Extensive update to the QRH: Please read the changes, they mostly involve
procedural changes for generator operation
new online observer tools
information on how to use IRC for remote observing coordination
guide on debogging yourself with VNC problems.
01 FEB 2010 / ind006: TOAD 1.0.0 released!
We're celebrating a milestone today with the release of TOAD 1.0.0! It's been in the making for well over a year.
It has been rigorously tested and proven its worth on many occasions. So with a minor update today, and on the occasion of Kate Brooks's return to work, I decided to
lift the version from 0.9.7 directly to 1.0.0. Congratulations TOAD! <ribbit><ribbit>
28 JAN 2010 / ind006: Various notes for the new year
TOAD is intermittently complaining about the Dataset RPC Server being unavailable. This can be ignored, but please notify Balt if you
encounter that message.
The conversion power supply warning in TOAD can be safely ignored until further notice.
A new tool for our mapping observers has become available: The Beam Position Mapper. It plots RA/Dec map of all the
beam positions in the given RPF files. Use this tool when mapping, as time and maps have been lost in the past due to faulty
antenna driving. In these plots, such a fault is immediately obvious. Contact Balt if you need an introduction. Caution:
Be careful not to use it unless you are the observer in charge. It is NOT multi user capable and plotting requests
lodged while another request is in progress will be lost.
OTF Schedule Maker version 6 has finally been released: It incorporates a graphical zoom window tool (similar to mops_vis) and automatically
optimizes your center frequencies.
TCS version next is in use currently.
10 OCT 2009 / ind006: Updated SiO 3mm/7mm maser database
17 JUN 2009 / edw126: ASAP point-and-click interface
An ASAP-GUI interface has been developed by Cormac Purcell and is
available for
download.
It is also installed on kaputar.
This GUI is useful for quick-look data reduction of position-switching
data. It also has the capability to export the reduced data. To start
the GUI type "python -i QuickData.py". Load in your data files with
the "Browse" and "Load" buttons. Select the IF you wish to work on
with "Current IF". First average in time the data for each of the two
polarisations (2 blue boxes) and then average the two polarisations (2
green boxes).
The
SiO 3mm maser database
has been updated following recent reobservations of all masers.
These are the masers are used for pointing checks and updates of
the Mopra telescope.
The database now also enables the list to be sorted in order of angular
separation from your favourite source.
06 APR 2009 / edw126: New version of ASAP
Version 2.3 of
ASAP
(the ATNF Spectral Analysis Package) was released on
13 March 2009.
The new version allows output files to be written in a FITS format that
can be read into the CLASS and XSpec software packages.
27 MAR 2009 / ind006: UPS and drive issues
During the last winter season, problems were experienced with the
mains power supply and UPS unit at Mopra, which resulted in some
observing time being lost. Over the summer, the UPS was replaced, and
several additional UPS units have been added to spread the load across
the site. Furthermore, the antenna drives, which were formerly powered
via the UPS, have been taken off the UPS supply as there is some
evidence that transient power spikes associated with the drives may
have been a contributing cause to the UPS problems. As a result, any
dropouts in mains supply will now have an immediate affect on the
drives.
27 MAR 2009 / ind006: RFI spikes at 12mm
It has been reported there are two spikes, one at ~21.088 GHz that
is ~1 channel (observing with 4096 channels
across 137 MHz) wide, and another at 20.0528 GHz that is ~ 3
channels wide. Both spikes appear in both polarizations, neither move
in frequency as the LO is changed.
We are aware of these and in the process of locating them and
removing/replacing the culprit equipment. The spikes
are not near any astrophysical lines.
