AIPS HELP file for VLOG in 31DEC24
As of Fri Apr 26 23:04:58 2024
VLOG: Task to pre-process external VLBA calibration files
INPUTS
INNAME Input UV file name (name)
INCLASS Input UV file name (class)
INSEQ 0.0 9999.0 Input UV file name (seq. #)
INDISK 0.0 9.0 Input UV file disk unit #
SUBARRAY 0.0 9999.0 Subarray (0=> 1)
CALIN Name of ext. cal. file
OUTFILE Prefix for output files
FQTOL Freq. tol. for IF match (kHz)
PRTLEV Print level (0=>none;
1=> inform when gain curves
passed into .TSYS file
2=> echo cal. file)
HELP SECTION
VLOG
Task: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
! WARNING: If you are using the *cal.vlba* file for data !
! observed with the RDBE/MARK5C system (all data from the !
! VLBA Jan 31, 2014 and occasional data before this !
! date), please be aware that *cal.vlba files from between !
! the dates of Jan 31, 2014 and October 19, 2015 are from !
! the VLBA LEGACY system. The LEGACY system signal path is !
! very different from the RDBE/MARK5C system. Do not use !
! *cal.vlba* file from BETWEEN THE ABOVE DATES unless you !
! understand what you are doing. !
! !
! The pulse-cal data will be wrong and the Tsys data should !
! be used with caution. !
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This task segments and re-formats the TSM calibration file
produced for each VLBA experiment (eg. bk08cal.vlba) into
separate files that can be read directly by tasks ANTAB, APCAL,
UVFLG and PCLOD. This task is highly VLBA specific and relies
on a known, fixed input format for the TSM calibration file.
Nonetheless it should be useful in automating a priori
calibration for a broad range of VLBA projects.
Adverbs:
INNAME.....Input UV file name (name). Standard defaults.
INCLASS....Input UV file name (class). Standard defaults.
INSEQ......Input UV file name (seq. #). 0 => highest.
INDISK.....Disk drive # of input UV file. 0 => any.
SUBARRAY...The subarray to calibrate. Run VLOG separately
for each subarray in the uv-data file.
CALIN.....TSM calibration file eg. FITS:bk08cal.vlba.
Note: To use lower-case characters in the file
name, omit the closing quote.
OUTFILE....Prefix for the output files produced by VLOG
eg. FITS:BK08. The resulting files will be
named BK08.TSYS, BK08.FLAG, BK08.WX, and
BK08.PCAL. Null files, BK08.SCAN and BK08.MKIII,
will also be produced but contain the scan
scan summary and MKIII information, which is
not presently used within AIPS.
FQTOL......Frequency tolerance to use in matching IF
frequencies (kHz). This is used in compiling
the INDEX line in the .TSYS file from the
BBC frequencies recorded in the TSM comment
lines. A value of one frequency channel width
is recommended. Default is 1.0e-4 (or a 0.1 Hz).
PRTLEV.....Print level. A value >2 will echo each line
in the calibration file to the message console,
which is useful for locating errors in the format
of the calibration information. A value equal to
1 will print a message each time a gain curve is
passed on to the TSYS file fyi.
EXPLAIN SECTION
VLOG: Task to pre-process external VLBI calibration files
Documentor: A. J. Kemball, A. Mioduszewski
Related programs: ANTAB, APCAL, UVLFG, PCLOD
This task can be used once the VLBA uv-data have been loaded
to disk using FITLD, and takes as input the unedited TSM
calibration text file made available for each VLBA project on
the server aspen.aoc.nrao.edu. The task can also process the
standard VLBA gain curve file vlba_gains.key as retrieved
from ftp.aoc.nrao.edu (dir: pub). This file can be concatenated
with the TSM file before running VLOG or processed separately.
If your VLBI data contains modes that are different enough that
FITLD automatically creates multiple files (e.g., different numbers
of IFs or polarizations) then the cal file also contains mixed
modes. Although VLOG can handle this the tasks that load the text
files (notably ANTAB) will die when the mode change is encountered.
Therefor you must create separate cal files for each mode from the
original cal file and run VLOG on them separately.
The output files produced by VLOG are as follows:
.TSYS - Tsys calibration data, including gain curves, suitable
for direct use by ANTAB. An INDEX record is constructed
for each freq. id. if possible. If no match can be
made to the FQ data a warning message is printed and
the INDEX keyword is omitted. Gain curve entries for
the frequencies and time range in the uv-data are
copied to this output file.
.FLAG - Flag data, suitable for direct use by UVFLG. In the
older format "antennas=vlba_xx" the appropriate
antenna and day numbers are inserted.
.WX - Weather data, as used by APCAL if performing an
opacity solution. This file is altered to conform
with APCAL requirements (eg. WEATHER keyword) and
lines with bad entries (*) are commented out.
.PCAL - Pulse-calibration data, for input to PCLOD.
No editing is performed.
.SCAN - Scan summary information. Not used by AIPS.
.MKIII - MKIII information. Not used by AIPS.
**Note** The files produced by VLOG should be inspected before
further processing. VLOG may not re-format calibration
data for non-VLBA antennas correctly.