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| NIKA2 run 75, Cryo run 87 == September XX, 2025 == |
=== NIKA2 run 75, Cryo run 87 === == Oct. 13, 2025 == 14:00-17:00; Martino, Alessandro, Dave, Angel: a new sweep was performed. Previous initialization file: run87_old.ini. Bad/total KIDs counts (cryo window closed) after sweep (Ar1, Ar2, Ar3): 9/1000, 8/574, 4/1013. '''New file in force: run87_new.ini'''. Files run87_new_tp.ini and run87_new_pol.ini were also created. See nika2-a:~/nika_V3_IRAM.ini. == Oct. 14, 2025 == Angel, Miguel, Stefano, and maaaany others arrive at the telescope. We rename the ini files: <<BR>> run87.ini (active file) <<BR>> run87_old.ini (OLD active file, not used in August) <<BR>> run87_newSweep_tp.ini <<BR>> run87_newSweep_pol.ini <<BR>> run87_oldSweep_tp.ini <<BR>> run87_oldSweep_pol.ini <<BR>> @15:00 LT (13:00 UT) we start, after preparing the whole "NIKA2 week environment architecture: 15/8/55 lost KIDs in Ar 1,2,3. Unstable sky and thick clouds coming from the N. We're entering in the peak of the tau forecast. It will be better later this evening. Meanwhile we try to focus. The old make-imbf script does not produce the imbfits files. Angel contacts Albrecht to solve the issue. The new make-imbf produces the file regularly. On the very variable thick clouds, we notice a very different response of Ar1 and Ar3 to sky noise (variations), the latter having a bkg few times higher than the former (compare the y-axis scales). Is it real? Is there a flux calibration problem in the old DAFs? The a posteriori (19:00 LT) check does not reveal any calibration issue: Ar1 and Ar3 give similar fluxes for the targeted sources. <<BR>> [[attachment:20251014s139_ar2.png|{{attachment:20251014s139_ar2.png|Ar2 bad sky|height=250}}|target="_blank"]] [[attachment:20251014s139_ar1.png|{{attachment:20251014s139_ar1.png|Ar1 bad sky|height=250}}|target="_blank"]] [[attachment:20251014s139_ar3.png|{{attachment:20251014s139_ar3.png|Ar3 bad sky|height=250}}|target="_blank"]] <<BR>> While we wait, some checks to some Antenna temperature control cables are being carried out by the telescope team. We start again 18:45 LT. The old make-imbf is now producing files correctly (thanks Albrecht!). We work on the focus. Here follow our observations/notes. It is hard to get the focus value for all three arrays at once. The Ar2 flux criterion shows big jumps. The Ar2 FWHM and flux criteria do not agree. It almost seems like the flux is maximized not when the FWHM is minimized. Strange behavious, almost as if there were more than one "best" focus position. We enlarge the focus range of the 5 scans sequence. It was +/- 0.8 mm in steps of 0.4 mm. Now we changed it to +/- 1.0 mm, in steps of 0.5mm. The aim is to see if we can have a more complete sampling of the focus curve (for all criteria). The new script is called focusOTF-Z_2025.pako. We also try with a total excursion of +/-1.2 mm and steps of 0.6 mm. It seems that this latter solution is the best. Is it possible that the difference in focus between Ar2 and Ar1 is changing? The first time it was ~0.3 mm. The second time it was ~0.6 mm. Now it is ~1.0mm??? At the same time, the focus difference between Ar1 and Ar3 seems stable at ~0.2 mm. It's early to be worried, but let's keep an eye on this! Nope, using the +/-1.2 mm excursion, we get back to 0.6mm difference between Ar2 and Ar1. Fiuuuu. We alternate pointing/focus obtained with the old sweep and beam maps taken with the new one. The goal is to have at least two beam maps per array, taken with the optimal focus for that same given array. In the tables below, we list: focus sequences, beam maps, calib_1scan, other relevant scans, and a book keeping of sweep changes (to be used when defining the new calibration files - PIIC DAFs, for example - for this recommissioning run). === End of the day+night summary === At the end of the day+night, we have: * 3 beam-maps on best focus for each array; * one de-focused beam map at the Ar2 focus minus 0.3 mm and one at plus 0.3 mm; * one de-focused beam map at the Ar3 focus plus 0.3 mm. In this way, we cover the whole range from Ar2-0.3 to Ar3+0.3 with 6 focus positions: Ar2-0.3, Ar2, Ar2+0.3, Ar1, Ar3, Ar3+0.3. It might turn out that we need more positions in order to determne well the three focal surfaces. Note that the latter 2 items (in the list above) have been performed when the taumeter opacity started to increase. Nevertheless the l.o.s. peak-to-peak sky noise variations kept being ~1 Jy/beam the whole time. If these last three beam maps have issues, we'll need to perform a whole sequence of 6-7 beam-maps at different focal positions, during a ''very stable'' night, such that the reference focus does not vary across the sequence (it takes few hours, hence the ''very stable'' need.) Impressions about the difference in focus of the three arrays. The focus difference between Ar2 and Ar1 seems to be between 0.6 and 0.7 mm. The focus difference between Ar1 and Ar3 seems to be further 0.2-0.3 mm. The total focus difference between Ar2 and Ar3 reaches up to 1.0 mm. A decent compromise might be to use the focus of Ar1 as reference, but a quantitative analysis is needed to say the last word. === Tables (from 2025/10/14 ~13:00 UT to 2025/10/15 ~4:00 UT) === |||||||||||| Focus sequences || || Scan nr || Target || Ar2 || Ar1 || Ar3 || Notes || || 20251014s161-165 || 2251+158 || -0.3 || +0.3 || ... || start at +0.2 mm; Big jumps in FWHM and flux during the focus sequence in Ar2 || || 167-171 || 2251+158 || ~0.0 || +0.9 || ~+1.1 || start at +0.6 mm; Ar2 and Ar3 based on FWHM; El~40 deg; Ar2 FWHM and flux criteria do not agree || || 172-176 || 2251+158 || -0.05 || +1.0 || ~+1.2 || start at +0.7 mm; custom script with 0.5 mm step instead of 0.4 mm; is the difference between Ar2 and Ar1 become larger? || || 177-181 || 2251+158 || +0.13 || +0.75 || +1.0 || start at +0.7 mm; custom script with 0.6 mm step instead of 0.4 mm; this is the best so far; || || 185-189 || 2251+158 || +0.37 || +1.21 || ... || start at +0.7 mm; custom script with 0.6 mm step instead of 0.4 mm || || 191-195 || 2251+158 || +0.34 || +1.12 || +1.42 || start +1.0 mm; custom || || 199-203 || 2251+158 || ~+0.40 || +1.15 || +1.40 || start +1.2 mm; custom || || 208-212 || 2251+158 || ~+0.30 || +1.05 || +1.30 || start +1.2 mm; custom || || 218-222 || Uranus || ~+0.24 || +0.85 || +1.05 || start at +1.0 mm; custom; Ar2 not good, jumps and different criteria not consistent to each other|| || 226-230 || Uranus || +0.20 || +0.90 || +1.10 || start at +0.85 mm; custom || || 20251015s8-12 || Uranus || +0.30 || +1.00 || ~+1.25 || start at +0.7 mm; custom; Ar3 focus range poorly covered || || 19-23 || Uranus || +0.28 || +0.95 || ~+1.25 || start at +0.7 mm; custom; Ar3 focus range poorly covered || || 28-32 || Uranus || ~+0.2 || +0.95 || ~+1.3 || start at +1.1 mm; custom; Ar2 focus range poorly covered || |||||||| Beam maps (99 sub-scans) with the NEW SWEEP|| || Scan Nr || Target || Focus || Notes || || 20251014s183 || 2251+158 || +0.15 || Focus optimized For Ar2 @20:25 LT || || 20251014s197 || 2251+158 || +0.34 || Focus optimized For Ar2 @21:30 LT || || 20251014s205 || 2251+158 || +1.40 || Focus optimized For Ar3 @22:25 LT || || 20251014s206 || 2251+158 || +1.40 || Focus optimized For Ar3 @22:25 LT || || 20251014s214 || 2251+158 || +1.05 || Focus optimized For Ar1 @23:40 LT || || 20251014s215 || 2251+158 || +1.05 || Focus optimized For Ar1 @23:40 LT || || 20251014s224 || Uranus || +1.05 || Focus optimized For Ar3 @01:12 LT (15/10) || || 20251015s1 || Uranus || +0.90 || Focus optimized For Ar1 @01:55 LT || || 20251015s14 || Uranus || +0.30 || Focus optimized For Ar2 @03:20 LT || || 20251015s25 || Uranus || +0.00 || de-focused beam-map at the Ar2 focus minus 0.3 mm || || 20251015s26 || Uranus || +0.60 || de-focused beam-map at the Ar2 focus plus 0.3 mm (no re-pointing done) || || 20251015s34 || Uranus || +1.60 || de-focused beam-map at the Ar3 focus plus 0.3 mm (re-pointed on the de-focused Ar3) || |||||||| Calibrators (calib_1scan with the NEW SWEEP) || || Scan Nr || Target || Focus || Notes || || 20251014s225 || Uranus || +1.05 || Focus optimized For Ar3 @01:12 LT (15/10) || || 20251015s2 || Uranus || +0.90 || Focus optimized For Ar1 @01:55 LT || || 20251015s4 || Neptune|| +0.90 || Focus optimized For Ar1 @01:55 LT || || 20251015s15 || Uranus || +0.30 || Focus optimized For Ar2 @03:20 LT || || 20251015s17 || Neptune|| +0.30 || Focus optimized For Ar2 @03:20 LT || |||||||||| Other relevant scans with the NEW SWEEP || || Scan Nr || Scan type || Target || Focus || Notes || || 20251015s5 || Skydip || - || - || || |||||| Book-keeping of SWEEP changes || || Scan Nr || SWEEP || Notes || || 20251014s124 to s182|| OLD || || || 20251014s183 || NEW || 16/4/41 lost KIDs || || 20251014s184 to s196|| OLD || || || 20251014s197 || NEW || 16/9/26 lost KIDS || || 20251014s199 to s204 || OLD || || || 20251014s205 to s206 || NEW || 9/4/16 lost KIDs || || 20251014s207 to s213 || OLD || || || 20251014s214 to s215 || NEW || 12/3/17 lost KIDs || || 20251014s216 to s223 || OLD || || || 20251014s224 to s225 || NEW || 12/4/33 lost KIDs || || 20251014s226 to s231 || OLD || || || 20251015s1 to s5 || NEW || 13/3/31 lost KIDs || || 20251015s6 to s13 || OLD || || || 20251015s14 to s17 || NEW || 10/3/34 lost KIDs || || 20251015s18 to s24 || OLD || || || 20251015s25 to s27 || NEW || 10/5/35 lost KIDs || || 20251015s28 to s33 || OLD || || || 20251015s34 || NEW || 15/6/25 lost KIDs|| Dinner Time at Pico Veleta... <<BR>> [[attachment:IMG_0980_mod_sm.JPG|{{attachment:IMG_0980_mod_sm.JPG|Our friendly goat having dinner...|height=250}}|target="_blank"]] [[attachment:IMG_1051_mod_sm.JPG|{{attachment:IMG_1051_mod_sm.JPG|Our friendly fox waiting for dinner...|height=250}}|target="_blank"]] [[attachment:IMG_1021_mod_sm.JPG|{{attachment:IMG_1021_mod_sm.JPG|They're waiting for dinner too!|height=250}}|target="_blank"]] <<BR>> [[attachment:IMG_1026_mod_sm.JPG|{{attachment:IMG_1026_mod_sm.JPG|Very hungry indeed.|height=250}}|target="_blank"]] [[attachment:IMG_1061_mod2_sm.JPG|{{attachment:IMG_1061_mod2_sm.JPG|Meet our new friend. Her name is Tau. She wants dinner too.|height=250}}|target="_blank"]] [[attachment:IMG_1073_mod_sm_Comet_Swan.JPG|{{attachment:IMG_1073_mod_sm_Comet_Swan.JPG|And this is C/2025 R2 Swan... it's evidently dinner time up there too.|height=250}}|target="_blank"]] == Oct. 15, 2025 == === Summary === * Starting at 6 a.m. LT, after a long night by Stefano (see above in the Oct. 14th report). De-focused beam-map at the Ar3 focus + 0.3 mm finished successfully. * Getting pointing and focus on Uranus (old sweep). Three calib_1scans on Uranus (with focus optimized for each array) + a skydip (new sweep). * ~08:00-15:00: starting deep field observations of HLS091828 (new sweep, pointing & focus optimized Ar1, 9 x 5 sq.-arcmin scans at 4 PAs per round and 60 arcsec/s of scan speed). A total of 15 rounds (~4h net) were obtained. Average pwv ~7 mm (except for a few scans at the end of the session). Peak-to-peak variations of raw timelines (2 mm) were between +/-1 and 5 Jy/beam (from focus sequences). Just for a quick-look check (before the creation of new RPPs), we got a single scan of HLS091828 with the old sweep (20251015s81). Screen-shots of PIIC plots (Ar1, 2, 3) are shown below: [[attachment:HLS091828_NIKA-1-20251015s81.png|{{attachment:HLS091828_NIKA-1-20251015s81.png|HLS091828 Ar1|height=300}}|target="_blank"]] [[attachment:HLS091828_NIKA-2-20251015s81.png|{{attachment:HLS091828_NIKA-2-20251015s81.png|HLS091828 Ar2|height=300}}|target="_blank"]] [[attachment:HLS091828_NIKA-3-20251015s81.png|{{attachment:HLS091828_NIKA-3-20251015s81.png|HLS091828 Ar3|height=300}}|target="_blank"]] * We got two series of calib_1scan on the triplet MWC349, NGC7027, CRL2688. * 18:50-22:20 LT: starting deep field observations of HFLS3 (same approach used for HLS091828 this morning). Opacity (tau_225GHz) fluctuated between 0.35 and 0.5, unstable atmosphere. * Today Stefano works at the reduction of the beam maps and the production of preliminary DAFs. Since we have 12 beam maps to process, it takes quite some time. Preliminary Ar2 might be ready by today, but Ar1 and Ar3 will take longer. * 19:10 LT. Stefano installs preliminary DAF/RPPs for the new sweep (Ar2 only). This should allow us to avoid switching between new and old sweep the whole time, from now on. For focus we will use Ar2+0.6 mm, as decided during today's NIKA2 meeting. From now on (scan 20251015s160) we don't need anymore to switch continuosly between old and new sweep. * 21:40 LT. Stefano installed preliminary DAFs for Ar1 and Ar3 for the new sweep. PIIC-QL checked: OK. === Tables (from 2025/10/15 ~04:00 UT to 2025/10/16 ~2:30 UT) === |||||||||||| Focus sequences || || Scan nr || Target || Ar2 || Ar1 || Ar3 || Notes || || 36-40 || Uranus || +0.24 || +0.91 || +1.16 || start at +0.9 mm; custom || || 47-51 || Uranus || +0.25 || +0.90 || +1.20 || start at +0.9 mm; custom || || 75-79 || 0716+714 || +0.25 || +0.97 || +1.20 || start at +0.9 mm; custom || || 100-104 || 0716+714 || ~ -0.35 || +0.45 || +0.77 || start at +0.6 mm; custom; Ar2 range poorly covered || || 144-148 || MWC349 || -0.43 || +0.35 || ~ +0.70 || start at +0.3 mm; custom; Ar3 focus accuracy is not so good || || 154-158 || MWC349 || -0.15 || +0.42 || +0.67 || start at +0.3 mm; custom || |||||||| Calibrators (calib_1scan with the NEW SWEEP) || || Scan Nr || Target || Focus || Notes || || 20251015s42 || Uranus || +0.23 || Focus optimized For Ar2 @06:59 LT || || 20251015s43 || Uranus || +0.91 || Focus optimized For Ar1 @07:04 LT || || 20251015s44 || Uranus || +1.16 || Focus optimized For Ar3 @07:09 LT || || 20251015s150 || MWC349 || +0.35 || Focus optimized for Ar1 @16:57 LT || || 20251015s151 || NGC7027 || +0.35 || Focus optimized for Ar1 @17:01 LT || || 20251015s152 || CRL2688 || +0.35 || Focus optimized for Ar1 @17:06 LT || || 20251015s160 || MWC349 || +0.42 || Focus optimized for Ar1 @18:30 LT || || 20251015s161 || NGC7027 || +0.42 || Focus optimized for Ar1 @18:34 LT || || 20251015s162 || CRL2688 || +0.42 || Focus optimized for Ar1 @18:38 LT || || 20251015s230 || Uranus || +0.8 || Focus optimized for Ar1 @23:35 UT || || 20251015s231 || Uranus || +0.2 || Focus optimized for Ar2 @23:47 UT || || 20251015s232 || Uranus || +1.0 || Focus optimized for Ar3 @23:56 UT || || 20251016s004 || Neptune || +0.8 || Focus optimized for Ar1 @00:31 UT || || 20251016s005 || Neptune || +0.2 || Focus optimized for Ar2 @23:47 UT || || 20251016s006 || Neptune || +1.0 || Focus optimized for Ar3 @23:56 UT || |||||||||| Other relevant scans with the NEW SWEEP || || Scan Nr || Scan type || Target || Focus || Notes || || 20251015s45 || Skydip || -- || -- || -- || || 20251015s55 to s66 || science maps || HLS091828 || +0.90mm || Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.90mm), 3 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField) || || 20251015s82 to s97 || science maps || HLS091828 || +0.97mm || Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.97mm), 4 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField) || || 20251015s109 to s140 || science maps || HLS091828 || +0.45mm || Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.45mm), 8 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField) || || 20251015s163 to s178 || science maps || HFLS3 || +0.42mm || Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.42mm), 4 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField) || || 20251015s186 to s201 || science maps || HFLS3 || +0.74mm || Optimized for ar1 (= ar2 focus +0.6 mm), 4 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField) || || 20251015s210 to s221 || science maps || Field || +1.0mm || Optimized for ar1 (after new DAFs we can measure the focus directly), 3 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_field) || |||||| Book-keeping of SWEEP changes || || Scan Nr || SWEEP || Notes || || 20251015s35 to s41 || OLD || || || 20251015s42 to s45 || NEW || 14/3/34 lost KIDs|| || 20251015s46 to s54 || OLD || || || 20251015s55 to s66 || NEW || 18/3/32 lost KIDs|| || 20251015s67 to s81 || OLD || || || 20251015s82 to s97 || NEW || 17/5/46 lost KIDs|| || 20251015s98 to s107 || OLD || || || 20251015s109 to s140 || NEW || 15/3/45 lost KIDs|| || 20251015s141 to s149 || OLD || || || 20251015s150 to s152 || NEW || 26/3/81 lost KIDs|| || 20251015s153 to s159 || OLD || || || 20251015s160 to s178 || NEW || 20/6/67 lost KIDs|| || 20251015s179 to s... || NEW || 38/5/130 lost KIDs; unstable: retuning tried several times|| |||||||||||| Focus sequences with preliminary DAFs || || Scan nr || Target || Ar2 || Ar1 || Ar3 || Notes || || 20251015s180 to s184 || 1641+399 || +0.14 || -- || --|| Adopted focus for Ar1 = +0.14+0.6 || || 204-208 || 2251+158 || +0.2 || +1.0 || +1.2 || Started at 0.7 mm, custom script || || 224-228 || Uranus || +0.2 || +0.8 || +1.0 || Started at 1.0 mm, custom script || || 20251016s009 to s013 ||2251+158 || +0.1 || +0.83 || +1.1 || Started at 0.7 mm, custom script || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || == Oct. 16, 2025 == === Summary === Stefano takes over at ~2:15 UT (4:15 LT). I let the observations of the science field finish and then I move to calibrations etc. See Tables. === Tables (from 2025/10/16 ~02:30 UT to 2025/10/XX ~YY UT) === |||||||| Beam maps (99 sub-scans) with the NEW SWEEP|| || Scan Nr || Target || Focus || Notes || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || |||||||| Calibrators (calib_1scan with the NEW SWEEP) || || Scan Nr || Target || Focus || Notes || || 20251016s37 || Uranus || +0.9 || Focus optimized for Ar1 || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || |||||||||| Other relevant scans with the NEW SWEEP || || Scan Nr || Scan type || Target || Focus || Notes || || 20251016s24|| Skydip || - || - || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || |||||||||||| Focus sequences with preliminary DAFs (NEW SWEEP) || || Scan nr || Target || Ar2 || Ar1 || Ar3 || Notes || || 20251015s26-30 || Uranus || +0.25 || +0.90 || ... || Start at 0.7 mm; custom script || || 31-35 || Uranus || +0.25 || +0.90 || ... || Start at 0.8 mm; custom || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || |
Back to the NIKA2 Run 75 main page
NIKA2 Re-Commissioning (4th. attempt)
NIKA2 run 75, Cryo run 87
Oct. 13, 2025
14:00-17:00; Martino, Alessandro, Dave, Angel: a new sweep was performed. Previous initialization file: run87_old.ini. Bad/total KIDs counts (cryo window closed) after sweep (Ar1, Ar2, Ar3): 9/1000, 8/574, 4/1013. New file in force: run87_new.ini. Files run87_new_tp.ini and run87_new_pol.ini were also created. See nika2-a:~/nika_V3_IRAM.ini.
Oct. 14, 2025
Angel, Miguel, Stefano, and maaaany others arrive at the telescope.
We rename the ini files:
run87.ini (active file)
run87_old.ini (OLD active file, not used in August)
run87_newSweep_tp.ini
run87_newSweep_pol.ini
run87_oldSweep_tp.ini
run87_oldSweep_pol.ini
@15:00 LT (13:00 UT) we start, after preparing the whole "NIKA2 week environment architecture: 15/8/55 lost KIDs in Ar 1,2,3. Unstable sky and thick clouds coming from the N. We're entering in the peak of the tau forecast. It will be better later this evening. Meanwhile we try to focus. The old make-imbf script does not produce the imbfits files. Angel contacts Albrecht to solve the issue. The new make-imbf produces the file regularly.
On the very variable thick clouds, we notice a very different response of Ar1 and Ar3 to sky noise (variations), the latter having a bkg few times higher than the former (compare the y-axis scales). Is it real? Is there a flux calibration problem in the old DAFs? The a posteriori (19:00 LT) check does not reveal any calibration issue: Ar1 and Ar3 give similar fluxes for the targeted sources.
While we wait, some checks to some Antenna temperature control cables are being carried out by the telescope team. We start again 18:45 LT. The old make-imbf is now producing files correctly (thanks Albrecht!).
We work on the focus. Here follow our observations/notes. It is hard to get the focus value for all three arrays at once. The Ar2 flux criterion shows big jumps. The Ar2 FWHM and flux criteria do not agree. It almost seems like the flux is maximized not when the FWHM is minimized. Strange behavious, almost as if there were more than one "best" focus position. We enlarge the focus range of the 5 scans sequence. It was +/- 0.8 mm in steps of 0.4 mm. Now we changed it to +/- 1.0 mm, in steps of 0.5mm. The aim is to see if we can have a more complete sampling of the focus curve (for all criteria). The new script is called focusOTF-Z_2025.pako. We also try with a total excursion of +/-1.2 mm and steps of 0.6 mm. It seems that this latter solution is the best.
Is it possible that the difference in focus between Ar2 and Ar1 is changing? The first time it was ~0.3 mm. The second time it was ~0.6 mm. Now it is ~1.0mm??? At the same time, the focus difference between Ar1 and Ar3 seems stable at ~0.2 mm. It's early to be worried, but let's keep an eye on this! Nope, using the +/-1.2 mm excursion, we get back to 0.6mm difference between Ar2 and Ar1. Fiuuuu.
We alternate pointing/focus obtained with the old sweep and beam maps taken with the new one. The goal is to have at least two beam maps per array, taken with the optimal focus for that same given array. In the tables below, we list: focus sequences, beam maps, calib_1scan, other relevant scans, and a book keeping of sweep changes (to be used when defining the new calibration files - PIIC DAFs, for example - for this recommissioning run).
End of the day+night summary
At the end of the day+night, we have:
- 3 beam-maps on best focus for each array;
- one de-focused beam map at the Ar2 focus minus 0.3 mm and one at plus 0.3 mm;
- one de-focused beam map at the Ar3 focus plus 0.3 mm.
In this way, we cover the whole range from Ar2-0.3 to Ar3+0.3 with 6 focus positions: Ar2-0.3, Ar2, Ar2+0.3, Ar1, Ar3, Ar3+0.3. It might turn out that we need more positions in order to determne well the three focal surfaces.
Note that the latter 2 items (in the list above) have been performed when the taumeter opacity started to increase. Nevertheless the l.o.s. peak-to-peak sky noise variations kept being ~1 Jy/beam the whole time. If these last three beam maps have issues, we'll need to perform a whole sequence of 6-7 beam-maps at different focal positions, during a very stable night, such that the reference focus does not vary across the sequence (it takes few hours, hence the very stable need.)
Impressions about the difference in focus of the three arrays. The focus difference between Ar2 and Ar1 seems to be between 0.6 and 0.7 mm. The focus difference between Ar1 and Ar3 seems to be further 0.2-0.3 mm. The total focus difference between Ar2 and Ar3 reaches up to 1.0 mm. A decent compromise might be to use the focus of Ar1 as reference, but a quantitative analysis is needed to say the last word.
Tables (from 2025/10/14 ~13:00 UT to 2025/10/15 ~4:00 UT)
Focus sequences
Scan nr
Target
Ar2
Ar1
Ar3
Notes
20251014s161-165
2251+158
-0.3
+0.3
...
start at +0.2 mm; Big jumps in FWHM and flux during the focus sequence in Ar2
167-171
2251+158
~0.0
+0.9
1.1
start at +0.6 mm; Ar2 and Ar3 based on FWHM; El~40 deg; Ar2 FWHM and flux criteria do not agree
172-176
2251+158
-0.05
+1.0
~+1.2
start at +0.7 mm; custom script with 0.5 mm step instead of 0.4 mm; is the difference between Ar2 and Ar1 become larger?
177-181
2251+158
+0.13
+0.75
+1.0
start at +0.7 mm; custom script with 0.6 mm step instead of 0.4 mm; this is the best so far;
185-189
2251+158
+0.37
+1.21
...
start at +0.7 mm; custom script with 0.6 mm step instead of 0.4 mm
191-195
2251+158
+0.34
+1.12
+1.42
start +1.0 mm; custom
199-203
2251+158
~+0.40
+1.15
+1.40
start +1.2 mm; custom
208-212
2251+158
~+0.30
+1.05
+1.30
start +1.2 mm; custom
218-222
Uranus
~+0.24
+0.85
+1.05
start at +1.0 mm; custom; Ar2 not good, jumps and different criteria not consistent to each other
226-230
Uranus
+0.20
+0.90
+1.10
start at +0.85 mm; custom
20251015s8-12
Uranus
+0.30
+1.00
~+1.25
start at +0.7 mm; custom; Ar3 focus range poorly covered
19-23
Uranus
+0.28
+0.95
~+1.25
start at +0.7 mm; custom; Ar3 focus range poorly covered
28-32
Uranus
~+0.2
+0.95
~+1.3
start at +1.1 mm; custom; Ar2 focus range poorly covered
Beam maps (99 sub-scans) with the NEW SWEEP
Scan Nr
Target
Focus
Notes
20251014s183
2251+158
+0.15
Focus optimized For Ar2 @20:25 LT
20251014s197
2251+158
+0.34
Focus optimized For Ar2 @21:30 LT
20251014s205
2251+158
+1.40
Focus optimized For Ar3 @22:25 LT
20251014s206
2251+158
+1.40
Focus optimized For Ar3 @22:25 LT
20251014s214
2251+158
+1.05
Focus optimized For Ar1 @23:40 LT
20251014s215
2251+158
+1.05
Focus optimized For Ar1 @23:40 LT
20251014s224
Uranus
+1.05
Focus optimized For Ar3 @01:12 LT (15/10)
20251015s1
Uranus
+0.90
Focus optimized For Ar1 @01:55 LT
20251015s14
Uranus
+0.30
Focus optimized For Ar2 @03:20 LT
20251015s25
Uranus
+0.00
de-focused beam-map at the Ar2 focus minus 0.3 mm
20251015s26
Uranus
+0.60
de-focused beam-map at the Ar2 focus plus 0.3 mm (no re-pointing done)
20251015s34
Uranus
+1.60
de-focused beam-map at the Ar3 focus plus 0.3 mm (re-pointed on the de-focused Ar3)
Calibrators (calib_1scan with the NEW SWEEP)
Scan Nr
Target
Focus
Notes
20251014s225
Uranus
+1.05
Focus optimized For Ar3 @01:12 LT (15/10)
20251015s2
Uranus
+0.90
Focus optimized For Ar1 @01:55 LT
20251015s4
Neptune
+0.90
Focus optimized For Ar1 @01:55 LT
20251015s15
Uranus
+0.30
Focus optimized For Ar2 @03:20 LT
20251015s17
Neptune
+0.30
Focus optimized For Ar2 @03:20 LT
Other relevant scans with the NEW SWEEP
Scan Nr
Scan type
Target
Focus
Notes
20251015s5
Skydip
-
-
Book-keeping of SWEEP changes
Scan Nr
SWEEP
Notes
20251014s124 to s182
OLD
20251014s183
NEW
16/4/41 lost KIDs
20251014s184 to s196
OLD
20251014s197
NEW
16/9/26 lost KIDS
20251014s199 to s204
OLD
20251014s205 to s206
NEW
9/4/16 lost KIDs
20251014s207 to s213
OLD
20251014s214 to s215
NEW
12/3/17 lost KIDs
20251014s216 to s223
OLD
20251014s224 to s225
NEW
12/4/33 lost KIDs
20251014s226 to s231
OLD
20251015s1 to s5
NEW
13/3/31 lost KIDs
20251015s6 to s13
OLD
20251015s14 to s17
NEW
10/3/34 lost KIDs
20251015s18 to s24
OLD
20251015s25 to s27
NEW
10/5/35 lost KIDs
20251015s28 to s33
OLD
20251015s34
NEW
15/6/25 lost KIDs
Dinner Time at Pico Veleta...
Oct. 15, 2025
Summary
- Starting at 6 a.m. LT, after a long night by Stefano (see above in the Oct. 14th report). De-focused beam-map at the Ar3 focus + 0.3 mm finished successfully.
- Getting pointing and focus on Uranus (old sweep). Three calib_1scans on Uranus (with focus optimized for each array) + a skydip (new sweep).
~08:00-15:00: starting deep field observations of HLS091828 (new sweep, pointing & focus optimized Ar1, 9 x 5 sq.-arcmin scans at 4 PAs per round and 60 arcsec/s of scan speed). A total of 15 rounds (~4h net) were obtained. Average pwv ~7 mm (except for a few scans at the end of the session). Peak-to-peak variations of raw timelines (2 mm) were between +/-1 and 5 Jy/beam (from focus sequences). Just for a quick-look check (before the creation of new RPPs), we got a single scan of HLS091828 with the old sweep (20251015s81). Screen-shots of PIIC plots (Ar1, 2, 3) are shown below:
- We got two series of calib_1scan on the triplet MWC349, NGC7027, CRL2688.
- 18:50-22:20 LT: starting deep field observations of HFLS3 (same approach used for HLS091828 this morning). Opacity (tau_225GHz) fluctuated between 0.35 and 0.5, unstable atmosphere.
- Today Stefano works at the reduction of the beam maps and the production of preliminary DAFs. Since we have 12 beam maps to process, it takes quite some time. Preliminary Ar2 might be ready by today, but Ar1 and Ar3 will take longer.
- 19:10 LT. Stefano installs preliminary DAF/RPPs for the new sweep (Ar2 only). This should allow us to avoid switching between new and old sweep the whole time, from now on. For focus we will use Ar2+0.6 mm, as decided during today's NIKA2 meeting. From now on (scan 20251015s160) we don't need anymore to switch continuosly between old and new sweep.
- 21:40 LT. Stefano installed preliminary DAFs for Ar1 and Ar3 for the new sweep. PIIC-QL checked: OK.
Tables (from 2025/10/15 ~04:00 UT to 2025/10/16 ~2:30 UT)
Focus sequences
Scan nr
Target
Ar2
Ar1
Ar3
Notes
36-40
Uranus
+0.24
+0.91
+1.16
start at +0.9 mm; custom
47-51
Uranus
+0.25
+0.90
+1.20
start at +0.9 mm; custom
75-79
0716+714
+0.25
+0.97
+1.20
start at +0.9 mm; custom
100-104
0716+714
~ -0.35
+0.45
+0.77
start at +0.6 mm; custom; Ar2 range poorly covered
144-148
MWC349
-0.43
+0.35
~ +0.70
start at +0.3 mm; custom; Ar3 focus accuracy is not so good
154-158
MWC349
-0.15
+0.42
+0.67
start at +0.3 mm; custom
Calibrators (calib_1scan with the NEW SWEEP)
Scan Nr
Target
Focus
Notes
20251015s42
Uranus
+0.23
Focus optimized For Ar2 @06:59 LT
20251015s43
Uranus
+0.91
Focus optimized For Ar1 @07:04 LT
20251015s44
Uranus
+1.16
Focus optimized For Ar3 @07:09 LT
20251015s150
MWC349
+0.35
Focus optimized for Ar1 @16:57 LT
20251015s151
NGC7027
+0.35
Focus optimized for Ar1 @17:01 LT
20251015s152
CRL2688
+0.35
Focus optimized for Ar1 @17:06 LT
20251015s160
MWC349
+0.42
Focus optimized for Ar1 @18:30 LT
20251015s161
NGC7027
+0.42
Focus optimized for Ar1 @18:34 LT
20251015s162
CRL2688
+0.42
Focus optimized for Ar1 @18:38 LT
20251015s230
Uranus
+0.8
Focus optimized for Ar1 @23:35 UT
20251015s231
Uranus
+0.2
Focus optimized for Ar2 @23:47 UT
20251015s232
Uranus
+1.0
Focus optimized for Ar3 @23:56 UT
20251016s004
Neptune
+0.8
Focus optimized for Ar1 @00:31 UT
20251016s005
Neptune
+0.2
Focus optimized for Ar2 @23:47 UT
20251016s006
Neptune
+1.0
Focus optimized for Ar3 @23:56 UT
Other relevant scans with the NEW SWEEP
Scan Nr
Scan type
Target
Focus
Notes
20251015s45
Skydip
--
--
--
20251015s55 to s66
science maps
HLS091828
+0.90mm
Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.90mm), 3 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField)
20251015s82 to s97
science maps
HLS091828
+0.97mm
Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.97mm), 4 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField)
20251015s109 to s140
science maps
HLS091828
+0.45mm
Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.45mm), 8 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField)
20251015s163 to s178
science maps
HFLS3
+0.42mm
Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.42mm), 4 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField)
20251015s186 to s201
science maps
HFLS3
+0.74mm
Optimized for ar1 (= ar2 focus +0.6 mm), 4 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField)
20251015s210 to s221
science maps
Field
+1.0mm
Optimized for ar1 (after new DAFs we can measure the focus directly), 3 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_field)
Book-keeping of SWEEP changes
Scan Nr
SWEEP
Notes
20251015s35 to s41
OLD
20251015s42 to s45
NEW
14/3/34 lost KIDs
20251015s46 to s54
OLD
20251015s55 to s66
NEW
18/3/32 lost KIDs
20251015s67 to s81
OLD
20251015s82 to s97
NEW
17/5/46 lost KIDs
20251015s98 to s107
OLD
20251015s109 to s140
NEW
15/3/45 lost KIDs
20251015s141 to s149
OLD
20251015s150 to s152
NEW
26/3/81 lost KIDs
20251015s153 to s159
OLD
20251015s160 to s178
NEW
20/6/67 lost KIDs
20251015s179 to s...
NEW
38/5/130 lost KIDs; unstable: retuning tried several times
Focus sequences with preliminary DAFs
Scan nr
Target
Ar2
Ar1
Ar3
Notes
20251015s180 to s184
1641+399
+0.14
--
--
Adopted focus for Ar1 = +0.14+0.6
204-208
2251+158
+0.2
+1.0
+1.2
Started at 0.7 mm, custom script
224-228
Uranus
+0.2
+0.8
+1.0
Started at 1.0 mm, custom script
20251016s009 to s013
2251+158
+0.1
+0.83
+1.1
Started at 0.7 mm, custom script
Oct. 16, 2025
Summary
Stefano takes over at ~2:15 UT (4:15 LT). I let the observations of the science field finish and then I move to calibrations etc. See Tables.
Tables (from 2025/10/16 ~02:30 UT to 2025/10/XX ~YY UT)
Beam maps (99 sub-scans) with the NEW SWEEP
Scan Nr
Target
Focus
Notes
Calibrators (calib_1scan with the NEW SWEEP)
Scan Nr
Target
Focus
Notes
20251016s37
Uranus
+0.9
Focus optimized for Ar1
Other relevant scans with the NEW SWEEP
Scan Nr
Scan type
Target
Focus
Notes
20251016s24
Skydip
-
-
Focus sequences with preliminary DAFs (NEW SWEEP)
Scan nr
Target
Ar2
Ar1
Ar3
Notes
20251015s26-30
Uranus
+0.25
+0.90
...
Start at 0.7 mm; custom script
31-35
Uranus
+0.25
+0.90
...
Start at 0.8 mm; custom