ATUC Meeting

ATNF Director's Response

ATNF Director's Response to the ATUC Report dated 27 November 1998.

• (a) [Point 0] ATUC agrees with the ATNF's policy for the release of archival data.

  Response:
  Ok.

• (b) [Point 2] ATUC agrees with the revised policy for observations of transient sources.

  Response:
  Ok.

• (c) [Point 6] ATUC sees no problem with the timetable suggested for the 10/50cm Parkes receiver and is happy for the RFI mitigation system to be developed under the SKA project.

  Response:
  The 10/50 cm project is now divided into 3 components; the front-end, the digital correlator and the RFI excision.

• (d) [Point 8] ATUC emphasises the importance of AT Observer's Questionnaires and that a follow-up reminder from site operations be sent for non-compliance. Detailed comments are to be actively sought, as being of more value than simple ranking.

  Response:
  Procedures have been put in place to obtain more detailed comments on issues raised in the observers questionnaire. Some attempt may be made to copy these comments back to the observer when appropriate.

New Business Matters:

1. Triennium Funding: (see report)

   Response:
   We appreciate the effort taken to provide advice on difficult issues related to CSIRO's triennium funding process. The comments from the User Committee will be included in the report to the Steering Committee, who are involved in the budget development procedure. Some additional issues, which have arisen since the ATUC meeting, are included on the current agenda.

2. ATUC recommends that to promote more accessible use by a wider fraction of the astronomical community, an improvement in documentation (observing and data reduction) by the VLBI National Facility is essential.

   Response:
   Improved documentation for VLBI has high priority but is progressing slowly due to redeployment of some key staff members.

3. ATUC would like to emphasise the importance of RFI mitigation at the observatories and approves the reduction of internally generated interference (as covered by TIMS and the Screen Investigation for Parkes). ATUC recommends an improvement of the interference database to make it more accessible and to include, as far as possible, time and strength information.

   Response:
   John Sarkissian has continued to improve the software to identify sources of RFI listed in the databases.

4. ATUC will endorse a proposal to interrupt scheduled observation at ATCA to pursue pointing assessments and appreciates the intention of the OIC to use in the first instance the period between the hardware and software stows on the telescope. It appears that a relaxation of the software limit could degrade observations but would not compromise safety concerns.

   Response:
   Sufficient pointing data has been obtained to satisfy us that the upgrading of the panels on the Compact Array antennas can proceed without any statistically significant degradation of pointing performance due to winds. As a by-product of this investigation other larger sources of pointing errors have been identified and will be pursued. Further relaxation of the pointing software limit is under consideration but the overall impact on observing will be very small.

5. ATUC approves the introduction of the new east-west stations first, and endorses the recommended plan for new array configurations from the OIC. It would be helpful to have the new arrays included in the VRI.

   Response:
   John Dickey has an opinion on this and will send it to ATUC.

6. ATUC suggests a dedicated workshop to discuss issues of flexible scheduling including input from other observatories where flexible scheduling takes place.

   Response:
   Noted.

7. ATUC is pleased that the Memorandum of Understanding with UNSW will mean that the Mopra Telescope will be more accessible and better supported for general community use. Some clarification of the support required from ATNF is desirable. At this stage ATUC considers preferable that ATUC continues to assign all non-UNSW dedicated time.

   Response:
   The ATNF support will provide on-call technical support and routine maintenance at a level as close as possible to a ``National Facility'' level that is commensurate with the geographical constraints. In practice, this means that (a) telephone support will be given whenever appropriate staff are available, and (b) visits to the site by technical staff when necessary will generally occur within one working day.
   ATNF and UNSW have agreed that ATAC will continue to assign all non-UNSW dedicated time.

8. ATUC requests further information before we can re-prioritise the upgrade to a wide-band 22-GHz receiver at Mopra. In particular, we request a statement of the scientific case and project priorities.

   Response:
   It now appears that the upgrade of the 22GHz Mopra receiver to the same specifications as the other receivers is a straight forward and preferable engineering option. We now feel it is in our interest to proceed with this upgrade without the need for further prioritisation.

9. ATUC suggests that the Synthesis Workshop be held every three years, that it be residential on site and that the costs to students be increased modestly. It is considered to be less important that the workshop be matched to the timing of the equivalent one offered at the VLA.

   Response:
   Noted and planning has commenced. The cost of a residential workshop at Narrabri will be significantly higher.

10. ATUC would like to acknowledge that ATNF now supports multibeam software as part of the National Facility.

    Response:
    Revisions to the multibeam software since the ATNF assumed full responsibility have resulted in a more robust system with greater functionality. We are also starting to distribute the s/w to interested multibeam users in other institutions. The advent of reasonably frequent (once a month or so) aips++ "stable releases" means this is now reasonably straightforward to do.

11. a. ATUC supports that computer software be given a higher profile at Future Developments meetings. ATUC requests a plan for the ATOMS project beyond end 1999 so that it may comment on the priority for it.

    Response:
    The computer developments have been re-integrated into our future development meetings. Our financial plan for ATOMS has 2 people dropping off. In addition, David Loone's position (but not David Loone) is expected to be transferred back to Narrabri at the end of 1999. A plan is not yet in place to accommodate these changes. This will be a high priority agenda item at the next OCC meeting.
    

    b. ATUC notes that documentation for multibeam software should be provided at the National Facility level following the assumption by the ATNF of responsibility for multibeam software. ATUC endorses the multibeam software priorities 1) support for the narrow band mode, 2) development of the point/shoot mode. It is recommended that a basic capability for both be provided by mid 1999.

    Response:
    Documentation will be provided in the aips++ system for the multibeam software. Help from the user community is required for some aspects of this (e.g. providing a cookbook).
    

    Regarding software development:
    

    1) Narrow-band support has now been included in the "LiveData" multibeam reduction suite. LiveData has been used in this mode by two external groups of observers already. Modifications to the gridder ("gridzilla") will occur in March or April.
    

    2) It is possible to make multibeam observations in "Point-and-shoot" mode already. LiveData enhancements to facilitate reduction of data taken in this mode will occur in time for scheduled observations by an external team in March.

12. ATUC suggests that the future demand for the Bonn Polarimeter be assessed before resources are committed to incorporate it into the present upgraded system.

    Response:
    The Director requests that ATUC assess the demand for the Bonn Polarimeter. John Reynolds will provide a set of specs.

13. ATUC supports the ongoing negotiations to put 7-mm receivers on all the ATCA antennae provided it is externally funded. It would be highly desirable to extend the frequency range to higher frequencies.

    Response:
    The current situation for the 7mm upgrade is not quite so promising. The two prototype receivers provided by the University of Chicago are optimised at 35GHz and cannot be used at the higher frequencies. A supply of InP amplifiers covering the full frequency range should be produced as part of the Executive Special Project. This will provide a source of amplifiers for a 7mm upgrade but we have no firm commitment of external funding for the rest of the system.

14. ATUC is concerned about security for future web-based electronic submission.

    Response:
    We recognise the concern and will attempt to address this.

15. ATUC supports further investigation into proposal submission via the web. ATUC would like to see a set of requirements for the next ATUC meeting.

    Response:
    Discussion of electronic proposal submission will be scheduled for the November ATUC meeting.

16. ATUC is happy with the current level of international collaborations using the AT facilities.

    Response:
    Noted and referred to the Steering Committee.

17. ATUC recommends that a Memorandum of Understanding be negotiated with SEST to follow the completion of the current one.

    Response:
    Noted and will be discussed with Steering Committee.

18. ATUC supports that the ATNF should, as a matter of policy, adequately support AIPS, particularly for VLBI users. ATUC recognises that the computer resources for AIPS support have been reduced.

    Response:
    AIPS version 15APR98 has now been successfully built and merged with ATNF specific code (system and application) for all three platforms that the ATNF supports (Solaris, Irix and Digital Unix). The switch over to 15APR98 (for all ATNF sites) from old aips is scheduled for the the first week of March and should have occurred by the time of the ATUC meeting.
    

    Since FITS files written by 15APR98 cannot be read by older AIPS (Y2K related issues), ATNF will provide a tape of the installation for anybody wishing to take it away. As always, users can always install NRAO AIPS at their own institute. For ATCA processing, the *only* required extra piece of software is ATLOD and the supporting RPFITS library, available from the ATNF web pages.

19. ATUC requests a reduction in the cost of CDs and exabyte tapes to reflect market value.

    Response:
    We require CDs with barcodes and these are somewhat more expensive than those available in the mass market. However, we agree to assess real costs and reflect this in cost to users.

20. ATUC congratulates ATNF on its most recent Annual Report but notes that it has appeared very late.

    Response:
    Information gathering processes for the Annual Report have been improved and this year's version is more advanced already.

21. ATUC supports the proposal for UNSW to run a millimetre-workshop at Mopra towards the end of 1999.

    Response:
    Noted.