The Arecibo User Manual for Astronomers

The Arecibo User Manual for Astronomical Observations

This page downloads PostScript files containing either the whole manual(16.6 Mbyte) or individual chapters, listed below with their contents. If you are downloading a single chapter, be sure to check if any of the appendices will be useful for your observations.

For notes too recent, or too transitory, to yet reach the User Manual please consult the relevant information available through the Arecibo Astronomy Department webpages.

Contents (0.34 Mbyte)

Introduction (0.33 Mbyte)
- Use of This Manual
- The Observatory
  - The Site and Telescope
  - The Optics and Telescope Pointing
  - Receivers
  - Local Oscillators and the IF Section
  - Back-End Signal Processors
Quick Start Up (0.31 Mbyte)
- To Be Added
Instrumental Details (0.31 Mbyte)
- To Be Added
Spectral-Line Observing at Arecibo (3.25 Mbyte) + Spectral line Appendices (0.56 Mbyte) (HTML page)
- Before You Observe
  - Setting Up the Telescope
  - The Source List
  - A Checklist of Things to Have BEFORE You Observe
- Using the AO-CONTROL GUI for Spectral Line Observtions
  - A Quick Look
  - The Details
  - Useful Stuff
- Data Analysis
  - Getting Started in ANALYZ
  - More ANALYZ Stuff
  - Some Useful Routines for On-Line Analysis
Continuum Observing at Arecibo (0.36 Mbyte)+ Continuum Appendices (0.31 Mbyte)
- Introduction
- The Radar Interface (RI)
  - Setting up the RI
  - Setting up the Observing System
  - Initiating RI Data Acquisition
  - Basic 305-m Telescope Commands
  - Stopping the Data Acquisition
  - Data Analysis
- The Interim Correlator
- Broad-Band Continuum Polarimeter
- Observing Strategies
Pulsar Observations at Arecibo (4.03 Mbyte) + Pulsar Appendices (0.70 Mbyte) (HTML page)
- Introduction
  - About this Document
  - Getting Started
  - Local WWW based Resources
  - Modes of Observing
  - Resources in the "/home/pulsar" Directory
- Generic Pointing Command Sequence
  - Rotate turret to select a Gregorian receiver
  - Initialize the correct pointing model
  - Stow the "counter weight"
  - Observe a source
  - Tracking a pulsar in the Princeton Catalog
- Observing in the Control Room
- The PSR-Control Graphical User Interface
  - Getting started with PSR-Control
  - Setting the Observing Frequency
  - Choosing a Source
  - Checking System Linearity
  - Firing Calibration Signals
- Carriage House Check List
- Public-access pulsar machines
  - The Penn-State Pulsar Machine (PSPM)
  - Arecibo Observatory Fourier Transform Machine (AOFTM)
  - The Princeton Data Recorder MKIII
- Remote Observing
VLBI Observing at Arecibo (0.36 Mbyte) + VLBI Appendices (0.35 Mbyte)
- Introduction
- S2 Observing
  - Pre-Obs: Getting the Observing Files via ftp
  - 305-m Telescope Commands
  - Setting up the S2 Recorder
  - The S2 PC in the Control Room
  - Post-Observing Operations
- The VLBA4 System
Radio Frequency Interference (0.36 Mbyte) + RFI Appendices (0.40 Mbyte)
- Introduction
- The Radio Environment at the Observatory
  - The Hill-Top Monitoring System
  - How to make a quick RFI environment check (X111 run) for the band in which you are interested
- What to do if your observation is hampered by RFI
  - Characterize th RFI
  - Seen before ?
  - Search the FCC database
  - Locally generated ?
  - From a Satellite ?
  - Reported earlier ?
  - How to Report/Complain
- Observing through partially interfered bands
  - Hardware
  - Software
Introduction to Computing at Arecibo (0.33 Mbyte) + Computing Appendices (0.32 Mbyte)
- Hardware and Operating System Environment
- Computer Accounts
- Data Acquisition, Recording and Playback
- Data Storage Policies and Procedures
- Data Reduction
- Networking and Internet access
- Visitor Equipment

Appendices

Spectral-Line Appendices (0.49 Mbyte) (HTML page)
- Some Useful Resources
- Basic ANALYZ Routines - Documentation
- ANALYZ Instruction Sequences for HI in Galaxies
- Trouble Shooting at the Telescope
- SEFD for the L-Band Receivers
- Correlator Configurations
  - Using the Spectrum Analyzer
  - OLD Basic ANALYZ Routines - Documentation
  - OLD ANALYZ Instruction Sequences for HI in Galaxies
  - Observing the Old-Fashioned Way (GUI-Free Observations)
  - Getting Datataking Started
- Setup & Procedure Files
  - General Setup File
  - FIRST Example - a9999a.sls Spectral Line Setup File
  - SECOND Example - a9999b.sls Spectral Line Setup File
  - THIRD Example - a9999c.sls General Setup File
  - FOURTH Example - a9999d.sls Spectral Line Setup File
- Sample Procedure Files
  - FIRST Example of a Procedure File - onoff.tcl
- Continuum Appendices (0.30 Mbyte)
  - The Continuum Observing Checklist
  - Example Set-Up Files
  - Useful ANALYZ Dialogs
  - Calibration Curves
  - Data Formats
- Pulsar Appendices (0.70 Mbyte) (HTML page)
  - Recipe Collection
    - PSPM
    - AOFTM
    - MKIV
    - ABPP
    - CBR
  - Time Keeping at AO for pulsar work
  - Calibrations
  - Signal Path Diagrams
    - Signal Path to the Pulsar Machines
    - Signal Path for Gregorian Receivers
- VLBI Appendices (0.34 Mbyte)
  - Diagram of S2 Baseband Converters
  - The VLBI Observing Checklist, I:(Antenna controlled from the PCFS)
  - The VLBI Observing Checklist, II:(If PCFS controls ONLY the S2 recorder)
  - Output Power of Tone Cal Unit
  - The VLBI Observation Log Form
  - Example Set-Up Files (with explanations)
  - Signal Path Delay and U-V Modifications
  - Calibration Curves
- RFI Appendices (0.39 Mbyte)
  - Sample Daily RFI Plots from the Hill-Top Monitoring System
  - FM Radio Stations in Puerto Rico
  - AM Radio Stations in Puerto Rico
  - List of Puerto Rican TV channels
  - List of Radars seen at the Observatory
  - Band Allocations, and our Rights
  - Contact Addresses
  - AR8000 - One-page Users' Guide
  - X111 Run - An Example
  - Hardware/Software RFI-related Resources available at the Observatory
- Computing Appendices (0.31 Mbyte)
  - Table of Principal Workstations/Servers/Printers
  - Network Security
  - List of Supported Software Packages for data reduction/visualization
  - Useful System Commands
Chris Salter, (This web version is made by Tapasi Ghosh)
1999-10-05