Weekly Report for Week Ending December 18, 1998



 Project Control Meeting Agenda   Highlights   Hanford Observatory     Livingston Observatory     Detector    Project Office    System Engineering    Administrative    Past Weekly Reports

The Project Control Meeting Agenda for Monday  December 21, 1998 will be:
 (Meeting time: 10:30 am Pacific Time)

  1. Announcements (5 minutes)
  2. Review of Action Items (10 minutes)
  3. Comments on Weekly Report (5 minutes)
  4. Field Change Orders/Contingency Liens/Change Requests (10 minutes)
  5. Review of ISSUES AND PROBLEMS by Subsystem/Activity (10 minutes each)
Special Items:


Special Announcements: THE DECEMBER 1998 LIGO NEWSLETTER IS POSTED AT

http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/LIGO_web/9812news/9812main.html


Weekly Report Highlights
 
LHO Staging Building footers okay
 
Bakeout events
 
LHO PSL 10 watt beam makes it to the IO
 
Caltech Changes to Overtime, Extended Work Week, and Paid Leave Policies 
 


LIGO Hanford Observatory (LHO) Operations



Facilities:
-----------
O. Matherny

George Grant Construction Co. placed concrete for one half of the
footers for the Staging building. After some investigation it was
determined that the footer sizes may remain the original 5'x5'. The
biggest damage is the one week time delay.

Apollo is 30% complete with water modification project. The tank
delivery is a long lead item. All other work is complete. No progress on
this contract this week.

Compressors: The defective parts were replaced in all 10 air
compressors, at the contractor's expense. We are accessing the
consequential damages caused by the defective oil separators.

Bake Oven:
----------
(K. Ryan)

LHO Vacuum Bake Oven A load #6 consisting of four 3" IOO optics plus
misc. SOS magnets was released this week. Load #7 consisting of three
HAM bellows is under vacuum and will begin heating today.

Fittings were installed earlier this week which will allow the vacuum
bake oven to be vented manually and independent of the pump's solenoid
vent valves. In the past, the pump arms had to be open to the chamber
(read "load") and the pumps stopped to make use of their anti
backstreaming vent valves. Also, the control of the heating blanket
used to heat the top of the belljar (dome) was changed such that it is
now its own distinct zone. The result is a much more uniform temperature
throughout all the zones during temperature ramps.

I have been soliciting applications at local area schools and our temp
agency for someone to take over day to day operation of the vacuum bake
oven.  Interviews will be next week.

Seismic Isolation Installation:
-------------------------------
(C. Gray, H. Radkins)

Air Bearings for HAM 8 were installed. Have an additional set of Air
Bearings, but these will be used for BSC8.

Scissors Tables and Air Bearing Dummies were installed on HAM 10.
Looking ahead--installation of Support Tubes, Support Table, and Bellows
for HAM 10 will take place during the middle of the first week in Jan.
If item delivery dates hold up, we will plan on installing remainder of
in-vacuum hardware for HAM 10 around the 3rd week in Jan. For
preparation of LLO SEI/HAM installation, we are arranging to have Rich
Riesen up here during the first week of Jan. (possibly 3rd week as
well?).

Performance test of a HAM stack in situ is tentatively being planned for
HAM 1 at LLO; Joe Giaime is preparing an enclosure to house an
accelerometer. Corey will plan on traveling to LLO to offer added
manpower with assembly of stacks, and will offer assistance for
performance measurements as well.

A detailed walk-through of the BSC SEI subsystem installation was done
and many tasks regarding cleanliness and safety were identified and
assigned to the members of the team. The structure of the BSC and the
size/weight of parts makes movement and manipulation of the components
nontrivial.

The BSC SEI Piers have all been located at LHO and grouting has begun in
the outbuildings. Next, alignment and installation of the actuation
stacks.

Corey, Hugh and Rick Savage have been getting the Broadband Seismometer
going for noise measurements in the buildings that Savage and Weiss did
not characterize. We plan on learning how to 'tune' out noise in the
buildings if possible.

Optics & Lasers:
----------------
(D. Cook)

We will get rather busy next month with the IOO and IAS and SUS/COC and
others doing installations in HAMs 7 & 8. This will be the first time
the PSL beam enters the beam tube as well. It has kept me busy helping
with the preparations. I have been working on two transportation carts
for moving suspended optics about. The straddle transfer lift used for
installing the LOS fixtures and optics, has been stripped down and sent
out for sand blasting and powder coating. The paint has been flaking
badly. The tilt platforms also have been sent out for powder coating. I
have ordered cleanroom top covers for the BSC's to cover the openings,
equipment and the top cover when separated. They are similar to the
ones used on the HAM'S. We are continuing to collect particle counts. We
are still improving on the over-all cleanliness as well as faster
recovery times in the LVEA.

Computing Systems:
------------------
(C. Patton)

Investigated problems with the Autocad key and Photoreader. In trying
to install the Photoreader on another PC to test the device, Windows95
encountered a protection error. I finally had to take the PC to the
local repair shop to get Windows95 fixed. The Autocad key is dead, I'll
have to order another one. The fate of the Photoreader is still
uncertain.

Because of changing the name of the server, the nis+ credentials
database file, on the server, had to be completely updated for all
users. This file stores each user's credentials for server access.
User's are able to login and do most everything as normal without this
file being updated, however, when the user tries to change their
password they receive an error message saying they don't have LOCAL
credentials. Updating the file requires changing all the passwords
through the Solstice Sys. Admin. software. I have updated 50 out of 76
users. The other 26 are occasional visitors to the server and will be
changed as the need arises. If anyone has problems changing their
password on rainier, let me know.

I have started installing the latest Secure Shell software on the server
and all the client PCs and Sun Workstations. This will allow encryption
of passwords during remote processes. I have also started installing
the latest version of Eudora Pro Email.

Beam-Tube Bake Out:
-------------------
(M. Lubinski, M. Guenther, and W. Althouse)
(reported by Fred Raab)

Bakeout of Y1 was interrupted to regenerate all cryopumps. This became
more interesting than originally planned when (1) a large amount of
outgassing from one of the cryos overwhelmed one of the auxiliary turbo-
pump carts, (2) a repair technician shut down compressed air to the
corner station while replacing previously contaminated filters - thus
shutting down one of two main turbopumps at port Y1-1, (3) the shut-down
turbopump was not able to restart due to excessive vibration of the
turbine, and (4) a large burst of air and water vapor was emitted into
the beam tube. A good time was had by all! Item #1 was mostly an
annoyance; we were able to regain control by restarting the cyro
compressors and using the cryo-head heaters to throttle the regeneration
process. Items 2 & 3 required some significant head-scratching and
innovation; John Worden eventually was able to restart the turbine by
purposely introducing some vent gas to add damping to the turbine
spin-up process. Item #4 required about a day of intensive study to pin
down the probable cause:  a leaky 1-1/2-in, all-metal valve on the "H"
hardware at port Y1-2. (Items 1, 2 and 3 were red herrings.)

Measures are being taken to ensure that this type of leak will no longer
trouble us. These include installation of additional viton valves after
the all-metal valves and changes to procedures for torqueing up the
all-metal valves. The vibration on the cryopump has been observed before
at the initiation of the Y2 bakeout. Having done a thorough electrical
system check, we are suspecting that we have a real mechanical
imbalance, perhaps due to condensed material on the turbine. We will
extend the continuous heating zone for the turbo closer to the region of
the region of the turbo to see if this helps.

The beam tube was reheated to 150C and has apparently recovered from the
water burst. We have a meeting scheduled at 15:00 on Dec 18 to decide
whether to initiate shutdown and completion of this bakeout. We are
ready to initiate shutdown over the weekend.

Personally, I was pleased by the rapid and cool-headed response to
the unanticipated shut down of the corner-station air supply and its
consequences. A fairly large number of people including the regular
bakeout crew, Otto Matherny, John Worden, Kyle Ryan, Cecil Franklin and
me worked on the physical problem in a safe and effective fashion
and our logbooks and database captured the incident in good enough
detail for Bill Althouse in Pasadena and us up here to track down the
cause of the gas burst. The air-supply incident does point out the
complex interdependence of systems at the observatory. Although we have
daily meetings to coordinate and avoid such interferences, this one
slipped through because we did not appreciate the manner in which
valves were arranged in the compressed-air system. This emphasizes the
need to understand as well as reasonable the procedures involved when
any work is done at the observatories. We will make modifications to
the compressed-air plumbing to achieve the full redundacy that was
intended in the original design requirements for this system.
 


LIGO Livingston Observatory (LLO) Operations



 
Optics & Vacuum Labs: Fisher/Hamilton has completed the installation of the tall cabinets. The laser safety curtain has also been installed, as well as the laser safety interlock switch. Excel, the electrical contractor, has also placed duplex outlets in the loading dock to power Culligan's RO/DI water system. Woodrow Wilson has removed the four threshold plates from the doorways in the lab areas. Two flow benches, and the cleanroom garment have been received from Air-Tech, and will be installed as soon as the bake-out oven installation is completed. A local plumbing contractor is scheduled to install the small water heaters, and lab sink faucets by the end of the year. (Jonathan Kern).

Vacuum Equipment: PSI has requested LIGO punch list the two end stations. We have checked the y arm end and have generated a list of 34 items, all rather small. The x-arm beam manifold is now cooling and the 100hr test will begin today. The corner station will be complete, except punch list by the end of the year. The bake oven chamber has been received and mounted in the bake lab. The vacuum pump hardware is being set up and we will leak test next week. The bake blankets and controls will ship next Monday from HTH Heatrace. (Allen Sibley, Kerry Stiff)

Beam tube bakeout: Thermocouple installation is in progress on the west arm. Grounding of the beam tube is nearly complete. All of the cables and grounding rods have been installed, but we ran short of cable clamps. As soon as these arrive, the job will be completed. (Kerry Stiff).

Electrical Lab: We continue to receive equipment and furnishings for the electrical lab and have prepared the equipment that Rai Weiss requested in order to make vibration characterization measurements within the LVEA and end stations. This equipment has now been set up and measurements are in progress. (Juilien Svoboda)

Facilities Issues: WYE electric is continuing the work of bringing the installation up to specifications. HPC is estimating that this work should be complete by the
middle of January. The signing of the Mechanical Maintenance contract (Carrier) is being held up by some legality which should be resolved soon. We met with the Carrier
people for a kick off meeting and the service technician assigned to our facility has been onsite for two day for familiarization.The mechanical QA is not yet complete. We met with their QA inspector and identified areas of concern which are still unresolved. (Gerry Stapfer)

Vibration characterization: The GRASP program has been put on a Sun computer. Work is in progress to install LINUX and then GRASP on a new 16G harddrive
on a Gateway PC. The GRASP program will be used with siesmic data as an excersice in learning the frame scheme with the long term goal of addressing LIGO data analysis and processing issues. (Anthony Rizzi).

Rai Weiss, LIGO staff, and Dick Greenwood and Kathleen Johnston from LaTech completed initial setup for seismic measurements (using accelerometers, Guralp siesmometer, tiltmeter and microphone) near the center BSC. Warren Johnson and an undergraduate student (Michelle last name?) are presently setting up their coils and seismometers as well so that measurements can be taken in parallel.

The Crime Beat: We had one additional shot fired into the west end station which was discovered last Friday morning. The sheriff's office was contacted and filed a report. The LSU Police were also contacted and they searched the woods for evidence, although they found nothing. Lynn Jelinksy, Vice-Chancellor for research at LSU was also contacted. Her office initially promised to provide night and weekend security to the site if we were interested, but later rescinded this offer when the LSU Executive Director of Public Safety said that this was out of his jurisdiction.

The Satsuma Hunt Club president has provided us with the names and addresses of all of the hunt club members and the Chancellor is sending a personal letter to each member expressing his concern for LIGO and asking each of them to act responsibly. The hunt club will also come to LIGO for a tour on Saturday, January 9.

Other: The LLO Christmas luncheon was held Thursday. Friends and faculties from Louisiana Tech, LSU, and SLU joined us in enjoying barbecue and crawfish etoufee. Thanks for your support of the LIGO Livingston Employee Recreation Club through the purchase of LIGO t-shirts!


WBS 1.2, 1.3    Detector Group


40 m Interferometer (Nergis Mavalvala)
---------------------------------------

We continue to investigate the interferometer's reluctance to remain
locked when the arm cavity is aligned. One glaring discrepancy between
measured arm cavity visibility and optical gain of the RM servo going
to zero as we align was partially resolved. The visibility measurement
put the us squarely in the regin of ccarrier undercoupling into the ifo,
yet we see the RM error signal tending toward zero as we mislign. A
careful measurement of the sideband coupling shows that it is not
necessary to have carrier critical coupling to zero the RM optical
gain signal. More quantitative results are being computed.
We have in the mean time developed a probe using a second PM sideband
which is resonant in the arm cavity to probe the arm cavity detuning
from carrier resonance. The probe signal worked well for a single
cavity and is now being tested using the resonant ifo.

----------------------------------------------
Interferometer Sensing and Control -- M Zucker
(WBS 1.2.1.1.6, 1.2.1.1.7)
----------------------------------------------

No report received.

-------------------------------------------
Lasers and Optics -- J. Camp
(1.2.1.1.2, 1.2.1.1.3, 1.2.1.1.4,1.2.1.1.5)
--------------------------------------------

Prestabilized Laser -- Peter King
--------------------------------------------

- Installation of the PSL intensity stabilization servo is completed.  Both
in and out-of-the loop relative intensity noise measurements indicate that
the servo loop exhibits the desired amount of gain, which implies that the
PSL meets its intensity noise specification.

- The LIGO standard compliant EPICS database has been tested, along with
the necessary modifications made to the user screens.  The complete
transfer to the new database is expected to be completed by the end of
today (12/17).

- The status of the PSL construction for the other IFOs is unchanged from
the last reporting period except for the following:

    i. The physical installation of the LHO 2k IFO PSL is complete.
Approximately 60-70% of the acceptance testing has been completed.

    ii. The output of the PSL is now available to IOO for long periods
of time for their installation schedule (long meaning up to 10 hours a
day).  The current limitation being the occassional acceptance test
measurement that needs to be made.
 

Input/Output Optics -- Dave Reitze, UF
-----------------------------------------
This report is filed from Ligo Hanford Observatory. QiZe Shu
returned from here at the end of last week. David Tanner is here
this week. Sany Yoshida is here both last week and this week.
Malek Rahkmanov and Haisheng Rong are also here working on IOO
installation.

IOO/PSL table installation.

Initially, because the 10 W beam was unavailable, we set up a 700
mW NPRO on the IOO table in such a way that the beam travels the
same path as the real 10 W beam. The NPRO beam merges to the 10 W
beam path about 15" before the handoff. For this purpose, we set
up a YAG mirror mounted on a kinematic mount so that it can be
removed or placed back any time.  In addition, we mode matched
the NPRO beam to the 10 W beam by placing a lens between the NPRO
and the mirror on the kinematic mount.

With the availability of the 10 W beam early this week, the beam
was brought through the three EOMs. Only small changes in
position were needed. The beam spot size in the EOM region is
being measured at the present time.

Suspended optics.

Four balanced 3" optics were put in the oven for vacuum baking
and removed on the 16th. All four appear in good shape. (No
magnets fell off and the surfaces appear clean and uniform to the
eye.)  The fifth and sixth have been balenced to within specs.
The last 3" mirror has been cleaned and the four magnets on the
back glued. Needed clean parts arrived from Caltech, and the two
mirrors, wire standoff, and guide rod are curing now.

One mirror (mode cleaner curved mirror MCCM2k02-1) could not pass
the water test satisfactorily. There are two areas, one on the AR
coating of the back surface and one on the uncoated part of the
front surface, do not wet for long. We repeated the whole
cleaning procedure once but we did not see any change. We then
soaked the mirror in aceton for about five minutes and it did not
help.

Installation procedure.

A suspended mirror was clamped (using the spring-loaded safety
stops), transferred to a cart, carted into the LVEA, and craned
over the beam tube to a spot near HAM7. The suspension was then
craned back, carted back to the optics lab, and repositioned in
the middle of the table there. The mirror was moved by 1 mrad in
pitch by this process. We believe that this can be reduced by some
care, and that suspended optics can be moved sucessfully from the
optics lab to the LVEA.

Mode matching bullseye sensor.

The mode matching and Guoy phase telescope calculations are in
progress. The thermal lensing effect of the ITM will match the
wavefront curvature at the recycling mirror to the radius of
curveture of the recycling mirror according to the final design
of core optics. The mode matching telescope design has to take
this into consideration. I matched the wavefront at the recycling
mirror using two approximations: 1) a quadratic index change, 2)
thermal lensing only occurs in the ITM. The resulting change in
the mode matching telescope is small: MMT1 and MMT2 need to be
moved towards each other, MMT1 by 6.6 mm and MMT2 by 4.6 mm.
 

Core Optics Procurement and Metrology -- GariLynn Billingsley
-------------------------------------------------------------
 

We have taken a complete set of data for RM01 and will be shipping this
optic to Hanford December 28th.  We have taken a cursory look at all of
the RMs in order to survey radius of curvature.  Using the average
result for the power in C as a reference, the RMs all measure shorter
than reported by CSIRO after polishing.  This change may be due to the
coating.  Measurements at REO, CIT, NIST and CSIRO all predict a coating
which is thicker at the outer edges, thereby shortening the radius of
curvature.  RM01 measures nominally short of the specification (14900m
+750, -150) at 14.61Km but the uncertainty in the measurement is on the
order of 300 meters.  We believe we can get a tighter uncertainty in the
Radius of curvature measurement and will be pursuing this in the very
near future.
 

Core Optics Coatings -- Helena Armandula
--------------------------------------------------

REO Contract - COC's Coatings - The next run of coatings,  BS's and 4ITM's
is set for the end of January. REO has the new water system
and sink already in place to implement our cleaning process.
CO2 Snow Cleaning:  Received a CO2 gun and a gas purifier on loan for 30
days for evaluation.
Carbon Dioxide cleaning is a process that can remove particles and light
organic contamination. The nozzle design is the most important factor in
performing CO2 snow cleaning. We have three different nozzles to test. At
this time we are working with the gun manufacturer's engineering department
to find an appropriate nozzle for our application.
At the same time, the surface of a mirror is being characterized by Atomic
Force Microscope at JPL,  before and after cleaning , in order to observe
any surface degradation. Also,  FTIR spectroscopy will be utilized to
determine if any hydrocarbon contamination is present after cleaning.
In tests done in our lab., after exposure to the CO2 spray, water sheets
off the mirror's surface readily, indicating no traces of contaminants
(hydrocarbons).
 

Core Optics Support -- Michael Smith
------------------------------------

BEAM-DUMPS
The double beam dump prototype is pending assembly. Craig will take over
responsibility for mounting the cavity beam dumps. Ken M. will take over
responsibility for the SEI and LOS mounted beam dumps

ETM and PO TELESCOPE
Several detail drawings are still pending for the PO telescope. Ken M. is
evaluating the drawings prior to fabricating a prototype.  Jonathan has
placed an order for the ETM telescope lenses.

PO MIRROR
Jonathan is testing the prototype PO mirror assembly.

VACUUM WINDOW
Experimental conflats and windows have been ordered from Varian to test
indium and fluorel vacuum seals as an alternative to ISI metallized seals.

NEW CONICAL BAFFLE at MID STATION
Design is pending.

TRIPLE FLEXURE BRACKET for BEAM DUMP
Craig is working on the design of the triple flexure bracket.

MODE CLEANER BAFFLE
The fabricated glass has been received. The remainder of the machined parts
are in process and are expected before 12/21/98. Cleaned and preped parts
will be shipped to LHO for installation prior to 1/5/99.

IO BAFFLE
The baffle glass support frame was redesigned to eliminate welded
construction. Paul and Angel completed the shop drawings, which have been
sent to a vendor for fabrication. The glass has been received by the glass
cutter and is in process. Installation is expected in LHO on 1/15/99.

INSTALLATION PLAN
A revised COS installation schedule and plan is being reviewed by Dennis C.

item                                    order placed          install date
Mode cleaner baffle                       12/1/98     1/5/99
IO baffle                                 12/17/98   1/15/99
 

--------------------------
Isolation Group -- M. Fine
--------------------------

Seismic Design (Mike Fine)
--------------------------------------
1. Air Bearings Protective Bellows:
The bellows is currently undergoing its third iteration to perfect the
manufacturing process.  The bake time and temperature are very critical
to get the correct shape and size. The latest test piece came out of the oven
with an adequate size, but failed in achieving a desirable shape. SC is hoping
that this iterative process will be completed soon and the production order can
begin.

2. Pneumatic Components:
Hytec is assembling a pneumatic parts list for the 1st BSC delivery in addition
to components required for the remaining 5 BSC's in the vertex and in the two
racks.  The order will be placed late next week for all of this hardware.  At
this time Hytec will begin assembly into the rack. The pneumatic diagrams are
currently being generated.

3. Near-Term SEI Hardware Delivery Schedule:

2 HAM support tubes and 1000 lb balance weights (Hanford)  12/23/98
1 HAM optical table (Hanford)                              1/8/99
1 set of BSC in-vacuo hardware (Handord)                   1/21/99

Suspension -- (Janeen Hazel/Mark Barton/Mike Fine)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1. SUS Hardware Delivery:
SUS Structure Delivery Dates: [numbers in parentheses are quantities.]
LOS1(for ETM, ITM, MMT): 12/18(2), 1/8(1), 1/22(1), 1/29(2),
                         2/5(2), 2/12(2), 2/19(2), 2/26(1)
LOS1(for RM): 12/23(2), 12/30(2)
LOS2(for BS): 1st artcle on 1/15, 2/15(2), 2/28(1)
LOS3(for FM): 1/30(2)*, 2/28(1)

SUS Fixtures and Components Delivery Dates:
Clamps: 12/18
 

---------------------------------------------------------
Detector Systems Engineering -- D. Shoemaker/D Coyne
(WBS 1.2.1.1.9)
---------------------------------------------------------

Physics Environment Monitor (Matt Smith for Alex Marin)
-------------------------------------------

        1. The delivery schedule has not changed this week :
                http://web.mit.edu/marin/www/PEM_Delivery.html
        2. The detailed PEM installation plan will be posted soon.
        3. Relocation of the RGAs was discussed. Some minor new flanges
will be procured and cleaned for installation.  The new locations will
be on
one of the available E nozzels just avove the BSC doors(at the same
hieght as the
seismic support peirs).  This will allow the ability to use a smaller
ladder to
access the RGA and also will keep the RGA out of harms way.  Further
discussion
is in process to relocate the valve for the RGA volume pumpout to an
even lower level.
    4.  The purchase order for the accelerometer cables was placed with
Endevco, which will
offset the credit for returning the accelerometers(new ones purchased
from Wilcoxon).
Endevco is closed for two weeks between Dec 21 and New Years.
    5.  We are planning on returning the RGAs that were part of the type B
hardware from CBI
for refurbishment.  Balzers is closed the week between Christmas and New
Years.
 

Optical Contamination (Daqun Li)
--------------------------------

A week of vacuum cycling for cavity one with viton still did not
bring anything up. Both ringdown and mode spacing data stay pretty
much the same as they were. We may need to repeat the moisture
exposure test for viton before terminating the test of this first
set of viton. Data taking is still going for the other two cavities
because of a relatively large data excursion observed in the ringdown
data despite a stable pattern in mode spacing data.

S.Bell and J.Camp are working to improve the performance of the
scatterometer by adding an alignment plate with a central aperture to
the detector hex housing. This would help align the surface point under
test and the small active areas of detectors conjugate through the
focusing lens, so that the scattered light collected by the six
detectors can be maximized.

Writing a manuscript for potential journal publication of the optical
contamination results gathered so far.

-----------------------------------------
Control and Data System -- R. Bork
(WBS 1.2.2)
-------------------------------------------

Timing System:
===============
We have two working GPS receivers with the precision 2^22 Hz clock from
JXI. We are expecting 3 more to be shipped within a week and hopefully the
remainder by the end of the month. There is still one unresolved problem
with the Auto Site Survey algorithm that does not affect us now but will
require a software upgrade latter when the problem is fixed. We are still
trying to get our timing boards to work with the ICS 110-B. Testing continues.

MC LSC:
=======
The design of the Servo Amp is virtually complete. Some minor additions
were made after discussions with Peter Fritschel. We should be starting the
PCB layout by end of this week. We are also getting the system drawings
completed and ordering stuff for January completion of MC servo installation.

Data Acquisition
================
- Met with Peter Fritschel and Ed Daw on interface of ASC/LSC to data
acquistion system; plan is to start integration of ASC/LSC supervisor
crates to
existing DAQS system at Hanford first two weeks of January.
- Still debugging timing card interface to ADC modules.
- Initial equipment loaded into rack 2X5 at Hanford; will begin "continuous"
operation of system in late January.
- In process of adding log scale capabilities to data viewer software.
- Started work on interface to allow users to access stored data and
reformat it
to input to common software tools (ie matlab, excel, ...)


WBS 1.4    Project Office



 

 1.4.1.2 Project Controls (Lindquist)


Reports, Proposals, Work Plans (Lindquist)

The end of October Monthly Status Report has been sent to the NSF.

Materials for the end of FY 1998 Annual Report have been submitted by most of those on the hook.


Change Control (Lindquist)

The following Change Requests have been submitted:
 
CR-980048 WBS 1.1.4 Extending Parsons Support in Livingston F. Asiri
CR-980049 WBS 1.2 Additional Detector Staffing S. Whitcomb
CR-980050 WBS 1.2.1 Seismic Isolation System Clean Room Fork Lift for Livingston S. Whitcomb


LIGO Weekly Site Telecon (Jasnow)

The last Site Telecon was held Thursday, December 10, 1998. The open action list is as follows:
 
Action No. Description Responsibility Assigned Date Due Date
1 Prepare Operations Budgets for FY 1999  Lindquist August 6, 1998 Closed
10 Procedure to Cover Late Charges for Invoice Payments Jasnow August 27, 1998 January 28, 1999
17 Louisiana Road Access M. Coles/G. Stapfer October 8, 1998 Jamuary 28, 1999
19 Consider Lawsuit Against Panel Manufacturer at Livingston R. Pool/E. Jasnow October 15, 1998 January 28, 1999
20 Schedule Meeting on Shadow Accounting System for Operations P. Lindquist October 15, 1998 January 14, 1999
21 Letterhead and Business Cards for Sites F. Raab/M. Coles November 5, 1998 January 21, 1999
22 Chart of Operations Off-campus Accounts for Staff P. Lindquist November 5, 1998 Closed
23 Change Account Codes for Open Contracts E. Jasnow December 10, 1998 January 21, 1999
24 Issue Letter Regarding Bullet Holes in Louisiana E. Jasnow December 10, 1998 January 14, 1999

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (Chargois)

>From: Ed Chargois <chargois_e@ligo.caltech.edu>

No report this week.


DOCUMENT CONTROL CENTER (Turner)

>From: the DCC <dcc@ligo.caltech.edu>

STATISTICS

During the past two weeks a total of 126 documents were added to the database.  The following figures summarize the breakdown by category:

During the same period, a total of 80 packages were received and distributed.  An additional 33 packages were sent out.  The DCC processed 132 incoming faxes and the project transmitted 128 faxes.


COST SCHEDULE CONTROL SYSTEMS (Duncan, Rianda, Leonhardt, Akutagawa, Kaufman)

>From: Cindy Akutagawa <cindy@acrux.ligo.caltech.edu>

I have completed and distributed the monthly reports for the end of November (This month all my reports are available online).  I am working on the data needed for the Project Control meeting on Monday.

>From: "Britt Leonhardt (T)" <brittl@FINANCE.caltech.edu>

We have spent many hours reconciling and correcting various contacts and purchase orders.  Florence has been very helpful resolving conflicting balances and trouble-shooting.  The following documents were handled this week.
 
 
WE Date Incoming Invoices and Receivers Wire Transfers Large Contract Invoices New Purchase Orders
10/08/98 248 2 9 155
10/15/98 225 0 4 157
10/22/98 247 0 1 58
10/29/98 182 1 4 42
11/5/98 141 2 20 41
11/12/98 132 1 11 63
11/19/98 118 2 8 14
11/25/98 61 1 4 4
12/3/98 186 2 15 102
12/10/98 175 0 6 90
12/17/98 125 0 12 28

>From: Kris Duncan <kris@ligo.caltech.edu>

Completed the draft November 1998 CSSR for the cost/schedule review planned for Monday, December 21.

Finalized and distributed the October 1998 Monthly Progress Report.   This report has been sent to the NSF.

Continued entering schedule updates for the end of November.  The majority have been updated and first drafts have been distributed.  Just received Hytec's Project '98 update and have begun reconciling the schedule for any changes that need to
be implemented.

Worked on EAC/ETC reports for the month of November. Revising the spreadsheet system implemented last month as well as integrating the Facilities, Operations, and R&D into the format.  Certain problems were encountered and have been addressed  Reports are being generated for Monday's abbreviated cost/schedule review.

Created the Project Level One Milestone chart for the month of November. Verifying dates, entering past float values, and filtering the final report in a simpler, larger, easier to read format.

>From: Florence Kaufman <fkaufman@ligo.caltech.edu>
 

  • Set Up pro-forma worksheets (Excel) so that we can prepare reports comparing budget to actuals for the Operations phase starting with December 1998 results.  Reports will be on a drill down basis with top level one page report providing summary data only and supporting schedules providing detail by "division" such as Hanford Observatory, Director's Office, etc. Actual figures will be taken from IFIS reports but they can be supplemented to make them more timely, by including accruals for invoices and travel reimbursement requests received but not yet processed.
  • Updated schedules of amounts in the 328* accounts by vendor through November 1998.  Vendor detail for these accounts is difficult to obtain on a look back basis once the detail is closed to the beginning balance line.
  • Submitted entries to correct problems with Capital Industries, Heritage Landscaping, Molding Solutions, and the Petty Cash Reimbursements for Livingston Site.

  • SUBCONTRACTS MANAGEMENT (Petrac, Jasnow)

    >From: irena@ligo.caltech.edu (Irena Petrac)

    >From: Ed Jasnow <jasnow@acrux.ligo.caltech.edu>

    The issue regarding the fiber optic cable to be installed at Livingston has been resolved with the contractor, MCA Communications, offering to provide an Ultra-Lite armored sleeve over the cable. A sample of this product was reviewed by Rolf Bork and Jay Heefner and found to be acceptable.  The contractor has been notified and has ordered the material, which is expected to be delivered in two weeks.

    Modification No. 14 has been issued to the CBI contract in the amount of $7,500 for the shipment of material from Plainfield to MIT.  This was as a result of negotiations conducted at Livingston on December 3, and represents the final piece of business to be conducted with CBI.  Their contract can now be closed out.

    Modification No. 17 has been issued to the PSI contract in the amount of $53,441 to cover four change order requests.  Funding for two of these COR's were from construction funds, while one was from operations funds and one was from the account for the MIT interferometer.


    TECHNICAL CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT (Althouse)

    >From: wea@acrux (William Althouse)

    No report. See Bake out.


    1.4.2.1 Quality Assurance (Tyler)

    >From: "William H. Tyler" <tyler_w@ligo.caltech.edu>

    No report this week.
     

    WBS 1.4.3    Systems Engineering / Data Analysis and Computing


    __Detector Integration Support:

    SEISMIC BALANCE WEIGHTS

        All parts for this order are expected to be machined complete
    by the
    first
    of next week. Passivation is scheduled to start on balance of
    order
    tomorrow
    with shipments starting next week.
     

    __Analyses: Nothing to report

    __Reliability: Nothing to report

    __Integrated Layout/Drawings:

    INTEGRATED LAYOUT DRAWINGS (ILD) FOR LIVINGSTON

        Work was started on the ILD's for the Livingston site however,
    progress is still stalled due to other priorities. Probable
    restart will
    be
    mid January.

    COVERS & GUARDS FOR HAM & BSC CHAMBERS
        Drawings are being updated for purchase of final quantities of
    large

    & small O-ring guards & nozzle covers both for HAM & BSC
    chambers,
    for Hanford & Livingston. This project started late due to other
    priorities
    but should be complete today for ordering of hardware for January
    use.

    X-BEAM & Y-BEAM SPOOL BAFFLES
       Detail drawings are in process but, low priority. New schedule
    is in
    the process of being generated.
     

    __Mock-ups: Nothing to report
     

    Modeling
     

    Hiro:

    mechanics

    S.Mohanty of Penn State has completed a new working note
    describing the
    formulations of his modeling work of the mechanics system in the
    End to
    End model, including some numerical calculation results. The note
    is
    available in
    /home/e2e/Software/docs/e2e/mechanics/Somuya-12-16-98.pdf
    or through the e2e home page http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/~e2e/.

    COC

    The summation cavity of the recycled michelson is kept going. The
    first
    comparison of twiddle, e2e using primitives and the one using
    summation
    cavity are done. We need further development, but we will have a
    fully
    functional - with modes - michelson summation cavity soon. One
    observation
    is that it takes 0.3 seconds that the whole cavities are filled
    with
    steady state fields. In order to speed up the simulation, a new
    function
    will be added to adlib to save and load intermidiate state, so
    that one
    can start simulation from the point where it stopped last time.

    dual recycling configuration

    As a part of the validation of field/optics, the dual recycling
    configuration has been tested by comparing with the twiddle
    transfer
    function. After fixing one mirror problem, e2e reproduced the
    twiddle
    result. So the dynamics of the dual recycling configuration can be
    studied
    - although not quite fast from the speed point of view - using
    e2e.

    alfi

    The new version of alfi version 3 is being updated to make it more
    stable.

    IOO

    S.Klimenko has started the development of IOO part using e2e
    framework.
    He will visit CIT from January 5 to coordinate the future work.

    AL NOTE: Taking advantage of Peter Fritschel's and Ed Daw's visit
    to Caltech, Hiro and Biplab met with them to update them on the
    status of the E2E work. Peter indicated he will start to excericse
    the model and start looking at building simulation components for
    LSC/ASC control loops.

    Data Analysis (KB/HY/AL/SA)

    Kent is on vacation. No reprot received for LDAS development.
    However We are still interviewing for programmers and have taked
    to ~4 this week. Ehrens is working to complete the managerAPI
    before Xmas. Farnham is working to build the FrameAPI within the
    same time constraint.

    S. Anderson:

    Finally isolated the poor IBM to SUN ATM performance as being
    caused by a faulty
    ATM card in the SUN.

    Worked on generate a more detailed mass storage purchasing plan.

    X. Hu:

    * Installed DB2 software on spica
    * Installed DB2 on Barbara's NT machine
    * Tested the SDK using different methods
      (static embedded SQL, dynamic embedded SQL, CLI).
      Comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
    * Studying how to handle BLOBs (that's something new to me).
    * studying how to use net.data to access DB2(Roy's request)

    What I am going to do next week(or next few weeks):

    * Contact with  Rolf to discuss
        the content of data source
        the table design
            potential database access scenarios
        prototype of database access routines

    AL NOTE: This week we met with Rolf to discuss how DB2 would need
    to be used to support detector/cds DBs, such as machine state
    vector, hardware inventory, etc. To this end, we will get
    BarabaraK involved in working with Xiao Hu in support of CDS
    needs.

    General Computing

    MIT:

    With the Tom E. going to Livingston the Sys. Admin. duties have
    been divided up
    between Ed D., Joe G. and David S. .

    Livingston:
    Nothing to report

    Hanford:

    Changing the name of our server required the nis+ credentials file
    to be completely recreated for all users.  If anyone gets an error
    when
    trying to change their password on rainier, please let Christine
    Patton
    know.

    Multiple PC software problems have been resolved.  Installed
    Secure Shell
    on the server and on all client machines (PCs and Suns).
    Installed the
    latest version of Eudora Pro Email on all PCs.

    CIT:

    AL NOTE: We have hired a contractor to support Larry and Surech in
    system administration tasks. Sean Scanlon starts next Monday.
     

    Barbara reloaded the antares pc as an NT server.  Moved the DCC
    test application
    to antares; it worked just fine.  Next step is to move the
    production files.

    Barbara updated WebDocs as of December 15.

    Barbara loaded DB2 Workgroup Edition on NT machine in Millikan.
    Began reading
    through manuals and working with sample database.
    Made LIGO web site changes to LIGO Talks, Seminar Transparencies,
    Publications, and Employment pages.

    Barbara fixed several references to Vancouver and ICHEP on the
    Amaldi site.  Two
    applicants have registered so far.  Barbara is also keeping a
    paper backup of
    applicants until a zip drive is available.

    Suresh had a number of the printers repaired and cleaned as well
    as put through
    a number of PR's related to the repairs.

    Once again CADENCE is being reloaded. So far it has been going
    smoothly other
    than it now requires 4GB of disk space to load. It should be
    finished and ready
    for testing by Friday the 18th.

    Added and modified some LIGO email aliases.

    Worked with Stuart Anderson to isolate the problem with data
    traffic to his
    System called jelly. Eventually his ATM card was found not to be
    functioning
    properly.

    Doing tempory installation and testing of Unix utilities software
    brought by
    Larry from LISA conference. Some of them seem to be useful to us
    while building
    the new server.

    Performed restoration of deleted user's files from tape backup.

    Samanth is looking into year2000 complinancy items and found the
    software
    necessary to test the PC's.  Tested most of bridge for y2k, back
    orfice, and ran
    Norton on the PC's. Placed a little sticker in the corner of the
    monitor of the
    computers that have been tested.  Hopefully all will leave them
    alone, so that
    when Sam believes she is  finished she can just check that the
    monitor has a
    sticker.

    Sam and Ed C. finished packing the computer to be shipped to
    Livingston.

    There are now three computers in wilson that do not pass the bios
    2000
    test.  One of them will does go to 2000 if you test manually.
    Still need
    to look into the others.
    Found quite a few PC's espiecially in Wilson house that are old
    and have
    very full hard drives.  Found this while running NOrton utilities.
    These are
    issues that will have to be acted on in the near future.

    Sam still needs to find a way to test the NT machines for
    compliance.  They do
    not easily boot to dos.  Will probably try using a boot disk to
    get them
    to DOS. She will also be checking on getting things to do more
    extensive testing
    for Y2K compliancy for the machines that have not passed.

    Presently, working on procurements to upgrad the network equipment
    and improve
    the space utilization in the computer room.
     


    WBS 1.4.4.1    Administrative Group


     Dorothy Lloyd

     Dot discovered that three weeks’ worth of work had disappeared from her machine and is currently busy restoring the lost data.

      Rita Torres

    Rita is on vacation.
     

    Irene Baldon

    Please note that this report is for 4 days only. I was out ill on Wednesday, 12/16.

    Worked on the ever present backlog of paper work for various trips taken recently (17 Purchase Requisitions and 5 Advance Requests). Also worked on the ever present backlog of Expense Reports (24 Expense Reports). The backlog is slowly but surely going down.

    I am now arranging and preparing the paper work for MIT trips to our 2 sites and CIT. Your cooperation in assisting me with the taping of your receipts on 8-1/2 x 11 white paper and filling out your own Expense Reports will greatly help in processing your reports in a timely manner. This will enable me to do a speedier audit and only require changes when necessary. If you are not sure of the per diem, or anything else, please leave it blank, as well as the totals at the bottom, and I will fill it in.

    Performed miscellaneous duties as requested by various members of the LIGO Project here at Caltech, as well as for members of the staffs of each of the two (2) sites.

     
    Elizabeth K. Wood

    Did several personnel requisitions for potential new LIGO employees at Livingston, Hanford, and Caltech.Talked to the phone office about installing new extensions, deleting an old extension, and requested a repair to Bill Althouse’s malfunctioning phone.

    Attended a class given by Sponsored Projects on the grant preparation and submission procedure.

     Began to fill out a rather lengthy survey from Payroll concerning the schedules of Caltech employees (non-exempt, exempt, and hourly).I attended a very lively meeting conducted by Human Resources concerning the 1999 Policy Changes in Premium time, Paid Leave and Medical Coverage on Tuesday, December 15, 1998. Beginning on December 21, 1998, Caltech is adopting the provisions of the State of California’s laws. See details below.

     * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Changes to Overtime, Extended Work Week, and Paid Leave Policies

    Overtime is no longer calculated on a daily basis. Non-exempt employees will be paid overtime for hours worked in excess of forty hours in any workweek.

    Employees will no longer be paid overtime for hours worked in excess of eight hours per day. However, the Institute will continue to pay double time for all hours worked in excess of twelve hours per day.

    Holiday, jury and witness duty, bereavement, and sick leave are considered time worked when computing overtime.

    The new overtime calculation method will give you and your supervisor/manager more flexibility in planning your time. It makes the choice of overtime pay or time off available to you within the same workweek, subject to agreement with your supervisor/manager. Time off must be granted in the same week in which the overtime is worked.

    Paid Leave

    The Institute will increase the number of accrued sick leave days you may use to care for ill family members. The current 10-day cap will be increased to 20 days. The additional 10 days will apply only in cases of a serious family illness as defined by the FMLA (Family Medical Care and Leave Act; see Personnel Memoranda 26 for eligibility and requirements). If eligible, you will now be able to use up to 20 days of accrued sick leave for FMLA family illness.

    The Institute will continue to pay its portion of medical insurance premiums for the first 6 months of an employee’s medical disability.

     * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     


    For additional information about this report, contact sanders@ligo.caltech.edu