If necessary, load a new module. Here are a couple of videos showing how to install and remove modules:

• Mark5 module installation
• Removing a Mark5 module

Log in to Mark5 you want to set up (either mk5hb, mk5ke or mk5yg) as oper. Do this from within the pcfs[hb|ke|yg] VNC session so that the Mark5 software will continue to run even if the network link from Hobart to the telescope goes down. e.g.

ssh oper@mk5hb

There are two versions of the recording software currently in use. The original software is dimino which can support modules of up to 8 TB capacity (current used by Hb and Yg) and DIMino which supports 16 TB modules (in use at Ke).

Hb, Yg: First check if the dimino program is running:

ps -ef | grep dim

If not, start it with

dimino -m0&

Ke: First check if the DIMino program is running:

ps -ef | grep DIM

If not, start it with

DIMino -m0&

The following steps are done through the Field System. If not already started, start the Field system software on pcfs[hb|ke|yg] by starting a new terminal in the VNC session on pcfs[hb|ke|yg], and type:

fs

An oprin window will appear and Field System commands are typed here.

First set up the Mark5 recording mode. There are two ways to do this, but the best way is to use the experiment procedure file:

proc=<experiment_name>hb

e.g.

proc=r1473hb

then type

ready_disk
setupsx

This will configure the Mark5 for the experiment. The alternative is to set the mode manually.

Now check that the times are all OK:

mk5=dot?

look for syncerr_eq_0, and that the final number is less than ~5 ms. If you see something like syncerr_gt_3 then fmset may need to be run to synchronise the clocks. To do this, open a terminal on pcfs[hb|ke|yg], and type

fmset

When the interface appears, type

s

then confirm with a

y

Following this, the clocks should all be synchronised and agree with UT. Press the [Esc] key to exit fmset.

Now check that the maser-GPS and delay through the DBBC are the same (to within 1 microsec) with the

clkoff

and

maserdelay

commands which read the Agilent counters.

If one or both counters are not responding to these commands, you will see an error message like this

ERROR sp   -4 GPIB Device time-out on response c2

To fix this, try re-setting the counters. In the oprin window, type

counter

and try the maserdelay and clkoff commands again.

It's worthwhile making a test recording using the Mark5. This is done through the oprin window.

disk_record=on
mk5=dot?                 (Output should appear as before, but it should say FHG_on)
disk_record=off

Now check the data are OK:

scan_check

Check the last numbers are the correct date at the start of the scan, duration, the data rate (should be 256 for the 8MHz mode, 128 for the 4 MHz mode) and 0 at the end for no problems. Then plot an autocorrelation from the data:

postob

To clear the disk module, ONLY IF YOU'RE CERTAIN there is no data already on the disk!

 mk5=protect=off; mk5=reset=erase 

Check that the spectra are OK. If there are dropped or strange-looking bands, the DBBC may need reprogramming.