13 46 39.1 41.1 -3.5 -106.6 180 R 1 4201 07 58 39 3C120 02 15 54 53.6 108.7 -2.3 -63.5 77 1 5 4201 07 58 19 08 18 35 --- 02 35 54 58.0 112.9 -2.0 -60.5 1197 F 1 3910 08 18 56 J0423-0120 02 36 15 56.3 125.7 -1.8 -49.8 6 1 5 3910 08 18 35 08 21 55 =0420-014 02 39 15 56.8 126.6 -1.7 -49.1 180 F 1 5243 08 22 15 3C120 02 39 35 58.8 113.7 -1.9 -59.9 6 1 5 5243 08 21 55 08 42 12 --- 02 59 35 63.0 119.2 -1.6 -55.6 1197 F 1 13355 08 42 32 J0423-0120 02 59 55 60.6 133.5 -1.4 -43.0 5 1 5 13355 08 42 12 08 45 32 =0420-014 03 02 55 61.1 134.6 -1.3 -42.0 180 F 1 14687 08 45 52 3C120 03 03 16 63.8 120.4 -1.5 -54.6 5 1 6 14687 08 45 32 09 05 49 --- 03 23 16 67.7 127.9 -1.2 -48.2 1197 R 1 12400 09 07 27 3C147 03 24 54 49.4 34.1 -2.3 -125.1 29 1 6 12400 09 07 07 09 10 26 --- 03 27 54 49.8 33.7 -2.3 -126.0 180 R 1 11070 09 12 26 3C120 03 29 54 68.9 131.0 -1.1 -45.5 49 1 6 11070 09 12 06 09 32 23 --- 03 49 54 72.1 142.3 -0.7 -35.3 1197 R 1 2958 09 32 43 J0423-0120 03 50 14 67.3 158.0 -0.6 -20.7 4 1 6 2958 09 32 23 09 35 43 =0420-014 03 53 14 67.6 159.8 -0.5 -19.0 180 R 1 1626 09 36 03 3C120 03 53 35 72.6 144.8 -0.7 -33.0 4 1 7 1626 09 35 43 09 56 00 --- 04 13 35 74.8 160.9 -0.3 -18.0 1197 F 1 6487 09 56 20 J0423-0120 04 13 55 68.7 173.4 -0.2 -6.2 2 1 7 6487 09 56 00 09 59 19 =0420-014 04 16 55 68.8 175.5 -0.1 -4.3 180 F 1 7819 09 59 39 3C120 04 17 15 75.0 164.2 -0.3 -14.9 2 1 7 7819 09 59 19 10 19 36 --- 04 37 15 75.5 183.8 0.1 3.6 1197 F 1 15931 10 21 32 3C147 04 39 11 57.4 19.2 -1.1 -151.4 0 1 7 15931 10 21 12 10 24 32 --- 04 42 11 57.6 18.4 -1.0 -152.6 180 F 1 17261 10 32 13 3C120 04 49 54 75.0 196.1 0.3 15.2 337 1 8 17261 10 31 53 10 52 10 --- 05 09 54 73.1 212.8 0.6 30.8 1197 R 1 9150 Schedule for VLBA_MK (Code Mk ) Page 4 Image 3C120 at 90cm - calibrator test UP: D => Below limits; H => Below horizon mask. blank => Up. Early: Seconds between end of slew and start. Dwell: On source seconds. Tapes: Drive, Index, Start footage / Direction, Head Group, End footage. TPStart: Tape motion start time. Frequencies are LO sum (band edge). Automatic tape allocation specified. Tape positions are just estimates. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Start UT Source Start / Stop Early Tapes TPStart Stop UT LST EL AZ HA UP ParA Dwell (see above) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Mon 1 Dec 2003 Day 335 --- 10 52 30 J0423-0120 05 10 15 66.0 209.8 0.8 27.9 0 1 8 9150 10 52 10 10 55 30 =0420-014 05 13 15 65.6 211.4 0.8 29.4 180 R 1 7818 10 55 50 3C120 05 13 35 72.6 215.4 0.7 33.2 0 1 9 7818 10 55 30 11 15 46 --- 05 33 35 69.4 227.4 1.0 44.1 1197 F 1 293 11 16 06 J0423-0120 05 33 54 62.7 221.3 1.2 38.4 0 1 9 293 11 15 46 11 19 06 =0420-014 05 36 54 62.2 222.5 1.2 39.5 180 F 1 1622 11 19 25 3C120 05 37 14 68.8 229.2 1.1 45.7 1 1 9 1622 11 19 06 11 39 22 --- 05 57 14 65.0 237.5 1.4 52.8 1197 F 1 9731 11 40 46 3C147 05 58 39 59.8 355.0 0.3 172.6 0 1 9 9731 11 40 26 11 43 46 --- 06 01 39 59.7 354.0 0.3 171.2 180 F 1 11061 11 51 25 3C120 06 09 19 62.6 241.4 1.6 56.1 378 1 10 11061 11 51 05 12 11 22 --- 06 29 19 58.3 246.8 1.9 60.3 1197 R 1 16028 12 11 27 3C120 06 29 24 58.3 246.8 1.9 60.3 0 1 10 16028 12 11 22 12 31 23 --- 06 49 24 53.9 251.0 2.3 63.3 1197 R 1 8020 12 32 47 3C147 06 50 47 57.1 339.8 1.1 149.7 18 1 10 8020 12 32 27 12 35 46 --- 06 53 47 56.8 339.0 1.2 148.5 180 R 1 6689 SETUP FILE INFORMATION: NOTE: If DOPPLER, FREQ, or BW were used, see the individual scans for the final BBC settings. Setup file: bw051.set Matches group v5090n in /home/filehost/cwalker/sched/catalogs/freq.dat Setup group: 1 Station: VLBA Total bit rate: 128 Format: VLBA1:4 Bits per sample: 2 Sample rate: 16.000 Number of channels: 4 Passes/head pos: 1 Speedup factor: 2.00 Tape speeds: Low density - 133.330 ips, High density - 80.00 ips Time per pass for 17600 ft, High density tapes is: 00:44:00 1st LO= -500.00 -500.00 -500.00 -500.00 Net SB= U U U U Pol. = RCP LCP RCP LCP BBC = 1 2 3 4 BBC SB= U U U U IF = B D B D VLBA FE= omit 90cm omit 90cm VLBA Synth= 15.4 15.4 15.4 The following frequency sets based on this setup were used. Frequency Set: 1 Setup file default. Used pcal sets: 1 LO sum= 324.49 324.49 332.49 332.49 BBC fr= 824.49 824.49 832.49 832.49 Bandwd= 8.000 8.000 8.000 8.000 The following pulse cal sets were used with this setup: Pulse cal detection set: 1 PCAL = OFF PCALXB1= S1 S2 S3 S4 OFF OFF OFF OFF PCALXB2= M1 M2 M3 M4 OFF OFF OFF OFF PCALFR1= 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PCALFR2= 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Track assignments are: track1= 2, 18, 3, 19 barrel=roll_auto SOURCE LIST -- Image 3C120 at 90cm - calibrator test Catalog positions marked with *. Precession of date coordinates is based on stop time of first scan. Names used in schedule marked with *. Short names used in VLA and SNAP files marked with +. Observation date used in B1950/J2000 coordinate conversion (PRECDATE): 1979.900 No adjustments are made for rates (DRA, DDEC). Source Source position (RA/Dec) (B1950) (J2000) (Date) * J0423-0120 04 20 43.539850 * 04 23 15.800727 04 23 28.273501 0420-014 -01 27 28.70002 *-01 20 33.06531 -01 19 55.06500 J0423-01 /home/filehost/cwalker/sched/catalogs/sources.vlba ICRF - Ext.1 Source - 1998 IERS Annual Report J0433+0521 04 30 31.602066 * 04 33 11.095535 04 33 24.089167 0430+052 05 14 59.61664 * 05 21 15.61942 05 21 50.90282 * 3C120 /home/filehost/cwalker/sched/catalogs/sources.vlba J0433+05 ICRF - Ext.1 Source - 1998 IERS Annual Report J0542+4951 05 38 43.517539 * 05 42 36.137917 05 42 55.120953 0538+498 49 49 42.83693 * 49 51 07.23356 49 51 16.18429 * 3C147 /home/filehost/cwalker/sched/catalogs/sources.vlba J0542+49 ICRF - Ext.1 Source - 1998 IERS Annual Report J1331+3030 13 28 49.657691 * 13 31 08.287984 13 31 17.517483 1328+307 30 45 58.64021 * 30 30 32.95885 30 29 18.25107 * 3C286 /home/filehost/cwalker/sched/catalogs/sources.vlba J1331+30 VLBA Calib. Survey - ICRF Frame - reduced by GSFC group - Aug 2001 The solar corona can cause unstable phases for sources too close to the Sun. SCHED provides warnings at individual scans for distances less than 10 degrees. The distance from the Sun to each source in this schedule is: Source Sun distance (deg) J0423-0120 156.9 3C120 163.6 3C147 148.2 3C286 67.3 Barry Clark estimates from predictions by Ketan Desai of IPM scattering sizes that the Sun will cause amplitude reductions on the longest VLBA baselines at a solar distance of 60deg F^(-0.6) where F is in GHz. For common VLBI bands, this is: 327 MHz 117. deg 610 MHz 81. deg 1.6 GHz 45. deg 2.3 GHz 36. deg 5.0 GHz 23. deg 8.4 GHz 17. deg 15.0 GHz 12. deg 22.0 GHz 9. deg 43.0 GHz 6. deg