--------------------------------------------------------------------- Instructions for PALFA (+commensal ZOA) observing with the Mocks --------------------------------------------------------------------- For remote observing, start up a VNC session ----------------------------------------------- If you're not doing remote observing, jump ahead to "Set up actual observing". Otherwise, you may begin by consulting AO remote observing instructions (http://www2.naic.edu/~astro/remote.shtml). However, if you are going to use VNC (HIGHLY recommended!!), the instructions below tell you all that you should need to know. Let's get started. From your computer away from Puerto Rico: %ssh -X @remoto.naic.edu [That -X may not be needed, depending on how your Xforwarding is set up, but it doesn't hurt.] $ssh fusion00 $vncserver -geometry 1280x1024 The geometry parameters can be anything you like (they don't have to be "normal" values like 1024x768 etc. They can be 1200x900 or 1500x1100, etc). It is best to make it slightly smaller than the resolution of the monitor that you are working on. [If you've never done this, it'll ask you for a passwd; make it one that you won't have a problem sharing with others - in other words, _not_ your usual passwd!] [This will return something like fusion00:4 <- that number is important.] Back at your computer off Puerto Rico, %vncviewer -via @remote.naic.edu fusion00:4 [instead of 4, use whatever number you got from running vncserver in fusion00; also, you can change the geometry parameters.] For Mac, Windows and some Linux, the -via option is not available. On a Mac, run ssh -f -L 590N:fusion00:590N YOURLOGIN@remote.naic.edu sleep 14400 in a terminal window. Then open Vncviewer (just use the icon) and select display > open -- localhost:N in both lines, N is the important number from above. For Linux, use the same first line; then run vncviewer localhost:N For Windows, download Putty, set Session > Host name = remote.naic.edu Session > Protocol = ssh Connection > Auto-login username = YOURLOGIN Connection > Tunnels Source port = 590N Destination = fusion00:590N And connect. In VNCViewer, open localhost:N You'll be asked for 2 passwds; the 1st is your regular Arecibo passwd; the 2nd is the one you made in fusion00 when running vncserver, and that you should be comfortable sharing with others. Now you should have a big window on which you can open xterms, etc, and soon you'll start cima and do the observing from here. Very usefully, anyone else can hook into your vnc session (if you give them your vnc passwd) and see all that you're doing (or do it for you!) and offer advice, by doing the following from their computer: vncviewer -geometry 1200x900 -via @remote.naic.edu fusion00:4 At the end of the session, you log out of CIMA as per the observing instructions, within the VNC session. Then you kill the VNC window (by clicking on the x at the top right hand corner of your large window, or something similar). Finally, you must log into fusion00 from an xterm in your computer and do the following, in order to not monopolize resources: $vncserver -kill :4 Set up actual observing -------------------------- 0. In your vnc session, log in to observer2 with username dtusr. You can get the password from the telescope operator at 787-878-2612 x211. Then type cima on the observer2 command line. 1. Choose the 'single pixel' ('mocksp') version of cima. Enter p2030 as the project ID and your name/initials for observer. Select 'Pulsar' and click 'Accept.' 2. Several windows will open. In the 'Receiver Selection Menu' window, select ALFA, and click 'Accept.' The receiver will rotate into position. You can watch the telescope status in aostatus or the 'CIMA observation status' window. 3. Select "Command file observing" in the "CIMA main menu" window. 4. In the "CIMA command file observing window", load the appropriate .cmd schedule. The GUI will automatically select the appropriate project directory (/share/obs4/usr/pulsar/p2030), you just need to scroll down and pick the relevant date: palfa_sched_YYMMDD.cmd (e.g. tomorrow's schedule is palfa_sched_110416.cmd). Note that I automatically include an observation of PSR J1952+26 in the schedule, but that it only comes up later on in the session. You're also free to do another test pulsar at the start by using the "pointing control" window and "psr.cat" (or something else) to select the source by hand. Note however, that you'll first want to run the command file to load the right setup (or load the configuration by hand and adjust the Mock power). 5. Click "Run" in order to start the command file observing. This will a) load the configuration, b) center ALFA on beam 0, c) configure the "PULSARON" observing mode, d) adjust the Mock power (these should still be ~30), and e) start slewing and taking data. ***** NOTE on MOCK POWER LEVELS: Mock power levels will get printed in the 'CIMA observation log display' on the lower right. The first 4 columns of numbers should be close to 30. (Sometimes you may need to adjust Mock power a couple of times to get the levels right.) Approx. 25-33 is ok, much less than that means you are not getting power in some beams--if that is the case, tell the operator. (Possible trivial reasons for not getting power in *any* of the beams: the lid has not been taken off ALFA and/or ALFA amplifiers haven't been turned back on after a radar run--ask the operator to make sure.) Each pair of lines in this output corresponds to one beam (there are 2 Mock bands per beam), and power for each polarization (A or B) is measured separately. If only one beam or one polarization of one beam is dead, it's still ok to observe. ***** 6. Run "aostatus" from the command line to bring up a window which will give you some basic Arecibo pointing status. 7. Keep an eye on "aostatus" and the "CIMA observation log display" window, which will print important status messages, which are also written to the cimalog file (p2030.cimalog_YYYYMMDD). You may need to skip pointings if they are no longer visible, or stop/restart for other reasons as well. "STOP" in the "CIMA command file observing window" will pause the schedule file after the current scan. "ABORT" quits the current scan immediately. If you press "RUN" again, you will start from where you left off in the schedule. You can also choose to restart from a different line in the file (make sure that the configuration was properly loaded at some point earlier on). 8. I find it also useful to do a "ls -ltrh p2030*" in /share/pdataX/pdev (where X is 1-7, for the different beams) as a sanity check that data is being written. For each 268-s pointing, and each beam, you should get 4 x 2GB files and 2 x 137MB files.