NAIC/AO Newsletter, November 1997
The system parameters that are relevant for the present proposal call are:
Pointing range: all azimuths, 0 - 19.7 degrees zenith angle
Frequency range: 425 - 435 MHz, 1.36 - 1.7 Ghz
Point-source sensitivity: greater than 8 K/Jy.
The dual-polarization 430 MHz and L-band systems are expected to have system temperatures of 50 K and below 30 K at the zenith, respectively (2). Presently, or soon to be available public-access backends include:
i) the AOFTM and PSPM pulsar machines (3),
ii) a very flexible 16,000-channel spectral-line autocorrelator with up to 200-MHZ total bandwidth (4), and
iii) continuum detectors.
The new S-band planetary radar transmitter is working and will be available with a receiving system that may initially have a system temperature of about 50K.
Proposals can be for any area of astronomical research that can be carried out profitably with available equipment. Following an initial period during which the Arecibo staff will make an intensive series of commissioning tests, optimizations, and calibrations of the instrument, outside users will be allocated a percentage of the available time, with this percentage ramping up until full user operations are restored and the telescope is considered fully commissioned. The telescope pointing and calibration, equipment performance, monitor and control software, etc., should be at a reasonable level of performance, and adequately documented, by the time that the first telescope users commence their observations. However, the Gregorian system incorporates new feeds, receivers, drives, data-taking systems, and computer hardware and software. Thus, observing time assigned during the commissioning phase will perforce carry a higher risk of disappointment than will subsequently be the case, and the Observatory does not guarantee its traditional high level of observer satisfaction. In addition, the RFI environment is not yet well characterized, although it is known to be highly time variable and may present problems for observations outside of protected radio-astronomy bands.
Bearing the above in mind, we encourage proposers to focus on scientific projects that are relatively straightforward to carry out and do not require excessive amounts of telescope time. Outside users scheduled during these first months are expected to share the expertise they gain with the staff, and especially to furnish written reports of any experiences or calibrations that will be of use to the staff in preparing for normal operations.
This announcement is being made before we can determine exactly when user observations will recommence, how much time will be available for these projects, or the time scale on which the user component will ramp up. Presently, we expect the first outside users to be on the telescope early in 1998. All proposals received will be refereed, and a subset of the highest-ranked ones that are well matched to the available instrumentation, scheduled during the commissioning phase. Refereed proposals will be considered for the first regularly scheduled trimester of user operations as well as for scheduling during the commissioning period. Information on the latest progress towards full operational status will be posted regularly on the NAIC web site (1). We encourage proposers to take advantage of the electronic submission procedure described in the NAIC web page (5).
We note that NAIC has a large backlog of refereed radio astronomy proposals for the 430 MHZ line-feed system which compete directly with proposals for the Gregorian.
---------------------
(2) http://www.naic.edu/techinfo/teltech/rec.htm
(3) http://www.naic.edu/~kiriaki/instrument.html
(4) http://www.naic.edu/techinfo/teltech/upgrade/correlat.htm
(5) http://www.naic.edu/vscience/proposal/proposal.htm