JCMT Instruments

Observing Information

Spectral Line Observing - (RxA, HARP, RxW)

Continuum Observing - (SCUBA-2)

Status of Active Instruments

RxA	Operational	211 - 272 GHz Single Channel DSB SIS receiver Occasional Baseline Problems
HARP	Operational	325 - 375 GHz 16 Pixel SSB SIS receiver 14 of the 16 pixels are operational: H14 and H12 are dead (H12 as of October 2011). Six new mixer block were installed in HARP late February 2009. These replaced 4 unusable mixers and two mixers with excessive serial resistance. The replacement work went very well. However, the pixel H14 is still unusable due to oscillations. On 20091021 H00, H01 and H02 failed during bias testing. These mixers were replaced the second week of February 2010 Occasional baseline problems Sensitivity variations creating striping - worst at 13CO/C18O
RxW	Operational	Dual channel SIS receiver operating 315-375 GHz (B-band) or 630-710 GHz (D-band). The B band is primarily intended for use with the SMA. HARP is in general superior even for single point observations taking RxWB's two channels into account. For D band observations SSB is strongly recommeded even if DSB mode is possible. The DSB option has been removed in the latest OT version. For D band, channel A is displaced by 10" on the sky from channel B (which is the tracking receptor). Only one mixer operational at B-band Localized baseline ripple in PSSW mode.
SCUBA-2	Operational	850 and 450 micron continuum camera. 5120 pixels (4 sub arrays x 1280 pixels) at each wavelength band.
ACSIS	Operational	16 channel correlator with up to 1.8 GHz bandwidth