Preliminary Report of the Global 3mm-VLBI Session Oct. 13 -18, 2005 =================================================================== General: all scheduled stations have observed (EB, PV, PdB, On, Mh, VLBA(8)) bad weather at PV during the last 2.5 days: no data for NRAO150, CygA, RCAS Metsahovi: RCP broken, record only LCP in c052a,b technical problems with NL, amount of data loss unclear a possible recording problem at MK, 1-2 8packs may be affected southern and south-eastern VLBA stations affected by clouds & rain (for some time) ftp-fringe check from Oct 13/14: PV-PB SNR=37 PV-EF SNR=12 PV-ON nothing, but weather @ON was bad on ftp'ed VLBI scan More detailed: -------------- Effelsberg: clear sky throughout the session, no major problems, Tsys=140-180 K occasional at high elevations (>70deg) source lost due to pointing problems Oct. 13 22h started on time, TS=160K at elv=45 deg. Oct. 14 8h clear sky, tau=0.11, Ts=200K, some humidity Oct. 15 9h clear sky, tau=0.05 at zenith, TS=160-180K reboot of MK5 lead to the loss of a 3 scans Oct. 15 23h clear sky, Ts=170K Oct. 16 11h clear sky, lost again 2 scans because of reboot of MK5 Oct. 17 7h clear sky, Temp=3 C, strong focus gradients after sun-rise, TS=140K during night Oct. 17 22h clear sky, TS=144 K, no problems Oct. 18 8h clear sky, some scans affected from pointing problems after long slew (> 90 deg in AZ) Pico Veleta: started on time, Tsys=140 K Oct. 13 good weather, tau=0.08 Oct. 14 9h good weather, occasional problems with antenna motors Oct. 14 11h BBC3 didn't work, will be replaced Oct. 14 16h weather degrades, clouds, tau 0.3, Ts=230 K Oct. 15 16h improved weather, later clear, tau=0.1 problems with long slews between 0218+357 and 3C84 Oct. 16 0h stop observing due to high wind Oct. 16 13h only a few scans observed, repeated wind stops Oct. 17 0h no observations due to high wind Oct. 17 23h no observations due to high wind, now also rain Oct. 18 13h no observations due to high wind, heavy rain in terms of experiments; 3C84 - ok Mrk501 - ok 0218+35 - ok, 2-3 hrs lost because of slews M87 - ok NRAO150 - no, high wind CygA - no, high wind RCAS - no, high wind Plateau de Bure: starts on time, some humidity and clouds, 6 antennas phased, 200K Oct. 14 6h clear sky, TS=150 K Oct. 15 10h clear sky, 2-3 h of enhanced phase noise, all 6 ant. ok Oct. 15 17h rain stop just after 17h, then cloudy/foggy Oct. 16 11h clearing during night (3:30 UT), now light clouds, observing Oct. 16 16h clouds get thicker, continue observing Oct. 17 12h excellent clear sky conditions during last night, TS=140 K Oct. 17 18h phaseing problems due to weather during afternoon Oct. 17 23h moderate to good phase stability, TS=140K, use 0059+581 for pointing and phasing in RCAS project Oct. 18 11h some humidity and phase instability, TS=200-350K, Onsala: Oct. 14 10h poor weather, some rain during 13/14.10 Oct. 15 no rain, hum =60-70 % Oct. 16 no rain phase lock problem 00:30 - 01:00 UT Oct. 17 20h no known problems during c052c Metsahovi: started on time one IF in 3mm-receiver died, turn quarter wave plate, record only LCP disabled caltsys to avoid problems with sticking cold load carousel Oct. 14 bad weather 15-23 UT Oct. 15 good weather until end of exp. VLBA: c052a FD: rain, fogg, clearing, rain NL: clear and dry, clear partly not observing, technical problems with motor KP: clear LA: clear and dry, overcast, rain MK: clear, gusty wind, clear OV: clear and dry, gusty wind, partly cloudy PT: clear and dry, rain 2.5 hrs power outage BR: overcast, partly cloudy, clear c052b FD: overcast, partly cloudy NL: clear and dry, partly cloudy receivers warms up, no data for hrs, recooled KP: clear, partly cloudy LA: rain, partly cloudy MK: thin clouds, wind, some rain, clear + high clouds problems with 8packs, data overwritten ? OV: high wind, clear+dry PT: t-storms, rain, partly cloudy BR: partly cloudy c052c all VLBA: more or less ok, nothing severe ********************************************************************************* Below a short summary of projects, to help identify times from above with project-ID. CODE P.I. SOURCE U.T.Start - U.T.Stop COMMENTS ====== =========== ========= ======================= ============= GP041C PAGELS 3C84 Eu 1930(13/10)-0930(14/10) VLBA 0030(14/10)-1530(14/10) GG061A GIOVANNINI MKN501 Eu 1300(14/10)-2230(14/10) VLBA 1400(14/10)-2230(14/10) GM056B MITTAL 0218+357 Eu 2230(14/10)-0800(15/10) VLBA 2330(14/10)-1230(15/10) GK033B KRICHBAUM M87 Eu 0800(15/10)-1830(15/10) no PdB, sun-avoidance ! VLBA 1130(15/10)-2330(15/10) GA022B AGUDO NRAO150 Eu 2300(15/10)-1200(16/10) VLBA 2330(15/10)-1730(16/10) GK032B KRICHBAUM CYGNUS-A Eu 1400(16/10)-0230(17/10) VLBA 1730(16/10)-0830(17/10) GR026A RASTORGUEVA OJ287 Eu 0230(17/10)-1330(17/10) VLBA 0730(17/10)-1930(17/10) GC024C COLOMER SiO-RCas Eu 1930(17/10)-0700(18/10) VLBA 1930(17/10)-0700(18/10)