[daip] VLBA telescope in Hancock, NH

[R. Craig Walker]

Hello - I am Craig Walker, one of the scientists involved with the VLBA. 
I can give you some information, including more on who you should contact
in management.  A place to start would be Peggy Perley who is in charge of
operations and the engineering/technical side of the VLBA
(pperley at nrao.edu) and VLA.  She might send you on to the local director,
but I'd go to her first.

The Hancock antenna is located on Boston University's Sargent Camp. 
Getting permission to site there might involve some interaction with BU.

Are you sure putting seismic gear next to a 240 ton piece of machinery
that moves on rails and is moving a good portion of the time is a good
idea?  I would think it would be a little like being next to a train track
which I presume you would like to avoid.  Of course, it doesn't move
anywhere near as fast as a train, and maybe filtering high frequency
vibrations would deal with the issue.

That said, we to have a history of hosting equipment from other groups. 
In particular, 5 of the 10 antennas host geodetic GPS receivers and
there's been considerable talk about increasing that number, although it
has not yet been done.  Hancock is not one of those.

The Hancock site sits on solid granite if I'm not mistaken.

We have two employees who tend the site.  They can probably spend a small
portion of their time on other equipment, especially if there is some
compensation (the VLBA is in something of a funding tight spot these
days).  There isn't really 2 people's worth of work at a site, but when
you factor in vacations, not wanting to be on call all the time, and jobs
subject to a 2 man rule, you really need two.  At some sites, the techs
are doing VLBA wide, or even VLA, work that would otherwise have to be
done in Socorro.  I believe the Hancock techs do the maintenance for some
of the back-end electronics for all the VLBA sites.

Cheers,

Craig



> Hello.
> My name is Mike Hagerty, I manage the New England Seismic Network,
> a network of 14 seismic stations distributed throughout New England and
> headquartered at Weston Observatory of Boston College.
>
> The reason I am mailing you is that we are looking to expand our seismic
> monitoring in the state of New Hampshire, and one of your VLBA sites
> (Hancock, NH) is located very close to where we would like to put a
> station.
>
> Your requirements for a site - soil stability, quiet, security - are
> similar to our
> own and I would like to discuss the possibility of locating a
> seismometer on
> your site.
> Can you please put me in touch with the appropriate person.
>
> There are good examples where telescopes and seismometers have been
> colocated - e.g., seismic station HRV, one of our most revered, is
> located in
> Harvard, MA, on the site of the OakRidge Astrophysical Observatory.
>
> Please see our network website at:
> http://quake.bc.edu:8000/
>
> Thank you for your consideration,
>
> -Mike Hagerty, Ph.D.
>  Manager, New England Seismic Network
>  Weston Observatory
>  Boston College
>  617.552.8337
>  http://quake.bc.edu:8000/
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Daip mailing list
> Daip at listmgr.cv.nrao.edu
> http://listmgr.cv.nrao.edu/mailman/listinfo/daip
>


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    R. Craig Walker            Array Operations Center
    cwalker at nrao.edu           National Radio Astronomy Observatory
    Phone  575 835 7247        P. O. Box O
    Fax    575 835 7027        Socorro NM 87801   USA
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