There have been a number of recent developments in the scheduling of the fall meeting. Due to a difficulty in getting rooms and conflicts at CIW, the meeting will now be held on 7-8 October at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The nearest hotels are booked, so a block of rooms is being held at the Omni Hotel (1.7mi up Connecticutt Ave.). The MAC meeting will be held at the Omni on October 9. Based on the discussion, the number of rooms to be reserved at the Omni for the 9th will be increased. For those interested the Maryland meeting on "Cosmic Explosions" will be held on Oct 11.
A room in the U.S. Capitol is currently reserved for Sept 22 for a 5:30 show-and-tell aimed at congressional staffers. We're all encouraged to contact our local representatives. The date of this forum may be changed to better match the new meeting dates, but it was agreed that it was best to have such a gathering the Wednesday before the meeting. There will be a press conference the next morning at which the European and US "officials" sign official documents.
Al has put together of possible speakers for the meeting. The names represent a broad spectrum of the astronomical community and elicited positive feedback.
There was a meeting with the European SAC in Tucson.
Baseline array: 64 12m dishes until antenna cost and budget are better known.
Configuration considerations:
Antenna acceleration rate caused consternation. The power needed to accelerate an antenna goes as D3. If the acceleration rate can be met nutating secondaries may not be needed. Also, there is some question as to whether the acceleration spec is sufficient to support OTF. Tests are needed and may be done with the JCMT after upgrade.
The CDL will test the 1/f noise on receivers similar to those to be used on the MMA/LSA (i.e. broad IFs).
30 GHz capability: given that we are now talking about 64 12m antennae, scientific specs need to be revisited. John Carlstrom will lead this effort joined by (possibly) J. Uson, F. Owen, and S. Meyer.
Some European concerns: wide frequency coverage. The receiver group is looking into sacrificing the 8 GHz IF for 4 GHz dual polarization IFs.
On the topic of polarization, the system group will look into circular polarization capability and its effect on the system design. The current option is to have linear polarization at all receiver bands coupled with the installation of 1/4-wave plates to provide circular polarization.
Receiver bands. The initial capability will be at 650 GHz. Software and correlator groups will consider insuring that receiver selection and tuning can be achieved in the time it takes to switch from source to calibrator. Having simultaneous dual frequency capability is not a priority.
An emphasis will be placed on having scientific operations with the first few antennae. Japanese interest: There was a Feb 10 meeting with a Japanese delegation underscoring their interest to be part of the project. Discussions to this end continue in Japan.
The primary discussion of the October MAC meeting will be the organizational structure of the joint MMA/LSA project. There is likely to be a new MAC consisting of US and European members.
Bob Brown reported on the current ideas for the management scheme. NSF and European negotiating teams will address a number of questions. First, how tight should the management be? During the Design and Development phase there will be two representatives from each side who coordinate the project. An oversight committee will be formed by the ECC and NSF. Advice will be given by a joint MAC/SAC and the chair of the MAC/SAC will resolve disputes. It is agreed that the construction phase needs a single project office and stricter management.
Antenna request for proposals critical design review is upcoming. Prototype has a chopping secondary (9-10 Hz?). Prototype will test fast switching capability. While the cost per antenna is modest, fast switching will require a lot of power. A memo is in progress evaluating the necessity of the current spec.
>From Europe, news that a UK project manager has been named and that the Europeans ought to have their technical teams in place by the end of the month.
Next telecon: April 14th.