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Contents

Index

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Preface
About this Guide
Conventions

/1./	The Australia Telescope Compact Array
/1.1/	The Australia Telescope National Facility
/1.2/	Overview of the ATCA
/1.3/	Planning a proposal
/1.4/	Centimetre Observations (20–3 cm bands)
/1.5/	Millimetre-wave observations (12mm–3mm)
/1.6/	Choosing an Observing Frequency
/1.7/	Choosing Angular and Frequency Resolution
/1.8/	Additional Observing Notes and Techniques
/1.9/	High Time Resolution, Pulsars, Planets and VLBI
/1.10/	Other Things to Consider
/1.11/	Submitting a proposal
/1.12/	Successful Proposals

/2./	Preparing for Observations
/2.1/	How to Prepare a Schedule File
/2.2/	How to Prepare a Mosaic File
/2.3/	Scheduling Strategy
/2.4/	Observation Requirements
/2.5/	Pre-observation Checklist

/3./	Observing
/3.1/	Continuum Observations
/3.2/	Zoom Modes
/3.3/	Monitoring and Trouble Shooting
/3.4/	cm Observing Startup Checklist
/3.5/	mm Observing Startup Checklist

/4./	After your Observations
/4.1/	Archiving Your Data
/4.2/	Report Your Experiences
/4.3/	Data Analysis
/4.4/	Publishing Results

A. Technical Reference
B. caobs
C. cacor
D. spd
E. vis
F. People to Contact
Index

[Printable Guide] [Printable Chapter]

2.5 Pre-observation Checklist

Ready to observe? Check that all the following tasks have been done:

• Determined sources to use for:
  • setup calibrator
  • primary flux calibrator
  • bandpass calibrator
  • phase calibrator(s)
  • pointing calibrator(s) (only if doing reference pointing)
  • polarisation calibrator(s) (only if doing polarisation studies)
• Checked that all sources are visible during observing time.
• Prepared a schedule file using the CABB web scheduler for:
  • array setup
  • calibration
  • program observations
• Used the sensitivity calculator to make sure that integration time on calibrators is sufficient.
• Ensured that turret movements are limited to once every 15 minutes or longer.
• Generated a mosaic pointing file (only if doing mosaic observations), and copied it to the appropriate place on XBONES.
• Generated an ephemeris for the solar system object (only if doing solar system observations), and copied it to the appropriate place on XBONES.
• Calculated how much data the observations will generate, and obtained enough disk space to accommodate this.
• Checked for possible problems, and made contingency plans for:
  • Antenna shadowing
  • Wrong time range for flux calibrator observations
  • Bad weather forecast during observations
• Check current issues page http://www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au/observing/CurrentIssues.html for issues that may cause problems with the observations.
• Checked that remote observations are possible (only if remotely observing).
• Contacted observatory staff and duty astronomer if assistance will be required during observations.

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