Dear Colleague,
As Director of the JCMT I would like to take this opportunity to
congratulate you on the award of telescope time and to hope that
your observations will be extremely successful. This e-mail letter
contains information that is important for you, as Principal
Investigator, and also for us in providing the support and the
infra-structure to enable your observations to be undertaken
successfully. My continuing goal is to ensure that only the
weather should mitigate against a successful and productive
observing run, providing that you, the astronomer, have fulfilled
your part.
The schedule for the coming semester is actively being built. You can
access the current version of the schedule from the World-Wide Web.
Although some projects continue to be classically scheduled, the
JCMT is mostly scheduled in a flexible mode in order to maximise
scientific productivity. The TAGs have also agreed that wherever
possible, each country's allocations should be concatenated into
blocks of shifts with individual projects flexibly arranged within
each block. Programs requiring exceptional weather are often paired
with those less demanding upon weather conditions: in this way both
may be successfully completed within the one block.
1 When two programs are explicitly paired in this way the observer
may be one or other of the PIs involved. You should contact
Gerald Moriarty-Schieven about the particular arrangements.
2 If your shifts are followed on the schedule by 'Flex' shifts, then
you will be the observer for the entire period. Your program will use
suitable weather as it occurs, until you have exhausted your
allocation. The remainder of the block will be used for observing
other approved programs that can tolerate (typically) poorer weather.
3 If your program is not followed by 'Flex' shifts, your program will
be performed in 'classical' mode, with you as the observer. In the
event of unsuitable weather the TSSs will perform backup observing.
4 Programs approved but not scheduled may still be observed in service
mode during the 'Flex' shifts described above. Your presence is not
required at the telescope.
You should arrange for travel and accommodation at HP to match the
schedule, arriving at least one day before the start of your observations
in order to consult in Hilo with your support scientist, and to
acclimatise at HP.
You will be notified of any changes to your allocation,
but it would be advisable to check the schedule at frequent
intervals, and if you have any further questions about the schedule let
Gerald know (g.moriarty-schieven@jach.hawaii.edu) as soon as possible.
Due to the resignation of TSSs, we are very short of telescope
operators. At the November JCMT meeting the JCMT Board approved a
continuation of this reduced TSS mode so that operational savings
could be transferred into development. However, a project is in-place
to recover the 16-hour night through remote observing and close-up
from HP. This will not start until August 2001, using SCUBA in the
first instance, and so between now and then we will be operating in a
"short-shift" mode of 12-hour nights where the telescope is only open
from 7pm to 7am for around 33% of the time. We are attempting to
minimise the impact of these short-shifts either by increasing the number
of shifts allocated or, where appropriate, scheduling full 12-hour nights
to an observer.
Regardless of which observing mode is
assigned to your project, it is mandatory that a completed
observing template be submitted prior to February 28. The ITAC have
decided that any applications without a template beyond that date
may be dropped from the allocation. Templates may be revised at
any time.
If you are to be present at the telescope during your observations then,
as has been normal in past semesters, you will be assigned both a
telescope system specialist and a staff scientist to provide you with
necessary support. The TSS should be familiar with all aspects of the
operations of the telescope and its instrumentation and will of course be
present for the whole of your run. The staff scientist would normally
expect to be at the telescope for only your first shift but will be
available by telephone for consultation for the whole of your allocation.
I encourage you to make full use of your staff scientist before, during
and after your observing. They are a precious resource and available to
help you, the observer, maximise your scientific goals.
As a result of an increased focus on safety issues, all observers
will be given a safety briefing prior to their proceeding to the
telescope. This is mandatory, will take place on each visit (even
for experienced observers) and is the responsibility of the support
astronomer to ensure that this is completed.
For SCUBA observers it continues to be essential that they spend
at least one half day in the office with their support astronomer
and SCUBA support staff (especially software) prior to observing.
SCUBA is a brilliant but complex instrument and to get the most
out of it and not waste telescope time you will need to review
the user-interface and set up your observation definition files
and macros prior to going to HP. Even 'experienced' SCUBA
observers must ensure that this time is spent with their support
astronomer before leaving for HP as we are continuing to
introduce subtle changes to SCUBA in order to maximise performance
and to respond to user requests. New SCUBA users should plan on
spending at least a day in the office before going to HP for
familiarisation.
Explanatory notes that provide important information for all
observers visiting the JAC and JCMT can be found on the Web (under
the link headed 'Applying for Time') and it is imperative that
you read these prior to making any arrangements for your visit. One
extremely important point to mention is that as principal contact
it is YOUR responsibility to ensure that your collaborators are
familiar with the information contained in these notes since this
letter is not being copied to them. We are also updating and
reorganising our web pages so please bear with us while this is
in progress.
Serviced mode observations will be undertaken either by a colleague
(usually from the same partner country) or by the TSS. This letter
explains the procedures to be followed. Before the observations can
be undertaken an observing template must be completed with
sufficient accuracy and detail that the observations can be
conducted without direct consultation with you or with any of your
collaborators. Experience continues to show that templates are
either not being filled in, or do not have the required level of
consistency or detail. To assist this situation the template form
is being revised with the help of the TSSs. Comments and suggestions
from users on this aspect are most welcome and should be directed
to Gerald Moriarty-Schieven in the first instance.
We will attempt, but cannot guarantee, to make available remote
eavesdropping during serviced observations if required. Please
note that this mode of operations is still in its early stages
due to staff pressures in Hawaii. We will not endeavour to attempt
too much without keeping you informed of progress. If this is
required it is imperative that you contact your support astronomer
WELL BEFORE the flexible scheduled block takes place.
If you are unsure of any aspect of observing at the JCMT please
do not hesitate to contact your staff scientist as your first
point of call. If they are not available, contact Per Friberg
by e-mail (friberg@JACH.Hawaii.Edu). Furthermore all of
the JCMT information is now held on the web at
http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/JCMT/. We use an
e-mail exploder for distribution of urgent messages directly to
interested parties and if you are not already on the e-mail
distribution list and wish to be, please follow the instructions
on the web page.
Finally, in the spirit of raising of awareness and motivation, if
you are visiting the telescope, I believe it would be good
practice to give the TSS(s), especially the new staff members,
an overview of the science you are hoping to do and to discuss
with them the modes of observation you will be undertaking - such
as spectral scanning, line mapping, continuum mapping etc. This
will also help them as they develop their skills at undertaking
serviced observing using the templates. We also now require the
formal completion of an observer report for each shift of telescope
use. This provides valuable information to many staff regarding
the use of time and problems unearthed.
Also, let me again tender an open invitation for you to give a
scientific colloquium during your pass through the Hilo office.
Please contact Gerald Moriarty-Schieven by e-mail
(G.Moriarty-Schieven@JACH.Hawaii.Edu). Let me assure you that
the staff here look forward to such events and it ensures
we are up to date with the specific research undertaken
on the JCMT and elsewhere. The seminars are
advertised to the neighbourhood facilities and there is always
a wide variety of scientists from the six telescopes, present in the
audience. I thank all those who have contributed.
I wish you all the very best with your observing.
Sincerely yours,
Professor Ian Robson
Director, James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
EIR
Reminders
- As a reminder there may be the occasion (especially at the
weekend) when an observer is required to stay for an additional
half hour beyond the end of second shift so that the TSS can fill
the cold loads on the instruments.
- Observers are reminded that extended hours can be used when
not required for facility work and a TSS is available, however prior
request for use of these times must be made. Please consult your
staff scientist beforehand if you wish to use extended hours.
- It is imperative that all observers check the vehicle schedule
on the computers before using any vehicle. Late changes to the
vehicle schedule are not guaranteed to be accommodated, and you are
strongly discouraged from requesting time changes different from
those on your original booking form except under exceptional
circumstances.
- Please verify by checking the schedule that your allocated shift/month
is appropriate for your sources, and notify Gerald
(g.moriarty-schieven@jach.hawaii.edu) if there are any problems. It is
much easier to fix such glitches well in advance.
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