As every year, we plan to carry out extensive technical work during the summer semester, including the regular maintenance of the antennas. During this period, regular scientific observations will therefore mostly be carried out with the five element array. In addition to the antenna maintenance, an upgrade of the computer system on Bure will be carried out. All HPUX and OS9 systems will be replaced by LINUX PCs along with major modifications of the corresponding antenna control and data acquisition software in the real-time system. Further work will be done on the reduction of the sun avoidance circle. Finally, new receivers operating in the 2mm band will be installed on all six antennas. This new set of receivers, which will open a new frequency band at the Plateau de Bure interferometer, will be become available for the community at the end of the summer semester, after thorough testing and commissioning.
We plan to start the maintenance at the latest by the end of May and to schedule the 5D configuration between June and September. Scheduling of the 6D and 6C configurations will be tailored to progress being made in the commissioning of the 2mm NGR system.
We strongly encourage observers to submit proposals that can be executed during summer operating conditions. To keep the procedure as simple as possible, we ask to focus on:
