GBT Commissioning Repository

The following documents, scripts, data files, schedules, etc. are the various products of the commissioning of the GBT.  The intended primary audience is the GBT commissioning team and the NRAO staff members, though others might also be interested in the material.  

You might also be interested in:

• A list of commissioning memos sorted by release date.  
• The Green Bank or the GBT home pages.
• GBT Operational Capabilities and Commissioning Status
• Posters of commissioning results and activities:
  • Early Results from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (January 2002; 618 Kbytes)
  • Status of the Green Bank Telescope : First Reports on Outfitting and Commissioning (January 2001; 970 Kbytes

The materials below include the commissioning plans and schedule and the products of the tasks in that schedule.  

Commissioning Plan and Schedules

• Long term commissioning schedule, last updated 4/16/2001, available in the following formats:
  
  • Microsoft Project 98 (MPP) file
  • HTML Task list
  • HTML Resource Assignments
    
• Commissioning Planning memos
  
  • Plan for Astronomical Testing of GBT Spectrometer Modes (PDF: 273 Kbytes)
        Jewell
        May 29, 2002
  • Observing Program Checkout (PDF: 252 Kbytes)
        Maddalena
        May 30, 2002
  • Baseline Investigation Program (PDF: 174 Kbytes)
        Balser, Fisher, and Norrod
        May 28, 2002

Commissioning Tasks

The subsection names have been chosen so as to best match task names in the above commissioning schedule.

Hardware

Memo 21: Comparison of GBT Backend Total Intensity Measurements (PDF: 682 Kbytes)
    Langston, Balser, Ghigo, and Maddalena
    February 2, 2002

Generic: LO1

CLEO script for altering LO1 frequency: aqrRepeatStub.tcl

Memo 1: Frequency Checks of the GBT RF/IF/LO System (PDF: 436 Kbytes)
    McKinnon and Maddalena
    January 20, 2001 

Glish/GO setup script: rcvr1_2_setup.g

IDL Data analysis scrip: Ttone.pro

Spectrometer

Memo 2: GBT Spectrometer Tests at L-Band (PDF: 1.1 Mbytes)
    Langston and Lacasse
    January 23, 2001

Memo 13: Wide-Bandwidth Spectrometer Measurements at X-Band (PDF: 1006 Kbytes)
   Dennison
   August 25, 2001

Memo 15: Spectrometer Tests with IF Rack Noise Source (PDF: 357 Kbytes)
   Langston, Balser, Maddalena, and Ghigo
   September 17, 2001

Observing Techniques

Polarization

Memo 23: Calibrating the GBT at L, C, and X Bands (PDF: 1845 Kbytes)
    Heiles, Robishaw, Troland, and Roshi
    March 16, 2003

Data Reduction

Focus Tracking

Prime Focus

Memo 12: GBT Prime Focus (Band 1-4): Focus Tracking (PDF: 704 Kbytes)
    Balser, Ghigo, Maddalena, and Langston
    August 23, 2001

Low Frequency Gregorian

Memo 7: Gregorian Focus Calibration at S-band: empirical determination of optimum subreflector focus tracking in X and Y (PDF: 53 Kbytes)
    Ghigo, Maddalena, Balser,  and Langston
    March 29, 2001

Memo 8: Comparison of feed arm metrology with focus tracking measurements (PDF: 16 Kbytes)
    Ghigo and Maddalena
    April 2, 2001

Memo 11: Plate Scale and Pointing Effects of Subreflector Positioning at 2 GHz (PDF: 164 Kbytes)
    VanWey, Ghigo, Maddalena, Balser, Langston, and McKinnon
    July 18, 2001

Pointing

Prime Focus

Memo 5: GBT PF 800 MHz Pointing (PDF: 458 Kbytes)
    Balser, Maddalena, Ghigo, and Langston
    March 2, 2001

Memo 14: GBT Prime Focus (Band 1-4): All Sky pointing at 800 MHz (PDF: 619 Kbytes)
   Balser, Maddalena, Ghigo, and Langston
   September 14, 2001

Low Frequency Gregorian

Memo 6: GBT S-band (2 GHz) Pointing (PDF: 995 Kbytes)
    Balser, Maddalena, Ghigo, and Langston
    March 23, 2001

Memo 9: GBT S-band (2 GHz) Pointing Stability (PDF: 540 Kbytes)
    Balser, Langston, Maddalena, and Ghigo
    April 6, 2001

Pointing files: sband.point  and  sband2.point

High Frequency Gregorian

Memo 17: GBT X-band (9.6 GHz): All-Sky Pointing (PDF: 556 Kbytes)
    Balser, Maddalena, Ghigo, and Langston
    January 30, 2002

Memo 20: GBT X-band (9.6 GHz): Pointing Stability (PDF: 585 Kbytes)
    Balser, Maddalena, Ghigo, and Langston
    March 10, 2002

Refraction

Memo 16: Improvements to the GBT Refraction Model (PDF: 294 Kbytes)
    Maddalena, Ghigo, Balser, and Langston
    January 23, 2002

Surface

Calibrators from the Astronomical Almanac

Low Frequency Gregorian

Efficiency observing files:  eff.obs; eff2.obs; eff3.obs; cal_mar23.obs; fluxcal.obs; fluxcal_22mar.obs; ott.01mar20.obs; ott.obs

Memo 10: Gain and Efficiency at S-Band (PDF: 96 Kbytes)
    Ghigo, Maddalena, Balser, and Langston
    May 10, 2001

Astronomical Demonstrations

 

Spectral Line: Bandpass

Memo 3: GBT IF Tests (PDF: 601 Kbytes)
    Balser
    January 22, 2001

Memo 4: L-band Reflection Measurement (PDF: 93 Kbytes)
    Norrod and Stennes
    February 20, 2001

RFI

Memo 19: RFI Survey at S-Band (1.7-2.6 GHz) (PDF: 466 kBytes)
    F. Ghigo
    February 25, 2002

Receivers

800 MHz Prime Focus

CLEO 800 MHz Save/Load All setup file

800 MHz Calibration catalog derived from Ott et al

2-3 GHz

CLEO 2000 MHz Save/Load All setup file

2 GHz Pointing/Calibration catalog derived from Ott et al

Calibration & Noise Diode

Memo 22: Comparison of Engineer's and Astronomical Noise Diode Values for Four Receivers  
(PDF: 1221 Kbytes)
    Johnson, Maddalena, Ghigo, and Balser
    December 3, 2002

Memo 24: Apparent Temperatures of Mercury, Mars, Saturn and Venus at X Band (PDF: 1097 kBytes)
    Langston, Braatz, Ghigo, Maddalena, Minter, and O'Neil
    April 6, 2004

Memo 25: GBT Calibration and Efficiency at 285-400 MHz (PDF: 744 kBytes)
    Langston and Orban
    July 13, 2004