gbtnews #17
2 January 2004

Limited call for GBT Proposals - Trimester 04B
Deadline: 2 February 2004, 5:00 P.M., EST

The next deadline for observing proposals for the GBT will be 2 February
2004.  This call is for the summer trimester (June through September),
which is the "low frequency" season.  Consequently, we will accept new
proposals for frequencies below 15.4 GHz (through Ku-band) only.  No new
proposals for the higher frequency K, Ka, or Q bands (18 GHz through 52
GHz, inclusive) will be accepted at this call.  We will, however, accept
resubmissions of K, Ka, or Q band proposals that were not selected in the
last call (October 2003) so that revisions and responses can be made while
the issues are still relatively fresh.  Resubmissions should be clearly
indicated as such in the proposal text.  Such proposals will not be
scheduled before the fall of 2004 at the earliest.

As described in previous calls, we have a substantial number of proposals
in the queue from previous calls.  We will accept about 400 hours of new
observing time at the upcoming 2 February 2004 deadline.  The fraction of
observing time on the GBT continues to rise and operations are becoming
routine.  We are making progress in working through the backlog and expect
to have most of it discharged by late summer.  Per usual, proposals will
be rank-ordered and selected until the available time is exhausted.

As noted, proposals will be accepted for all standard observing modes at
frequencies through 15.4 GHz.  Available observing modes include spectral
line, continuum, pulsar, and VLBI/VLBA.  Pulsar modes include those with
the Spectral Processor, and the BCPM (Berkeley-Caltech Pulsar Machine)
through agreement with its developers.  The pulsar Spigot mode of the GBT
Spectrometer will be available in limited modes for expert users through
agreement with its developers.  Available receivers include 290-920 MHz
(PF1), 910-1230 MHz (PF2), 1.15-1.73 GHz (L), 1.73-2.60 (S), 3.95-5.85
(C), 8.0-10.1 (X), and 12.0-15.4 (Ku).  Proposals requesting GBT
participation in VLBA or global VLBI observations should be submitted to
the VLBA only, not to the GBT.

The Observatory continues to offer financial support for graduate and
undergraduate students performing research with the GBT through the
Student Support Program.  Applications are made in conjunction with GBT
observing proposals, and will be accepted at the 2 February 2004 deadline.
Information about the program can be found at
	http://www.gb.nrao.edu/gbtprops/gbtstudentsupport.shtml

All proposals must be submitted electronically using version 1.1 of the
NRAO Proposal Submission Tool (PST), which is available from the downloads
page.  If you have downloaded v1.1 previously, you need to download a new
version of the gbtDatan.xml file, which informs the PST of available
resources, start and end dates, etc., for each trimester.  This is a
simple text file, which needs to be copied to the appropriate source
location for the PST to access.

Proposal receipt will open on Monday, 5 January 2004 and will close at
5:00 P.M. EST on Monday, 2 February 2004.

Questions about the proposal submission process may be addressed to Carl
Bignell (304-456-2165 or cbignell@nrao.edu). Technical questions about GBT
hardware, software, and observing modes may be addressed to Ron Maddalena
(304-456-2207 or rmaddale@nrao.edu).

						Phil Jewell