[mmaimcal] FYI: 24 Mar-7 Apr 2008 Biweekly Calendar of the ALMA Project at NRAO

Tue Apr 15 14:57:47 EDT 2008

Folks,

Contributions, comments, conniptions?

Thanks,
Al
         BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
                          24 Mar 2008 - 7 April 2008

******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT************************* 
The ALMA Board is pleased to announce that Dr. Tetsuo Hasegawa will take
up the position of Interim ALMA Project Manager at the Joint ALMA Office
in Santiago effective 1 May 2008. 

Dr. Hasegawa is a world expert in millimeter astronomy, with excellent
scientific and instrumental credentials.  He has been the Project
Director and Project Manager for the Japanese contribution to ALMA and
has substantial experience in coordinating large international projects.
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Radio signals from the moon were deteced on Melco antenna No. 2 with the 
installed 2mm SIS receiver. Mapping observations of the moon was also 
conducted in the On-The-Fly method.
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With the end of March, ALMA Director Massimo Tarenghi steps down after
five years.  Dr. Tarenghi had previously been interim Project Manager.
We wish him every success with his next projects.  Meanwhile, we welcome
Dr. Thijs deGraauw as Interim ALMA Director.
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Past issues of this Calendar may be viewed at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html
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General Happenings
Photos of activity may be found at:
http://www.alma.nrao.edu/almanews/almagallery/index.html
Sky: Mars gleams high in the southwestern evening sky, while Saturn looms
in the southeast.  Jupiter is in the southeastern morning sky until dawn
drowns his light.

SCO: A second production workshop was held via telecon.

AOS (Array Ops Site, 16570ft altitude): Ongoing monitoring of the membrane 
covering the antenna Cassegrain hole at the AOS; holding up well.2. 
Mission to AOS to check equipment compatibility was successfully completed; 
a report is being prepared.

OSF (Ops Support Facility, 9600ft altitude): All components of Vertex 
Antenna #4 All components will have arrived in Chile this week.  
Transporter assembled and running. Dummy mounted and filled with sand.  
The 2-antenna correlator at the OSF has been installed and it passed 
initial tests, including producing spectra from an analog noise source.

AOC: Digital Transmission Ssytem (DTS) shipped to Chile 4 Formatter (DTX) 
modules and 1 Digitizer Clock (DGCK) module, to be integrated into the 
first Antenna Article from BE.

ATF: Software releases ACS 7.0.1 and ALMA 5.0.3 are being debugged at 
the ATF.  The first ATF spectral line observations of Orion with gain 
cal 0530+134 was reduced end-to-end in CASA by George Moellenbrock.

NTC (NRAO Technology Center): Front End SN01 was disassembled for shipment 
to the OSF.  This will constitute the first ALMA receiver package to 
arrive in Chile.  Integration work on the second quadrant continues, 
with 100% of the signal cables installed.

Canada: Teraxion announced that Spring has arrived in Quebec City, 
signalled by piles of snow.

EU: CFRP Cabin for AEM antenna No 1 has suffered damage to two backup 
structure (BUS) interface flanges during transport and needs repair at 
manufacturer in France.  Manufacture and assembly of steel structures 
continue.

NAASC: Internal meeting 2 April.
A calendar of NAASC events may be found at:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/naasc/calendar/calendar.php
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DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT/EST ) see
https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaCalendar
23 March  Easter Sunday (Fri 21 Mar Spring Holiday in US).
****************************** UPCOMING EVENTS *************************
   Mar 26-9       The Cosmic Agitator-B Fields in the Galaxy  U. Ky
   Mar 26   13UT ALMA Production Review Workshop              Netmeeting
   Apr 1          Optical Pointing Telescope PDR              Tucson
   Apr 1-3        ALMA Board Meeting                          Chile
******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS *************************
Memo # 576 has been approved and posted.
Title: RF Burnout Power of SIS Mixers
Author: A.R. Kerr

Abstract: The RF burnout power of Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb SIS mixers is estimated 
from measured DC burnout data. It is assumed that an SIS junction suffers 
permanent damage when it reaches a critical temperature which is the same 
for all junctions of that material type. The junction temperature depends 
on the power (RF or DC) dissipated in the junction and the thermal 
resistance between the junction and thermal ground. The burnout powers 
of some SIS receivers currently in use at millimeter-wave observatories 
are estimated.

View a pdf version of ALMA Memo #576.
http://www.alma.nrao.edu/memos/html-memos/alma576/memo576.pdf
*****************************ALSO OF INTEREST***************************
The Allen Telescope Array is accepting proposals from the general user
community for the second half of 2008.  Proposals are due April 18, 2008 
at 5pm PDT.
A full set of instrument parameters and proposal forms is available at
http://ral.berkeley.edu/ata/Proposal/Proposals.html
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The CARMA SUMMER SCHOOL at the CARMA site in the Inyo mountains this year 
June 22 - 28. Students will stay at the observatory for lectures, practical
demonstrations, and observing projects.  The lectures cover the basic
theory of interferometer observations, data reduction and imaging.
- the application deadline is April 25
You can read a TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION:
http://cedarflat.mmarray.org/observing/doc/instrument_desc.html
and there is a tool to calculate the RMS noise:
http://cedarflat.mmarray.org/observing/tools/rms.html
PLEASE REPLY WITH YOUR APPLICATION BY 25 APRIL:
mwright at astron.berkeley.edu
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The Eleventh Synthesis Imaging Workshop will take place from June 10 
through June 17 of 2008 in Socorro, NM. The school will comprise a week 
of lectures on aperture synthesis theory and techniques at a level 
appropriate for graduate students in astrophysics. Basic lectures on 
synthesis imaging, and advanced lectures on more specialized techniques, 
will be included. Practical tutorials demonstrating data collection, 
calibration and imaging of both VLA and VLBA data will be given. There 
will be a nominal registration fee, which will cover the cost of the 
meeting and a copy of ASP Vol. 180, "Synthesis Imaging in Radio Astronomy 
II", from the 1998 summer school.  Please visit:
http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/events/synthesis/2008/
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Registration is now open for "Transformational Science with ALMA:
The Birth and Feedback of Massive Stars, Within and Beyond the Galaxy"
A workshop to be held at the North American ALMA Science Center
National Radio Astronomy Observatory Charlottesville, Virginia 
September 25-27 2008  Please see:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/php/meetings/massive08/
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Please send information for upcoming calendars by Friday evening of the
preceding biweekly period to Jennifer Neighbours or Al Wootten via e-mail
(jneighbo at nrao.edu or awootten at nrao.edu).

The calendar will be issued between late Friday and sometime on Monday
by e-mail to all NRAO scientific staff members and anyone else interested.
A specific mailing list, alma-info, has been created for anyone wishing
to receive it.
Past issues are available at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html