Offered VLA Capabilities during the Next Semester

The Call for Proposals

The most recent Call for Proposals summarizes the General Observing (GO) capabilities being offered for the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA).

In addition to these general capabilities, NRAO continues to offer shared risk observing options for those who would like to push the capabilities of the VLA beyond those offered for general use. These are the Shared Risk Observing (SRO) and Resident Shared Risk Observing (RSRO) programs.

Details about what is being offered for each program is given below. If you have any questions or problems with any link or tool, please submit a ticket through the NRAO Helpdesk.

Considering the lack of hybrid configurations after semester 2016A, guidelines on how to substitute such configurations with the use of principal array configurations are presented in the Array Configurations section of the Guide to Proposing for the VLA.


General Observing (GO) and Shared-Risk Observing (SRO)

Summary of Capabilities

As described in the Call for Proposals, the VLA offers continuous frequency coverage from 1–50 GHz in the following observing bands: 1–2 GHz (L-band); 2–4 GHz (S-band); 4–8 GHz (C-band); 8–12 GHz (X-band); 12–18 GHz (Ku-band); 18–26.5 GHz (K-band); 26.5–40 GHz (Ka-band); and 40–50 GHz (Q-band). Both single pointing and mosaics with discrete, multiple field centers will be supported under General Observing (GO). In addition to these, all VLA antennas are equipped with 224-480 MHz (P-band) and 54-86 MHz (4-band) receivers near the prime focus. Data rates of up to 60 MB/s (216 GB/hour) will be available to all users as GO, combined with correlator integration time limits per band and per configuration, as described in the Time Resolution and Data Rates section. Limitations on frequency settings and tuning ranges are described in the Frequency Bands and Tunability section.

The GO capabilities being offered are:

Capability Description
8-bit samplers
  • Standard default setups for:
    • 2 GHz bandwidth continuum observations at S/C/X/Ku/K/Ka/Q bands (16 × 128 MHz subbands)
    • 1 GHz bandwidth continuum observations at L-band (16 × 64 MHz subbands)
    • 256 MHz bandwidth continuum observations at P-band (16 × 16 MHz subbands)
    • 12 MHz bandwidth Stokes I continuum observations only* at 4-band (3 x 4 MHz subbands)
    • Dual 4/P-band for Stokes I continuum observations only*
  • Flexible setups for spectroscopy using two independently tunable, 1 GHz baseband pairs, each of which can be split into up to 32 flexibly tunable subbands
  • Single, dual, and full polarization products

*Note: 4-band and dual 4/P-band observations are offered for Stokes I continuum only using standard default setups. Polarization, spectral-line, or the use of non-standard setups, should to be submitted as a RSRO proposal.
3-bit samplers
  • Standard default setups for:
    • 8 GHz bandwidth continuum observations at K/Ka/Q-bands
    • 6 GHz bandwidth at Ku-band
    • 4 GHz bandwidth at C/X-bands
  • Flexible setups for spectroscopy using four independently tunable, 2 GHz baseband pairs, each of which can be split into up to 16 flexibly tunable subbands
  • Single, dual, and full polarization products
Mixed 3-bit and 8-bit samplers
  • Allows more flexibility for simultaneous continuum and high-resolution spectral line observing

Subarrays
  • Up to 3 independent subarrays using standard 8-bit continuum setups, with only one 8-bit setup per subarray.
Y27 or Y1 for VLBI

Solar observing

  • All solar observing except the L-band reverse-coupled system

On-The-Fly Mosaicing (OTF)‡

  • P-, L-, S-, and C-bands only; no subarrays

Pulsar

  • Phase-binned and coherent-dedispersion (YUPPI) pulsar observing, except 4-band YUPPI and combining YUPPI mode with VLBI recording, which are Resident Shared Risk Observing (RSRO) capabilities.

Frequency averaging

  • Frequency averaging in the correlator by a factor of two or four (only available for setups with uniform subband bandwidths, and for single subarray and non-OTF observations)

SRO capabilities can be set up via the Observing Preparation Tool (OPT) and run through the dynamic scheduler without intervention, but are not as well tested as GO capabilities. Data rates higher than 60 MB/s (216 GB/hour) and up to 100 MB/s (360 GB/hour) are considered SRO. A summary of the SRO capabilities being offered are:

  • On-the-Fly (OTF) mosaicing‡ for X-, Ku-, K-, Ka-, and Q-bands (used when each pointing on the sky is no more than a few seconds), but not using subarrays.
  • eLWA: Joint LWA and VLA 4-band observations using a single 8 MHz subband centered at 76 MHz, and 4-bit VDIF output.

‡Note: OTF mosaic observations have certain limitations on the length and number of scans. Contact the VLA staff through the NRAO Helpdesk to check if the OTF mosaic observations to be proposed are technically feasible ahead of submitting a proposal.

We expect that most SRO programs will have no or only minor problems that can be corrected quickly. If an SRO program fails, however, and it becomes clear that detailed testing with additional expertise is needed, then the project must make an experienced member from their team available to help troubleshoot the problem. In some cases, this may require the presence of that experienced member in Socorro. If adequate support from the project is not given, then the time on the telescope will be forfeited. The additional effort is to be determined based on discussions with the NRAO staff and management and the project team.

The guidelines for General and Shared Risk observing proposals, along with information about tools and other advice, can be found in the VLA Proposal Submission Guidelines.

Resident Shared Risk Observing (RSRO)

Summary of Capabilities

The RSRO program provides access to extended capabilities of the VLA that require additional testing in exchange for a period of residence to help commission those capabilities. Capabilities that would fall under the RSRO program include:

  • Correlator dump times shorter than 50 msec, including integration times as short as 5 msec for transient detection;
  • Data rates above 100 MB/s;
  • Recirculation beyond a factor of 64 in the correlator;
  • 4-band (54–86 MHz) polarization or spectral line;
  • 4-band (54-86 MHz) coherent-dedispersion (YUPPI) pulsar observing;
  • YUPPI pulsar mode combined with VLBI recording;
  • More than 3 subarrays, or subarrays with the 3-bit system;
  • Complex phased array observations (e.g., pulsar and complex VLBI observing modes);
  • Frequency averaging by more than a factor of 4 or any frequency averaging in setups with mixed subband bandwidths, e.g., for spectral line+continuum with the averaging used in subbands designated for continuum;
  • Rapid response capability: Automatically scheduling VLA observations in response to a trigger on shorter timescales than standard triggered proposals, and
  • eLWA: Joint LWA and VLA 4-band observations and correlations using options other than offered under SRO (e.g., a different center frequency, 16 MHz bandwidth, and/or 8-bit VDIF output for a higher dynamic range).

The guidelines for Resident Shared Risk Observing proposing, along with requirements and considerations, can be found in the VLA Proposal Submission Guidelines.

 

Commensal Observing Systems at the VLA

There are two commensal systems on the VLA that may take data at the same time as your proposed observation. The first is the VLITE system, which will take data at P-band during regular observations that use bands other than P-band. The VLITE system is deployed on up to eighteen VLA antennas. Observers wishing to gain access to the commensal VLITE data taken during their VLA observations should follow the instructions on the VLITE web page for doing so. The second is the realfast system, which takes data at very fast dump rates in an effort to detect Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). This system is fully commissioned for observing at L- through X-bands, in parallel with standard continuum correlator configurations. For information about commensal observing see the Commensal Observing with NRAO Telescopes page.

To report errors or problems encountered in any link or while using any NRAO tool listed here, please submit a ticket through the NRAO Helpdesk.

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