Plateau de Bure Interferometer

Observing Setups

Standard observing setup

Used for a full synthesis in line(s) and continuum on a single object. This is the basic observing procedure. Inside the procedure several useful comments are inserted after a !

Note that only the correlator unit 5 is usable in the 10 MHz mode (spectral resolution of 80 KHz). Writing for each correlator unit (see the example) a comment which gives the line, the band (usb or lsb) and the priority range helps in case of correlator problems to determine which can be sacrified.

If you want to create your own setup, you should:

• Load the current standard setup given here (not strictly similar to the example below)
• Save it
• Edit it and follow the instructions to update the setup
• Examples for a single source, a mosaic or snapshots are given bellow
• In many cases, amplitude and phase calibrators should be selected at IRAM because quasars are highly variable (set the parameter ''calibrator_1'' at "....." )
• End of procedure: comments about receiver tunings depend of frequency and receiver properties, they should be updated by IRAM staff
• When completed, send it to your local contact or collaborator
• Special attention must be given to the spectral configuration
• Coordinates and LSR or redshift must be right

-------------------------------------------------------
!Procedure for observing I073 DM TAU TTS classique
!
! AD & RM 31-oct-1998
!------------------------------------------------------------
!Arreter le projet precedent (stop the previous project)
SET\END
@ pr:defaults
SET\PROJECT I073
CATA PHA INTER_BASE:phase-newest.sou
CATA SOU INTER_BASE:iram.sou
SYMBOL GO "@ PR:observe-all I073"           ! observe-all.obs
SAY "Project 'PROJECT' starting"
LET RECEIVER 2                                                        ! Obs. with pointing on rec 2
LET LOW_LIMIT 15.                                                   ! Low elevation limit 15 degrees
SYMBOL NAME "DMTAU EQ 2000 04:33:48.70 18:10:10.6 LSR 6.05"
LET N_SOURCES 1
IF (N_SOURCES.GT.1) THEN      
   LET NAME_SOURCE[1:N_SOURCES] ".. .."
   LET N_SCANS_SOURCE[1:N_SOURCES] .. ..
ENDIF
LET N_SUBSCANS 60                                               ! 1 MINUTE SCAN
LET N_SCANS 20                                                       ! 20 SCANS of 1 minute between calibrators
LET N_CALIBRATORS 2        ! N_CALIBRATOR = 2 for Dec. > 20-25 deg., else = 1
LET_CALIBRATOR_1 "0415+379"
LET_CALIBRATOR_2 "0528+134"
LET N_SUBS_CAL 60
LET N_SCANS_CAL 2
LET POINT_SOURCE_1 0415+379
LET POINT_SOURCE_2 0528+134
LET FOCUS_SOURCE_1 0415+379
LET FOCUS_SOURCE_2 0528+134
LET CHANGE_SPECTRAL .false.
LET N_MOSAIC 0                            ! For Mosaicing see section below
!       Setup FOR CO-ISO(1-0) for REC1
LINE CO-ISO(1-0) 110.020 USB LOW 350/REC 1
!       Setup for c18o(2-1) on REC2
LINE C18O(2-1) 219.5605 LSB LOW 350/REC 2
SPECTRAL 1 160 350/REC 1                            ! Continuum
SPECTRAL 2 20 586.88/REC 1                         ! Line C18O 1-0, priority 1
SPECTRAL 5 10 168.13/REC 1                         ! Line 13CO 1-0, priority 1
SPECTRAL 3 20 350/REC 2                             ! LINE C18O(2-1), priority 1
SPECTRAL 4 160 270/REC 2                           ! continuum
SPECTRAL 6 160 430/REC 2                           ! IF PB, DISCONNECT !
IF (N_SOURCES.GT.1) THEN
   SOURCE 'NAME_SOURCE[1]' /TYPE OBJ
ELSE SOURCE 'NAME' /TYPE OBJ
IF (ELEV(0).LT.LOW_LIMIT) THEN
   SAY "Source not up, retry later"
   RETURN
ELSE IF (DSUN.LT.SUN_LIMIT) THEN
   SAY "Source too close to Sun, retry later"
   RETURN
ENDIF
LOAD /FREQUENCY
CENTER_LO2
SET SHOW OFF               ! Make sure any changes in the spectral configuration will be detected:
SET\LOCK
TYPE PR:CLEAN.OBS
SAY "Project I073 Type: Mapping / Category: Dual frequency"
SAY " "
SAY " I073, REC1: Setup USB, Tuning SSB "
SAY " I073, REC2: Setup LSB, Tuning DSB , stab: 2-3 average"
SAY " Frequency sent, receivers may be tuned "
SAY "Execute all observations by typing go "
SAY " I073: OBS with REC1 & REC2, lines on both receivers "
LET SOLVE_POINT/PROMPT "Auto Pointing [YES|NO]?"
LET SOLVE_FOCUS/PROMPT "Auto Focus [YES|NO]?"
SYMBOL PROCEED/INQUIRE "Type RETURN to remove this PAGE"
SET SHOW ON
@PR:CHECK_CALI I073 4 5 ! Prepare observing procedure to measure the flux of the 5 closest                                       ! calibrators from catalogues. Procedure will be executed only if                                       ! CALIBRATOR_1 is left "......"

SAY "Project I073 Type: Mapping / Category: Dual frequency"

Other possibilities are

• for Type: Detection or Mosaic
• for Category: 3mm observations or 1.3mm observations

Only the sections written above in Blue or Black should be updated

Setup for Mosaicing

The offsets (in arcsec.) and integration time (in minute) per field must be specified in the mosaicing section. Note that the total integration time should be around 20 minutes (typical time in between two calibrations.

Several objects, usually located in the same sky area, are observed in the SAME transit. Compared to the full synthesis mode, several variables (giving source names and integration time per source) must be specified in the section described below. Moreover, the source catalog project_name.sou (here i087.sou) must be written (J2000 cordinates).

Note that in the source catalog, LS is the LSR of the source given in km/s. 1950 coordinates can be converted in J2000 using ASTRO (with the command astro\convert /J2000).