[mmaimcal] Array designations

[Harvey Liszt]

> 
> Who, other than local staff, can say offhand what are the dimensions of
> the VLA B configuration? Or the IRAM BC configuration? etc. No peeking
> at user manuals!
> 
The resolution of the VLA A array is 1.0 arcsec at L-band.  Now you're
stuck for the rest of your life remembering how big the VLA is.   The
scale factor is sqrt(10).

But seriously I think you are right.  The alphanumeric designations of
the JCMT receivers and semesters was impossible to fathom and they finally
abandoned the latter.  The naming of rf bands like stellar types is also
a source of confusion.

So what do you want to do?  Use the longest baseline to characterize an
array?  Or how about the baseline which corresponds to the optimal natural-
weighted central fwhm?

regards, Harvey