30m Remote Observing Manual

VNC connections:


For the remote observing you have to start two VNC connections:

>vncviewer -shared mrt-remote.iram.es:30
>vncviewer -shared mrt-remote.iram.es:31
>vncviewer -shared mrt-remote.iram.es:32

(ask Dirk Muders, Lars Fuhrman or Axel Weiss for the PW)

Port 30 is used to start the observing session (PaKo,XEphem)
of the scans.

Port 31 is used to view the antannae control GUI

Port 32 is used for the online reduction using Mira

Communincation to the telescope operator:

Before you start the session, call the operator at Pico Veleta:

Phone:  6003     (+34 958 482002)

Getting Started

PaKo: (Observations, VNC Port 30)

Open a xterm on VNC Port 30 and login to your project on mrt-lx1:

>slogin 134_06@mrt-lx1  (where 134_06 is the example project number)

the start Pako by typing:

>goPako
>pakitoDisplay  (alternatively pakoDisplay - gives a larger display)
>pako

In pako enter:

pako>set level 3 3 
pako>set doSubmit yes

Now PaKo is ready for the observations
.
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XEphem: (Planning, VNC Port 30)

Use another virutal desctop on the VNC 30 to start XEphem on mrt-lx3 to plan
your observations. XEphem needs to be started on mrt-lx3. So start another
xerm and login on mrt-lx3:

>slogin 134_06@mrt-lx3

Then start xephem:

>/vis/xephem/xephem &

Load your target source file and the IRAM pointing sources to allow for a
better planning of your observing session.

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Antenna monitoring (VNC Port 31)


./goMrtMonitor &

In case of trouble close all konqueror windows and retype the above command.
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Mira: (Reduction, VNC Port 32)

Use a third virutal desktop on the VNC 32 to start Mira
open xterm on mrt-lx1 

ssh mrt-lx3
gag_aug06
mira @demo  (start MIRA with default input/output)

MIRA>symbol fn "find /OBSERVED 2007-04-25"   (this defines a abbriviation to list only                                                                                        the scans from the current date to                                                                                               speed up the scan listing)
MIRA>fn  (list scans from today)

Now MIRA is ready for the reduction. See below of details on calbration/scan reduction
using MIRA.


Observing (PaKo)

In the following we give an example spectroscopy session which should cover the most commonly used observing commands. Check the PaKo documentation on the IRAM web pages for more information on indiviual commands or observing modes not described here.
For bolometer observations check the IRAM Pool web pages.

First you need to define the receivers and observing frequencies. To save time and avoid
typing errors we recomment to prepare makros which contain the relevant informations
(see below).

pako>@setup-mysetup.pako   (setup macro with rx and frequency definitions, see below)
                                               (the macro loads the continuum backends)
pako>source Saturn                (strong source of pointing and focus)
pako>cal
pako>start

... now ask operator to tune the receivers

pako>cal
pako>start

... check the RX tempertures in MIRA (see below)

pako> point
pako> start
pako> set pointing x y  (enter pointing offsets from MIRA or the online display)
pako> focus
pako> start
pako> set focus z       (enter focus setting from MIRA or the online display)
pako> source Jxxx       (repeat pointing near target)
pako> point /notf 8     (8 subscan may be required at 2mm or on weak sources)
pako> set poiting x y

... target observations...

pako> source XXX /cat 133_06.sou
pako> @target-wsw-CD.pako   (example makro of wobbler switch observations, see below
pako>loops = 5                         (1 repetition is cal, wsw, wsw; loop 5 takes ~1hour)

... repeat pointing  and or focus...

pako>@contCD    (change to continuum backends, for AB rx use @contAB, see below)

Calibration/Reduction (Mira)

In principle the reduction of the scans should work automatically online. The results
are displayed on VNC Port 32 in ghostview. All spectra are written in
~/observationdata/mira/spectraOdp.30m
In case the online calibration is not working or you want to repeat the calibration
or reduction of point/focus scans use MIRA in the following way:

CHECK CALIBRATION:

MIRA>fn   (abbreviation to list the scans from the current observing date, see above)
MIRA>scan xxx

... calibration result is displayed for all backends


CHECK POINTING:

MIRA>fn
MIRA>scan xxx
MIRA>solve 1      (displays and echo pointing offsets from scan xxx for rx 1)
MIRA>solve 2      (rx 2)
...

CHECK FOCUS:

MIRA>fn
MIRA>scan xxx
MIRA>solve 1      (displays and echo foucs offsets from scan xxx for rx 1)
MIRA>solve 2      (rx 2

Data Reduction (CLASS)


All spectra are written to

~/observationdata/mira/spectraOdp.30m


in your project account.

For the data reduction open an xterm an login to mrt-lx3:

>slogin 134_06@mrt-lx3

then start CLASS and read and define the input file:

>class
class> file in "~/observationdata/mira/spectraOdp.30m"

Check the CLASS manual if you are not familiar with the reduction.

Example makros (PaKo):


In order to access your makros from PaKo copy them to the
~/pako detectory in your project account. In this directory you will
also find a list of demo*.pako makros for further information.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Setup Makro:

!DEFINE SOURCE AND LINE CATALOG

CATALOG SOURCE  134-06.sou
CATALOG LINE model-134-06.lin

!SET PROJECT ID AND PI

SET PROJECT 134-06        
SET PI A. Weiss

!CLEAR THE BACKEND AND RECEIVERS IN PaKo

RECEIVER /DISC
BACKEND  /DISC
RECEIVER  /CLEAR


!SELECT RECEIVERS, SIDEBAND REJECTION, ETC
receiver C150  LINE1  /gain -14 db /efficiency 0.93 0.93 /scale antenna /tempLoad L 270 /dop dop /wid wide
receiver D150  LINE2 /gain -11 db /efficiency 0.93 0.93 /scale antenna /tempLoad L 270 /dop dop /wid wide
receiver C270  LINE3  /gain -10 db /efficiency 0.88 0.88 /scale antenna /tempLoad L 270 /dop dop /wid wide
receiver D270  LINE4  /gain  -9 db /efficiency 0.88 0.88 /scale antenna /tempLoad L 270 /dop dop /wid wide
 
!LOAD CONTINUUM BACKENDS (see below)
@contCD.pako
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Line catalog: (model-134-06.lin, defined in setup makro)

LINE1  140.234  LSB
LINE2  153.123  LSB
LINE3  261.543  LSB
LINE4  274.883  LSB
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Source catalog: (134-06.sou , defined in setup makro)

SMM2217+0011 EQ 2000 22:17:33.12  00:11:20.2   LSR 0.0

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Backend makros:
continuum:
(@contCD.pako)

backend /clear
swbeam          !(SELECT CHOPPER WHEEL MODE FOR CONTINUUM OBS)
BACKEND  CONTINUUM  1  1000.0  1000.0  0.0 /R D270
BACKEND  CONTINUUM  2  1000.0  1000.0  0.0 /R C270
BACKEND  CONTINUUM  3  1000.0  1000.0  0.0 /R D150
BACKEND  CONTINUUM  4  1000.0  1000.0  0.0 /R C150


spectral line (backends-134-06-CD.pako)

BACKEND /CLEAR
!
BACKEND 4MHz 4 4.0 1024.0 0.0 /RECEIVER C150   
BACKEND 4MHz 3 4.0 1024.0 0.0 /RECEIVER D150  
BACKEND 4MHz 2 4.0 1024.0 0.0 /RECEIVER C270   
BACKEND 4MHz 1 4.0 1024.0 0.0 /RECEIVER D270

BACKEND 1MHz 1 1.0 1024.0 0.0 /RECEIVER C150
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Target makro: (the example show a wobbler switch loop)
 

@backends-134-06-CD.pako               ! set backends
!
define integer numberLoops
!
let numberLoops = &1
!
!
SET angleUnit arcsec
!
define real wobblerThrow
let wobblerThrow = 60

SWWOBBLER -wobblerThrow/2. wobblerThrow/2.  /TPHASE 1.

for i 1 to numberLoops
    say "starting loop number" 'i'

    CALIBRATE /default
    START

    ONOFF /SWWOBBLER /NSUBSCANS 12 /TSUBSCAN  30.
    START
    START
next

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