Fringe Finders

VLBI fringe phases are much more difficult to deal with than fringe amplitudes. If the a priori correlator model assumed for VLBI correlation is particularly poor, then the fringe phase can wind so rapidly in both time (the fringe rate) and in frequency (the delay) that no fringes will be found within the finite fringe rate and delay windows examined during correlation. Reasons for a poor a priori correlator model include source position and antenna location errors, atmospheric (tropospheric and ionospheric) propagation effects, and the behavior of the independent clocks at each antenna. Users observing sources with poorly known positions should plan to refine the positions first on another instrument (see Section 21.1). To allow accurate location of any previously unknown antennas and to allow NRAO staff to conduct periodic monitoring of clock drifts, each user must include at least two ``fringe finder'' sources which are strong, compact, and have accurately known positions. Typically, a fringe finder should be observed for 5 minutes every 1-3 hours. Consult Markowitz & Wurnig (1998) to select a fringe finder for observations between between 20 cm and 7 mm; your choice will depend on your wavelengths but J0555+3948=DA193, J0927+3902=4C39.25, J1642+3948=3C345, and J2253+1608=3C454.3 are generally reliable in the range 13 cm to 2 cm. In addition, at 90 and 50 cm we recommend either J1331+3030=3C286 or J2253+1608=3C454.3. Fringe-finder positions, used by default by the program SCHED (Walker 2006) and the VLBA correlator, are given in the standard source catalog available as an ancillary file with SCHED.