The following assumes that a module (or modules) have already been loaded at the station.

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

ssh oper@mk5hb

First check if the dimino program is running:

ps -ef | grep -i dim

If it is (you should see DIMino -m0 in the output from the above), we want to re-start it so that output is logged to the correct place. Stop it with this command:

EndDIM

Then start it and give the experiment code and station ID as the argument. E.g. for r1456 at Yarragadee:

cd ~
./dim r1456yg

Some messages will appear, ending with a message reporting dimino is ready:

201222802:40:54 dimino Ready. End with Enddim, please

The Mark5 gets it's system time from a local GPS receiver which runs an NTP server. You can check if it is synchronised with the command as oper@mk5(station name) on the vnc viewer:

ntpq -np

Look for an offset (reported in milli-sec) from the the first server listed of about 10 ms or less ¹⁾. If there is a large offset, the Mark5 system clock may need resetting. Contact the on-call person for assistance. Edit: You can try checking the mk5=dot?, if it is syncerr_gt_3 or not_synced, sync the fmset on the pcfs computer. This usually solves the problem of a large offset. More information can be found here http://auscope.phys.utas.edu.au/opswiki/doku.php?id=operations:documentation.ivs#dbbc_configuration. (Can someone confirm this and delete the annonations-Arwin)

The following steps are done through e-remote Control or the Field System.

First set up the Mark5 recording mode. Use the experiment procedure file:

proc=<experiment_name><station_ID>

e.g.

proc=r1473hb

then type

ready_disk

It's important that the modules have valid VSN codes. Please follow this procedure to check that the VSN reported in the log agrees with the physical VSN label.

Then do one of the following depending on the experiment type.

• For AUST,R1, R4, RDV, T2, ANZ, CRDS, CRF, OHIG:

  setupsx

• For CONT, RD:

  setup8f

This will configure the Mark5 for the experiment.

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 or not_synced (Edited by Arwin, can someone check this and delete this message?)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. Then check the times again:

mk5=dot?