COVER INFORMATION Station: VLBA_MK (Code Mk ) Experiment: Image 3C120 at 90cm - calibrator test Exp. Code: bw067o 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) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Sat 27 Dec 2003 Day 361 --- 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 03 21 06 3C120 23 20 06 12.8 88.8 -5.2 -70.9 0 1 1 0 03 20 46 03 41 02 --- 23 40 06 17.5 90.5 -4.9 -70.9 1197 F 1 8111 03 42 58 3C147 23 42 02 14.9 41.8 -6.0 -76.8 77 1 1 8111 03 42 38 03 45 58 --- 23 45 02 15.3 42.0 -6.0 -77.3 180 F 1 9442 03 47 57 3C120 23 47 02 19.1 91.1 -4.8 -70.9 81 1 1 9442 03 47 37 04 07 54 --- 00 07 02 23.8 92.9 -4.4 -70.7 1197 F 1 17553 04 08 14 J0423-0120 00 07 23 23.8 100.7 -4.3 -67.6 9 1 2 17553 04 07 54 04 11 14 =0420-014 00 10 23 24.5 101.0 -4.2 -67.5 180 R 1 16221 04 11 34 3C120 00 10 43 24.7 93.2 -4.4 -70.7 9 1 2 16221 04 11 14 04 31 31 --- 00 30 43 29.4 95.1 -4.0 -70.3 1197 R 1 8108 04 31 51 J0423-0120 00 31 03 29.3 103.3 -3.9 -66.3 9 1 2 8108 04 31 31 04 34 51 =0420-014 00 34 03 30.0 103.7 -3.8 -66.1 180 R 1 6776 04 35 11 3C120 00 34 24 30.2 95.4 -4.0 -70.2 9 1 3 6776 04 34 51 04 55 08 --- 00 54 24 34.9 97.5 -3.7 -69.6 1197 F 1 1337 04 57 03 3C147 00 56 19 26.7 43.3 -4.8 -90.5 73 1 3 1337 04 56 43 05 00 02 --- 00 59 19 27.2 43.2 -4.7 -91.1 180 F 1 2667 05 02 02 3C120 01 01 19 36.5 98.2 -3.5 -69.3 77 1 3 2667 05 01 42 05 21 59 --- 01 21 19 41.2 100.5 -3.2 -68.3 1197 F 1 10778 05 22 19 J0423-0120 01 21 40 40.7 110.0 -3.0 -62.2 8 1 3 10778 05 21 59 05 25 19 =0420-014 01 24 40 41.4 110.5 -3.0 -61.8 180 F 1 12111 05 25 39 3C120 01 25 00 42.0 101.0 -3.1 -68.1 8 1 4 12111 05 25 19 05 45 36 --- 01 45 00 46.6 103.7 -2.8 -66.7 1197 R 1 14976 05 45 56 J0423-0120 01 45 20 45.9 114.0 -2.6 -59.3 7 1 4 14976 05 45 36 05 48 55 =0420-014 01 48 20 46.5 114.5 -2.6 -58.9 180 R 1 13644 05 49 16 3C120 01 48 41 47.4 104.2 -2.7 -66.4 7 1 4 13644 05 48 55 06 09 12 --- 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) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Sat 27 Dec 2003 Day 361 --- 06 11 17 3C147 02 10 46 38.6 41.2 -3.5 -105.9 75 1 4 5531 06 10 57 06 14 17 --- 02 13 46 39.0 41.1 -3.5 -106.6 180 R 1 4201 06 16 25 3C120 02 15 54 53.6 108.7 -2.3 -63.5 77 1 5 4201 06 16 05 06 36 22 --- 02 35 54 58.0 112.9 -2.0 -60.5 1197 F 1 3911 06 36 42 J0423-0120 02 36 15 56.3 125.7 -1.8 -49.8 6 1 5 3911 06 36 22 06 39 42 =0420-014 02 39 15 56.8 126.6 -1.7 -49.1 180 F 1 5243 06 40 02 3C120 02 39 35 58.8 113.7 -1.9 -59.9 6 1 5 5243 06 39 42 06 59 58 --- 02 59 35 63.0 119.2 -1.6 -55.6 1197 F 1 13355 07 00 19 J0423-0120 02 59 55 60.6 133.5 -1.4 -43.0 5 1 5 13355 06 59 58 07 03 18 =0420-014 03 02 55 61.1 134.6 -1.3 -42.0 180 F 1 14687 07 03 39 3C120 03 03 16 63.8 120.4 -1.5 -54.6 5 1 6 14687 07 03 18 07 23 35 --- 03 23 16 67.7 127.9 -1.2 -48.2 1197 R 1 12400 07 25 13 3C147 03 24 54 49.4 34.1 -2.3 -125.1 29 1 6 12400 07 24 53 07 28 13 --- 03 27 54 49.8 33.7 -2.3 -126.0 180 R 1 11070 07 30 12 3C120 03 29 54 68.9 131.0 -1.1 -45.5 49 1 6 11070 07 29 52 07 50 09 --- 03 49 54 72.1 142.3 -0.7 -35.3 1197 R 1 2958 07 50 30 J0423-0120 03 50 14 67.3 158.0 -0.6 -20.7 4 1 6 2958 07 50 09 07 53 29 =0420-014 03 53 14 67.6 159.8 -0.5 -19.0 180 R 1 1626 07 53 49 3C120 03 53 35 72.6 144.8 -0.7 -33.0 4 1 7 1626 07 53 29 08 13 46 --- 04 13 35 74.8 160.9 -0.3 -18.0 1197 F 1 6487 08 14 06 J0423-0120 04 13 55 68.7 173.4 -0.2 -6.2 2 1 7 6487 08 13 46 08 17 06 =0420-014 04 16 55 68.8 175.5 -0.1 -4.3 180 F 1 7819 08 17 26 3C120 04 17 15 75.0 164.2 -0.3 -14.9 2 1 7 7819 08 17 06 08 37 23 --- 04 37 15 75.5 183.8 0.1 3.6 1197 F 1 15931 08 39 18 3C147 04 39 11 57.4 19.2 -1.1 -151.4 0 1 7 15931 08 38 58 08 42 18 --- 04 42 11 57.6 18.4 -1.0 -152.6 180 F 1 17261 08 50 00 3C120 04 49 54 75.0 196.1 0.3 15.2 337 1 8 17261 08 49 40 09 09 56 --- 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) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Sat 27 Dec 2003 Day 361 --- 09 10 17 J0423-0120 05 10 15 66.0 209.8 0.8 27.9 0 1 8 9150 09 09 56 09 13 16 =0420-014 05 13 15 65.6 211.4 0.8 29.4 180 R 1 7818 09 13 36 3C120 05 13 35 72.6 215.4 0.7 33.2 0 1 9 7818 09 13 16 09 33 33 --- 05 33 35 69.4 227.4 1.0 44.1 1197 F 1 293 09 33 53 J0423-0120 05 33 54 62.7 221.3 1.2 38.4 0 1 9 293 09 33 33 09 36 52 =0420-014 05 36 54 62.2 222.5 1.2 39.5 180 F 1 1622 09 37 12 3C120 05 37 14 68.8 229.2 1.1 45.7 1 1 9 1622 09 36 52 09 57 08 --- 05 57 14 65.0 237.5 1.4 52.8 1197 F 1 9731 09 58 33 3C147 05 58 39 59.8 355.0 0.3 172.6 0 1 9 9731 09 58 13 10 01 32 --- 06 01 39 59.7 354.0 0.3 171.2 180 F 1 11061 10 09 12 3C120 06 09 19 62.6 241.4 1.6 56.1 378 1 10 11061 10 08 52 10 29 09 --- 06 29 19 58.3 246.8 1.9 60.3 1197 R 1 16028 10 29 13 3C120 06 29 24 58.3 246.8 1.9 60.3 0 1 10 16028 10 29 09 10 49 10 --- 06 49 24 53.9 251.0 2.3 63.3 1197 R 1 8020 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 28.435702 0420-014 -01 27 28.70002 *-01 20 33.06531 -01 19 58.14194 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 24.289860 0430+052 05 14 59.61664 * 05 21 15.61942 05 21 48.73586 * 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 55.670867 0538+498 49 49 42.83693 * 49 51 07.23356 49 51 20.46366 * 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 18.361974 1328+307 30 45 58.64021 * 30 30 32.95885 30 29 10.90875 * 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 142.1 3C120 148.3 3C147 152.4 3C286 88.0 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