SELENE

Setting up for a Selene observation

Make sure the S/X receiver is on axis. Selecting 1 on STOAT with the focus platform in AUTO mode will do this automatically.
Set up the IF-phase-cal. This originates in the blue box currently sitting on top of SML on rack4. Check that the EXT REF is on for SML - this is vital because it is relaying the 10 MHz tone to the Phase-cal. The phase cal signal has to be split, 30 dB amplified and (rotary) attenuated before being sent to the S/X out ports at the top of rack 5. Currently, the best settings for the phase cal are to have a total amplification of 19 dB for X (+30,-11), and a total attenuation/amplification of zero dB for S (+30,-30). This may need to be changed depending on feedback from the observers.
Check the P-Cal cable is plugged into the MK IV, in the rear of Rack 10. This is required in addition to the blue box IF-Pcal through the S/X out ports.
Set up the VC backend. Currently, we are using VC3, VC4 and VC5 for the X-band signal and VC12, VC13 and VC14 for S-band. We use the Upper Side Band outputs. VC3 and VC4 both have their attenuation set by IF1, VC5 by IF3 and VCs 12, 13 and 14 by IF2. This is important when editing ifdsx in the proc file.
The proc files are the important ones - current ifdsx settings are

define ifdsx 00000000000x
ifd=5,12,nor,nor
if3=5,out,2,1,,,on
lo=
then in emacs, ctrl-x, ctrl-c and respond with "yes" to save the file and keep the changes.

The experimenters in Japan will notify the observer when they want the SRTP hard drives changed. Check disc usage on SRTP with the command df -kh. The drives are 250G in total at /dev/sda1 mounted at /data .
The

lo=lo1,8080.00,usb,rcp,1
lo=lo2,2020.00,usb,rcp,1
lo=lo3,8080.00,usb,rcp,1

In their check list they ask for 12 dB attenuation on both X and S. We have gone with the test setup arrangement of 12 dB for S and 5 dB for X as per the ifdsx definition above.

If this is not defined correctly in the proc file, or a change is requested, use the following to edit the settings while the schedule is running. In a new console on hobart, type pfmed , type edit and select ifdsx as file to edit. Change the settings by editing these lines in the emacs window that comes up,
ifd=<X-band attenuation>,<S-band attenuation>,nor,nor
if3=<X-band attenuation>,out,2,1,,,on
then in emacs, ctrl-x, ctrl-c and respond with "yes" to save the file and keep the changes.

The experimenters in Japan will notify the observer when they want the SRTP hard drives changed. Check disc usage on SRTP with the command df -kh. The drives are 250G in total at /dev/sda1 mounted at /data .
There is a readme.txt in

/home/station/exper/YYDDD on SRTP. This file contains information of the local frequencies which are supposed to be set. These frequencies are not necessarily the same for all the observation, but can be different day by day. The LO frequencies are controlled by a skd file, but should be checked for every experiment just to be sure.

Run the perl script monitorfs.pl from a terminal on newsmerd to give you an audible alarm if the field system on hobart crashes.