Weekly Report for Week Ending August 31, 2000

The LIGO Executive Committee Agenda for Monday  Sept 4, 2000 will be:

CANCELLED DUE TO HOLIDAY

Special Announcements:

Weekly Report Highlights
 

LSC Issues (Weiss)

No report this week.

LIGO I Construction/LIGO Laboratory Administration (Lindquist)

WBS 1.2 LIGO Operations--Administration

LIGO Weekly Site Telecon (Lindquist)

• The general focus site telecon was held on August 31, 2000.  The list of current actions revised to reflect open actions assigned through August 31, 2000 may be found at ACTION LIST.

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

• Assisted the Detector Group (H. Armandula) with the shipping of a Optic (Input Test Mass) serial number 41TM07 to the LIGO Hanford Observatory (D. Cook) via FED-X arrival confirmed.  Account Number P96958.
• Assisted the Detector Group and F. Asiri with the rerouting of one box containing 121 Seismic Springs  to the LIGO Hanford Observatory (L.Jones) for storage.  Account Number P96916.
• Requested Insurance Certificates from CALTECH's Insurance Broker (D. Artura) for all LIGO Vehicles locate at both Livingston and Hanford Observatories for the year 2000and 2001.
• Submitted a Standard Form 120 (Report Of Excess Personal Property) to GSA Red River Depot (Mr. L.Norman) Hook, Tx . through the National Science Foundation (Mr. K.Rorer) to dispose of the Heckert Milling Machine and Monarch Lathe located at the Livingston Observatory.
• Visited the following three locations: Barstow Marine Corp DRMO, Naval Weapons Depot  (China Lake), and Edwards Air Force Base  in attempt flush out a Generator for the Livingston Observatory. The City of Eureka KS. has 550kw engine rate and 900 rpm Diesel; this information is being forwarded to the Livingston Site  for evaluation.

>From: Linda Turner - turner@ligo.caltech.edu>

Web pages for the DCC give simple how-to's for document numbering, easy access to the latest on-line documents, and search capabilities for the DCC database.Take a look. . .

 ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS

• August was an extremely busy month. Check out the monthly stats. . .
• Drawings for the new staging building for Livingston were received and processed.  After numbering and entering in the database, 30 copies were made and assembled for the bid packages.
• Processed numerous technical papers and publications from early LIGO years.
• Work continued on updating the numerous process travelers so an updated status report can be made available.

• No report this week.

From: Esther Cunningham <esther@ligo.caltech.edu>

Press here for ACCOUNTS PAYABLE HISTORY DATA.

From: "Brambila, Ruth" <Ruth.Brambila@caltech.edu>

Working on Triad c/o #58, Research Electro Optics, and a new LSU order.

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

• Started preliminary work on Operations reports for August.
• Requested and received electronic files from Cindy for monthly reports that she prepares, so that these reports can be updated if necessary during her vacation.
• Continued working with Federal Accounting to determine why the entries submitted in June for cost transfers from construction to operations have not yet been made.
• Verified that the FY2000 Advanced R&D funds have been input into the Oracle accounts correctly, determination still needs to be made as to whether the Seismic Isolation at Livingston should be identified as a Capital Project.

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

• No report this week.

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

• Discussions remain ongoing concerning the lease for the storage building in Livingston.  Several FAXES have been exchanged between the involved attorneys.  Resolution is expected shortly.

Dorothy Lloyd

Dorothy is on vacation for three weeks although she submitted the following (we should make sure that Dot is not bored while on vacation and submit lots of purchase reqs and invoices!):

• I came in today (Sunday, 8/27) and worked on invoices from 2 to 4 PM.  Will probably do the same next weekend.

• Ongoing updates to LSC roster, these are almost complete.  Working on IFB EJ-319, Staging Building & Renovations to Existing Building at LIGO Livingston.  LIGO-CA will send out the IFB.
• Coordinated with the telephone office for alpha-numeric pagers, these have been distributed and by now the users have had practice in receiving messages.
• Ordered toner cartridges for color printers and other office supplies, will distribute when order arrives.
• On-going activity:  requisitions for D. Lloyd while she's on vacation.

• Attended a meeting to review the first three (3) weeks of operation under the new Travel P-Card Pilot Program.  Attendees included Gary Sanders, Ed Jasnow and myself for LIGO; Al Horvath, Controller, and his Assistant, Sharon Patterson; and Michelle Thompson, Wane Morales, Tina Lowethal, Patty Bateman, Criselda Rodriguez-Brodeur, Muriel Lampe and Gina Cabrera from Purchasing Services.  A number of items were thoroughly discussed and explained.  I can see where this was going to work very well once more travelers had their own cards.  At the present there are only twenty (20) card holders plus myself.  The balance of the travelers are traveling under my card.  The present and future Expense Report format was also discussed and the group was shown a few of the minor changes anticipated at this time.  The checks which were issued to me for advance purposes were discussed, and it was agreed that a more formal and theft-proof style is to be issued.  We will be meeting again in one (1) month, hopefully by then there will have been more trips charged to the individual traveler's cards so that we can better determine how these are going.
• Started six (6) new trips this past week.  There are an additional nine (9) new trips pending completion of travel arrangements at this time.
• Worked on, and completed eighteen (18) Expense Reports.  Due to meetings, training and preparations for the new P-Card Program I continue to be backed up on Expense Reports.  I have forty-eight (48) outstanding reports.
• Have attempted to help out in Liz's absence wherever possible with phone calls, sending out new payroll sheets, etc.
• Prepared the Travel/Vacation Itinerary for the Week of August 28, 2000.  Performed normal recording and filing associated with Travel and Reimbursement.  Worked on several problem issues with Travel Audit.  Also performed miscellaneous duties as requested by various members of  the LIGO Project here at Caltech as well as from members of the staffs of each of the two (2) sites.   I continue to do MIT's travel to the sites for installation activities and also to assist them wherever possible.

• No report (vacation).

Advanced LIGO (Frey, Petrac)

Progress Period from 8.25 to 8.31

Accomplishments:

• Due to strained schedules, we did not have a project controls meeting this week..
• Attended weekly status meeting for Advanced LIGO Proposal.  Every Tuesday at 9:30am at SCR.
• Continue to test the Cost Book Tool.
• Proposal plan development for Advanced LIGO and Operations continues.
• Issued data requests for progress data as of 9.1.00 that is due Friday.
• Progress as of 8.25.00 was processed and posted.
• Received schedules for SEI and LDAS.  Continuing to review and comment.  Development continues.
• Changed all references to LIGO II to Advanced LIGO.
• Project Plan for the 40-Meter Lab Upgrade continues.
• Issued data requests for progress data as of 9.1.00 that is due Friday.
• Updated the plan with progress as of 8.25.00, provided by Peter King and Fred Asiri.  Posted to site.
• Received data from Mike Smith regarding his deliverables for the project.  Using this data to schedule his work tasks.
• Planning process for the LASTI project at MIT is in progress.
• 3rd iteration is pending by David.
• Development of the Advanced LIGO Project Controls Guidebook continues.  Continuing to write section on data dictionaries.
• Project Web Site for posting schedule and progress related data continues to be updated with the latest and greatest.
• See http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/~tfrey/index.html

• OUT OF OFFICE 9.1.00
• Next weekly meeting will be Monday afternoon September 11 from 1 to 3pm regarding the planning and control of the Advanced LIGO proposal development.
• Advanced LIGO Proposal Status meeting will be Tuesday morning September 5 from 9:30am to 11am.    Each system leader to discuss issues specific to he Advanced LIGO proposals.
• Continue to test the Cost Book Tool.
• Will continue to follow up on the LASTI data development.  Meeting scheduled for September 8 to discuss LASTI planning and integration.
• Will continue to update the Advanced LIGO / Ops Proposal Plans and incorporate any changes.
• Will post progress report by end of day Tuesday with progress as of 9.1.00.
• Will issue eighth week of status data to teams.
• Will continue updating the 40 meter schedule and incorporate any changes.
• Will post progress report by end of day Tuesday with progress as of 9.1.00.
• Will issue eighth week of status data to teams.
• Will also post revised baseline schedule will data provided by Mike Smith.
• Cost Book Tool development continues.  Will be importing data for Installation so that Dennis Coyne can proceed with estimating.
• Will continue the development of the Advanced LIGO Project Web Site.
• Will continue the development of the Advanced LIGO Project Controls Guide Book.  Finish section on data dictionaries and start on update process.

• None to report at this time

• None to report at this time.

• No report this week.

• Revised budgets for FY 2001 have been distributed.  Hopefully have a draft for Elizabeth to enter into FastLane when she gets back.
• A quarterly progress report will be due shortly for the quarter ending August 31, 2000.  I have requested inputs Friday, September 15.  Given the volume of other reporting, these should be brief.

The following change requests have been submitted:
 

We have tentatively scheduled a meeting of the LIGO Change Control Board for 9:00 am (PDT), Tuesday, September 12, 2000.

Press for the latest Contingency Needs Projection.

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

• Continued work on the August CSSR and Quarterly NSF Report.
• Initiated work on converting COBRA files into EXCEL files to calculate earned value and for more user friendly reporting.
• Continued work on the Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM).

• I put the details for encumbrances and actuals for the construction accounts into a new format file and emailed them out to the Task managers. I have requested feedback on how they like the format (I have received only 2 comments).
• When looking over the details, I noticed several errors and I have done several Cost Transfers to get these charges corrected.
• Continue to reviewed the open encumbrances on the Construction and Advanced R&D accounts to see if the requested removals have been made. I will continue to review these accounts weekly until all encumbrances have been removed.

 

 

The financial reports on the web provide supporting detail.

http://docuserv.ligo.caltech.edu/~fireport
http://docuserv.ligo.caltech.edu/~finance

From: Irena Petrac <irena@ligo.caltech.edu>

No report this week.

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

The Invitation for Bid for the Livingston Staging Building is undergoing a thorough review before issuance.  This may result in a delay of one week or more.

Quality/Safety (Tyler)

• No report this week.

LIGO Hanford Observatory (LHO) Operations (Raab)

General Items:
--------------
(F. Raab)
 

Work continued this week on WA4K-IO components and other preparations for installation and the tuning of suspension controls. Much of this work is reported elsewhere. Gerardo Moreno joined the operations staff this week. He had previously been supporting installation activities, working for Manpower. Most of our student workers have disappeared this week, as school begins in Eastern Washington.
 

Some detailed reports are given below.
 

ISC: H.Radkins
Initial Alignment Monuments
Monuments are in place at the X End, pending installation at Y End, and waiting for location from ISC for the Corner Station.
4k IFO Optical Levers
                Laser/QPD       SM motor        Mounted Remarks
ITMx Tx tested          tested          no              Ready for mounting
ITMy Tx tested          tested          no              "       "
MMT3 Tx needs           tested          no              Will install laser after mounting
MMT3 Rx tested          tested          no              Ready for mounting
ITMy Rx needs           untested        no              QPD ready for install
ITMx Rx needs           untested        no              "       "       "
RM Tx   tested          tested          yes             already in use
RM Rx   tested          tested          yes             already in use
BS Tx           tested          tested          yes             already in use
BS Rx   tested          tested          yes             already in use
ETMx Tx needs           untested        no              Ready to test SM
ETMx Rx needs           untested        no              QPD ready for install
ETMy Tx untested        untested        no              Ready to test Laser/SM
ETMy Rx needs           untested        no              "       "       SM
So, if all this is correct, we need 2 laser sources, and 4 QPD.  There are no lasers and only 3 QPDs on hand at LHO; will procure ASAP.  In general, all OLs need DAQ power and data cabling/connectors.
 

FACILITIES: H.Radkins
Preliminary results from the warehouse/LVEA seismic study indicates the warehouse is 5 times noisier than the LVEA during no wind conditions and 10 time noisier with 30 mph winds.  Over these wind changes, the LVEA slab motion doubles while the warehouse slab motion increases 5 times.
 

SEISMIC ISOLATION: C.Gray
BSC9(x-end) Stack Transfer Function measurements:
 

Investigating the vertical component of the Stack's transfer function (only exciting in the z-axis and have just one z-axis accelerometer on the stack). Several types of measurements have been performed (FFTs w/ & w/o "white noise" and Swept Sine) and a couple of points can be made thus far. The only "coherent" Transfer Function values are between 2-25 Hz--due to accelerometer limitations at the low frequencies and performance of the stack at higher frequencies. Need to determine whether the high frequency data on the stack is noise or signal (looks mainly like noise at f>100Hz---data looks to be 3 times higher than the accelerometer's specified noise floor.
 

There seems to be a "coherent" peak at about 33.25-33.50Hz that pops up, w/ enough excitation. This peak seems to be related to a structural (Pier, Support Tube/Table assembly?) resonance we can easily see on our external accelerometer at the same frequency.
 

Remaining tasks: 1) determine whether we are seeing structural resonances through stack (@ ~33Hz and possibly ~54Hz), 2) classify f > 25 Hz as noise floor of accelerometer, other noise, or real signal.
 

LASTI SEI:
 

X/Y and Z Dummies were shipped out to MIT yesterday for SEI installation.
 

LIGO Livingston Observatory (LLO) Operations (Coles)

OPTICS/COC/SEI INSTALLATION: I reported last week that the two Newport Laser Autocollimators which we have at LLO failed to yield similar measurements in identical test situations. This was a serious and troubling discovery, because the Newport Laser Autocollimator is the instrument by which we align the interferometer. Hugh Radkins at LHO shipped us his theodolite/LAC to compare with ours. Having all three instruments on hand, we identified our problem as a faulty cable, which made the LAC susceptible to RF generated by our theodolite. We also made visual checks comparing the LAC measurements to those of the Sokkia theodolite. We now make certain that we can see the reflected image in the Sokkia, and check the LAC's readout, by comparing the coordinates displayed at the theodolite. We also discovered that the unit Newport loaned is in error by ~100 u-rad. While disappointing and requiring resurvey of every CO in the vertex, we learned the importance of verifying the LAC measurements with the visual telescope of the Sokkia theodolite. I'm satisfied we know and can check what we're doing, and have a reliable and verifiable instrument to proceed with our task. We have now re-surveyed and correctly positioned four optics (MMT-3, RM, BS & ITM-x) along the X-axis. Today, we will realign ITM-y and position the BS in the Y-axis. Completing this, Mike Smith will be able to complete the COS installation. (Jonathan Kern)

Vacuum: The X arm cryo pump is cold and in operation. The control system is being tuned for optimal flow.The Y arm pump is also being prepared for start up. We are leak checking the X end station and getting all the annulus pump systems in order. (Allen Sibley)

General Computing: Installed an ATM network card in our Windows file and print server. This will give it 155 Mbps throughput rather than the 10 Mbps it has now. This will reduce the chances of someone not being able to print because someone else is copying a file to it etc. I will be plugging it in today once I have it configured properly. It has been tested for a couple of weeks now as a file and print server and I have had no significant problems other than the bandwidth bottleneck. After I move it to the ATM, the PC's should be configured to print through it instead of Opelousas.

Visual Studio 6 will be installed on a public machine this week for anyone who needs to do any Windows based programming. Several people have
requested it over the last few months.

We are developing a library of computer reference books, which are available on the bookshelf in the computer users room. This week we ordered some GNU manuals for much of the GNU tools that we use (example: gcc).

CDS:  Setting up three Sun Ultra 10s that will go into the LVEA as CDS workstations. (Shannon Roddy)

PSL: Rich Abbot and Peter King are here this week. They have upgraded the Freq. Servo Board. It now can withstand transients without going into oscillation. It also has more gain than the older version. We are also going to check the PMC servo to make sure we have a good distribution of gain. We are also doing some house keeping to upgrade the PSL table layout designs and the epics screens for the PSL. (joe Kovalik)

Other: Shipped all necessary fixtures, equipment and tools to MIT in support of the LASTI seismic buildup. (Rich Riesen and Harry Overmeier will go to MIT to install the LASTI seismic buildup once the LOS installation is completed at LLO.) (Rich Riesen)

Fred Asiri:
Facility/LLO: I have received construction document (39 drawings and technical specification) for Staging Building and Renovations to Existing Storage Building at LLO. We are in process of reviewing and completing this document to turn it in a "Bid Package". I will be at LLO next week to complete this process as well as other outstanding issues.

MIT (Shoemaker)

covered elsewhere

Caltech (Sanders)

covered elsewhere

Detector/Technical Support (Whitcomb, Coyne)

See also the daily electronic logs for the installation and commissioning activities:
Hanford Detector Log
Livingston Detector Log

1.1 LHO INSTALLATION & COMMISSIONING

2km Commissioning

4 km Installation Planning

Larry Jones, Doug Cook
Developing detailed instalation sequence and procedure document.

Suspension Tuning

Since optical levers were available I took the opportunity to compare the results of the optical lever and OSEM sensor versions of the procedure for the position component of the output matrix. Unfortunately the agreement is not very good, at least for this optic. The tuning using the sensors gives crosscouplings to pitch and yaw equivalent to gain perturbations of order 10%. This is probably due to the effect of the PAMs on the normal modes. The input matrix tuning software tries to make the post-gain sensor signals have the relative magnitudes they should have assuming they represent a random mix of free normal-mode motion with modes of particular shapes. If the real mode shapes are different, it still shoehorns them into looking the ideal ones. This is only a relatively small perturbation for the LOS but it's comparable to the scatter in the OSEM sensor sensitivities and somewhat more than the typical scatter in the coil strengths. Therefore it's probably no use as
a reference, at least for LOS. Betsy and I will try the whole procedure over on a small optic tomorrow. Because there are no PAMs, there is reason to hope that the sensor method will be adequate. However a new method will be required for LOS. For the position components, probably the output matrix can be tuned first using the optical levers (acoording to the existing procedure), and then the input matrix can be tuned to it.

Input Optics

Non-magnetic phosphor-bronze screws were sent to LHO for use in the SOS safety stops.

Core Optics Support (COS)

• IO Baffle: 4k IO  glass is in process of being baked.
• Beam Dumps: 2k Cavity Beam Dump Vertical tubes (one each for BSC 7 and BSC 8) are reworked and are in process of being baked. Their installation is pending a future vent of the diagonal vacuum volume.
• PO/APS Telescope: 4k  APS Telescope Baffle bottom glass is in process of being baked.
• Faraday Isolator: 4k Faraday Isolator is in procces of being assembled.
• ETM Arm Cavity Baffle: Some missing holes were tapped in the bottom rail and it is in process of being baked.

1.2 LLO INSTALLATION & COMMISSIONING

Commissioning

PSL

RF Distribution System

Input  Optics

• f > 500 Hz:  no difference with EOM on or off
• 0 Hz < f < 500 Hz: noise rises exponentially with decreasing frequency above shot noise starting at 500 Hz to ~ +10 dB above shot noise at 50 Hz; stays at +10 dB or so to 0 Hz

LSC

DAQ System Update

Core Optics Support (COS)

PSL

The frequency stabilization servo has been modified to the same level as the one in the PSL Lab.  The servo has been installed and is currently under-going some tests.

2.0 Other Engineering and Scientific Activities

2.1 Design/Analysis/Fab

PSL

LSC Electronics

Mohana will be starting the protel design soon of the MC Servo. Preliminary noise analysis results:
        PSL output noise:       < 28.5nV/rHz    f > 100Hz
        MCA output noise:       < 6.99nV/rHz    f > 40Hz
are being reviewed.

Modulated OSEM Design

• Two of the supressed carrier versions of the AC OSEM circuit have been built and tested. One will be sent to LLO for Rai to test next week. The other will be
• reserved for testing at LHO. In addition, a test of the IR rejection has been set up at Caltech. Results should be available next week.
• The prototype version of the stabilized oscillator circuit was tested for IR rejection at LHO (see below). The rejection appears to be only ~20dB. The circuit is being shipped back to Caltech for modification to reduce the noise and investigate the lack of rejection.

Nergis Mavalvala
We measured the sensitivity of the AC modulated OSEMs to 1.06 um light by modulating the laser intensity and measuring the response on the OSEMs on MC1 (the mode cleaner was misaligned out of the way). Comparison with the DC OSEMs showed a -20 dB suppresion of 1.06 um light, which is smaller than expected. The AC module will be further tested at Caltech.

New OSEM Heads

The long ones have gone through their final vacuum bake at LLO and three heads have cracked optical filters. We are looking into alternative attachment methods. Despite these setbacks we're still working to get a full complement of new osems (36 short and 42 long) for the LHO 4k IFO completed in 8 weeks. Working on the assembly specification.

#D. Coyne: There were a number of QC problems discovered at Livingston in this first set of new sensor/actuator heads (OSEMs): cracked optical filters, loose coil wires, PD/LED apparently not flat on the ceramic circuit boards and PAM screws binding in the PAM brackets. Plans to install some new OSEMs in the Livingston inteferometer in this vacuum vent period are cancelled. Plans to install suspended optics in the 4 km interferometer at Hanford are on hold util these QC problems are resolved.

Jay Heefner
7 High current drive and 6 standard drive satellite amps are completed and ready for shipment to the sites. The high current drives are for the new OSEM design.

Digital Suspensions

• Measurements made at LHO on the current noise induced in the coil from external sources suggest that we do not need the rejection provided by putting the coil in the feedback loop of an op amp. It has therefore been decided that the coil drive will be provided by a series resistance to circuit ground. This will make the circuit simpler and make operation more stable.
• It has also been decided to change the LOS coil driver 1Hz pole and 40 Hz zero to a 4 Hz pole and 30 Hz zero. This will give us an approx. factor of 4 more force at frequencies above 1Hz without degrading the noise performance of the suspension system. Jay will produce a schematic for the LOS coil driver and pass it around for review some time next week.

Optics Metrology

EO Shutter Control

Data Monitoring Tool

Szabi Marka
We are developing a monitor script which checks for running Monitors on the DMTs and provides easy access to detailed information about existing monitors:
http://blue.ligo-wa.caltech.edu/gds/dmt/Monitors/spi.html

Global Diagnostics

• moved to the most recent ROOT version (which required a fair number of  changes; in particular, floats had to be replaced by doubles).
• made a first release of the DMT Viewer which can access data of DMT monitor tasks running in the background.
• Worked on Charlie's power line monitor, so it can be added to the standard list/distribution of DMT monitor processes.
• started an overhaul of the diagnostics web page with the idea to make it the starting point for all available diagnostics tools.

2.2 Issues Concerns

40 Meter Interferometer (Weinstein)

• 40 m Lab Rehab: The wall's come down! With just-about all 40m meters covered in a plastic condom, the wall between the old control room and the IFO hall has been removed. The contractor has completed the exterior as well as 50% of internal work for the new control room at Northwest side of the Lab. He has repaired the roof. Construction work is about 40% complete. Fred Asiri has issued a purchase request for power conditioner/isolation transformer. Still to come: finishing the North Annex rehab, taking down a wall in the South annex, enclosing the entrance area between the two, new electrical wiring, new cable trays, re-roofing the whole lab, etc. Hope to have it all done by October.
• Output Chamber: Fabrication of the seismic isolation and support system for the Output Chamber is in progress at Caltech Central Engineering Services. Fabrication is about 65% complete. Fred Asiri issued a purchase request for two expansion joints (one is needed one spare) from Hyspan.
• Larry Jones has planned out the installation of the STACIS active seismic isolators on the 4 test mass chambers. We will order them as soon as we get an updated quote. They could get installed by November, if all goes well.
• AJW has been working with Garilynn and Janeen, with lots of advice from Bill Kells, Stan, and Dennis Coyne, on the size and aspect ratio of the suspended optics we'll need (lively email discussion).
• For the 3 mode cleaner mirrors (2 flat, one curved), we'll use the 3" diameter, 1" thick optics and SOS suspensions that are used in the LIGO mode cleaner. In fact, our MC will be just a copy of the LIGO I version. Florida is graciously donating several MC blanks to get us started.
• For the PRM, SRM, and BS: same 3" by 1", SOS optics.
• For the 4 test masses, we wanted something bigger, to minimize the effect of the attachments on the Q, and thus on the internal test mass thermal noise (and also on the suspension noise). Stan suggested that we keep the LIGO I aspect ratio (10" by 4"). So, a resonable choice is 5" diameter, 2" thick. Neither Garilynn nor Janeen have any problem with that. We're going with it!
• AJW has looked at test mass resonant frequencies for different sized masses, with code from Kent Blackburn (see rfreq.pdf). Also, thermal noise predictions for different sized masses, with code from bench.m (analysis by Thorne and Liu).
• AJW has specified all the ROC and tolerances. Someone knowledgeable should check the numbers! (All to be documented soon).
• From Garilynn Billingsley: Material specifications have been completed for the ITM, ETM, RM and BS. Material specifications and drawings exist for the three mode cleaner optics. Material drawings have been generated for the RM and BS. Dave Reitze has graciously offered 5 MCCM blanks to get us started in our 40 Meter acquisitions. This will help the schedule by several months.
• All the specs on homogeneity, absorption, defects, figure error, rms roughness errors, inspections, etc, will be according to the high LIGO standards, which I think should be sufficient for the 40m prototype. Details: see Garilynn Billingsley's 40m core optics specs page.
• Dennis Ugolini, with help from Suresh, has brought up and network configured all of our PCs and Suns, since our move from the old to the new control room. we have a plan for a "martian" network at the 40m, with a gateway to LIGO general computing. We'll work out the details with Larry and start implementing it.
• Ben Abbott (Rich's younger brother!) will be joining our team as an electronics engineer, starting next week.
• Vacuum controls: Dennis Ugolini, Jay Heefner, and Rick Karwoski have gone over the wiring required to control all the remote valves from the control rack. New cables and "silver boxes" containing relays will be built starting next week, with the help of our new technician.
• The RGA head that was monitoring our output optic chamber vacuum died, so we borrowed one from the South Annex. We will look into buying a new one. Anyone have opinions on good, reasonably-priced models? we are looking at SRS RGA2000 and Ametek Dycor.
• CDS, from Rick Karwoski: In an effort to move the 40m project closer to the hardware procurement stage, we are currently evaluating LIGO I custom modules. The objective of the effort is to determine the applicability of each module in relationship to the new 40m system. It is hoped that the exercise will also provide insight regarding probable upgrade paths as the LIGO II requirements materialize. We hope to complete the first phase of the effort by late next week, with a determination of which LIGO modules will be redesigned for the 40m, which will remain and which will need further evaluation.

Thermal Noise Interferometer (Libbrecht)

        We are finishing up the TNI mode-cleaner locking electronics by producing
a stand-alone servo box to replace a chain of SR560 amplifiers and
breadboard circuits.
 

        Magnets and stand-offs have been attached to the TNI test masses, and the
rate-limiting step is now OSEM electronics.  We verified that we have at
least two working OSEM controllers, and produced a preliminary design for
satellite amplifiers that communicate between the old-style OSEM
controllers and the new-style sensor-actuator heads.
 

        A design was laid out for a small breadboard optical table to be located
on the side of the TNI vacuum chamber, for output and diagnostic optics.
 

LASTI (Zucker)

Data Analysis and Computing (Lazzarini)

Simulation and Modeling

* Working on generation of noise-curves for Full W2K ITF.
  Faced some problems in holding the locked state when
  seismic noise is switched on after achieving steady-state
  in a static ITF.
  Worked with Matt on this and after a few hiccups, could
  find out suitable gain values of loops which could hold
  the ITF in stable locked state.

* Ran Matt's locking sequence for a few more cases. Upto
  a level of 1e-8 rad in width of white-noise in pitch/yaw in all
  mirrors, W2K could lock. Above that level of misalignment
  noise, no locking could be observed.  (very preliminary)

* Worked some more on refence cavity simulation using MSE
  generated time-series. The PSD plots show that most of the
  contribution in error signals (from mechanical motion
  and rotation of the cavity, assuming perfect TEM00 input)
  originate from the longitudinal motion of the whole cavity
  wrt the laser.

alfi [ed, bruce]

Completed work on the multi-line setting value edit capability.
Completed work on the deletion of ALFI components from parent nodes.
Working on identical box loading problem.

distribution [ed]

Started to work on installation documentation

LIGO Data Analysis System

Software Systems (Blackburn)

 

 
 
 

The LDAS system has now been built and installed at Univ. of Texas
Brownsville by Joe Romano. Wait, there's more...Joe has also been able
to start LDAS running at UTB and has issued LDAS user commands to the
system to carry out data conditioning on test data used in the MDC
on the UTB LDAS system! Congratulations Joe! You're the first outside
the core LDAS team do achieve this level of notoriety.

The dataCondtionAPI at CIT has a new bug which cases the API to abort
at startup when run on linux platforms. The abort was originally only
happening when the manager started the api on linux but now it occurs
each time the dataCondtionAPI is started. It looks as though memory
(possibly in the kernel) is being overwritten. No other LDAS API has
exhibited this behavior, isolating the problem to the shared objects
specific to the dataCondtionAPI.

The dataConditionAPI group is working on a "Developer's Guide to
writing code module for the dataConditionAPI". A first draft has
already been passed around the group and will soon be tested as
new members from the LSC join the development effort for the
dataConditionAPI.

On last Friday a CIT SURF student was successful in writing a new
shared object for the wrapperAPI which searches for wee-bangies in
a data stream using simple parameterized waveforms. Work has also
begun on getting an implementation of FCT ready for inclusion as a
shared object for the wrapperAPI.

LDAS worked closely with UWM this week to get LDAS and wrapperAPI
to compile on their Alpha based Beowulf. We lack sufficient alpha
hardware and staff here at CIT to do full alpha development so the
use of their system has uncovered several alpha specific issues in
the LDAS software which we have worked to fix (without breaking the
working code on Suns and Intel's).

The controlMonitorAPI is continuing nicely, now having more
integrated support for monitoring the Beowulf cluster using
internally developed interfaces and a public domain package
called "bwatch".

We have completed the initial planning for the Database Mock
Data Challenge.  The main goals of this MDC are to certify
the LDAS database as operational, to test the insertion of
data generated by the Data Monitoring Tool (DMT) computers,
and to establish a fairly complete set of user interface
tools (both interactive and for use from within
scripts/programs).  This effort will involve a combination
of LSC members and LDAS personnel, with a target completion
date tentatively scheduled for late November.  A specific
list of tasks will be distributed within a few weeks, along
with a call for volunteers.

Quite a bit of effort went into cleaning up the LDAS build
scripts and instructions this week. Several places in the
code were found to inconsistently pass necessary compiler
time parameters which influenced the behavior of the system.
Much of this work was done with inputs and suggestions from
the UTB group.

Hardware Systems (Anderson)

 

 
 
 

Upgraded the main LDAS software server from an U10 to an E450 and renamed
it from spica.ligo.caltech.edu to ldas-sw.ligo.caltech.edu.

Finished performance evaluation of the new Sun fibre channel RAID box, see
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/sba/ligo/raid

Started acceptance testing first of 16 933MHz beowulf nodes for LDAS Caltech
development system.

Developed plan to migrate LDAS from ATM to Ethernet.

Developed plan to complete the migration of LDAS Sun computers from Solaris 7
to Solaris 8 after testing of DB2 database, ATM, AIT-2 tape robot, and
Gigabit Ethernet where all successfully completed.

Integrated LDAS filesystems so each LDAS location has a single NFS server.

Moved vendor specific software used by LDAS to an exported filesystem
general available at each LIGO site. This initially includes, Linux (kernel,
redhat, howto), Solaris patches, Sun software RAID, IBM database,
FORE ATM drivers.

Received 30 slot tape robot and started work on tape archive script for
upcoming engineering run(s) at LHO.

 

Data Analysis Activities

Jeff Edlund (summer student):

This week I made further modifications to the LAL implementation of the
Fast Chirp Transform that allow user of the FCT library to specify their
own function that will return a list of rows to calculate.  This will
allow the user of the library to have more flexibility in dealing with
interdependencies between the constants they are searching for.  I'm also
writing the wrapper functions that will parallelize the code using the
LDAS wrapper API.

General Computing

Livingston:
Some network problems with LSU's network but they did not cause too many
problems at the Observatory.
Larry has contacted Bellsouth and they are working on getting some information
together for the OC3 connection request. They will be contacting Mark Coles and
Larry Wallace when they get the information.

Hanford:
Nothing to report.

CIT:
(Barbara)
- Installed a first iteration of the revised Roster database.  Converted
existing data and reviewed new features with Rita.  Added fields for LIGO I
and LIGO II participation to tables, forms, reports, etc.  This morning saw
that some full-time LIGO contractors will be considered LIGO members of the
LSC so more changes will be needed.

- Began work on an equipment database LDAS.  Defined the tables and began
putting together the web forms.

- Spent too much time researching a claim that a publication had been dropped
from the DCC database when in fact it had never been submitted.  In the
process uncovered another unsubmitted publication.

(Sam)
-Fixed a drive on Ed C.'s computer
-Rebuilt sander's computer
-Backed-up an old micron and paul r's old computer
-Finally figured out the office2k key code. Will start doing installations
this week.
-Burned a bunch of Cd's
-Rebuilt a machine using it's image (This works wonderfully, will save
hours of work)
-More work on web pages
-More documentation

Probably did more but it is too early in the morning for me to think.

(Suresh)
- Installed Solaris 8 on two new Ultra 10s.
- Evaluating Checkpoint's RealSecure 5.0, an industry leading real-time
intrusion detection and reporting package. It has been designed to detect and
respond several hundreds of attacks and new attack signatures can be updated
from their web-site.
- Providing system and network related support services to 40 meter lab on
regular basis.
- Set up new users account and worked on few aliases.

(Lisa)
-I was really glad Larry came back from Boston.
-Worked on PC issues at Wilson House.
-Got the pieces of Cadence that Ligo uses fully installed, configured and
tested.
There are still some pieces left to configure but the critical portions are
there.  WooHoo!
-Pulled 2 of the sparc 5's from 3rd floor of Bridge and replaced them with Ultra
10's.  Got 2 Ultra 10's installed in Wilson House as well.  Started building
Ultra 10's with system 2.8 for the 6th Floor Milliken.
-Started Monthly Backups
-Revamped the daily/weekly backups (again).
-Actively working on getting old equipment surplussed.

(Larry)
- Resolved a number of PC problems.
- Worked/working a number of procurement issues. Still working on the payment
for the big SUN purchase. Purchasing another laptop to be checked out for those
that go on travel. Working on getting a few more projectors to handle the demand
during conferences.
Getting quotes for more network equipment. We have run out of ports at a couple
of locations so we will be getting more equipment to handle the demand.
- Working a couple of calendar manager issues.
- Installing OS on a few of the new Ultra 10's that require special builds.
--

LIGO II/Advanced R&D (Sanders)

Peter King wrote:
>
> 3. Other Engineering and Science Issues
> ---------------------------------------
> 3.1 LIGO II PSL
>         Preliminary data characterizing 2 of the 24, 30-W 808-nm pump
> diodes has been obtained.  The data recorded, output power and threshold
> current, was consistent with the data sheets provided by the manufacturer.
> Characterization of the remaining diodes is expected to take another week
> before work starts on aligning the output of the pump diodes to the YAG
> slab.
>
> The output of each 30-W diode is fiber coupled to the YAG slab.  Each fiber
> has to be stripped of ~5 layers of cladding before the core can be cleaved.
> Oddly enough a visual inspection of the cleave isn't sufficient to tell if
> the cleave is a good one.  The true test being whether or not the fiber
> starts burning when the diodes are energized.

From Garilynn Billingsley:
CSIRO has completed the measurement of our first two 15 cm m-axis sapphire pieces. On the referenced web page you will find links their report for these measurements along with pictures of the maps, similar to those shown at the LSC meeting. These pictures are screen shots from "Vision" software, the analysis software which is run in the metrology lab at Caltech and at CSIRO. The software is fairly powerful, if you would like more information than is shown, please contact GariLynn Billingsley.  Maps of fused silica substrates, taken during the fabrication phase for LIGO 1 are shown through the final link.

From: Helena Armandula <ahelena@ligo.caltech.edu>
Silica Bonding
Manufactured a 1" pull tester to test some of Sheila Rowan's bonded sapphire/silica substrates early next week.
Upgraded the design of fixtures used to "load" bonds. They are being fabricated.
The plan is to compare, if possible, the results from the "loaded" bonds at different weights, with results from the pull tester.

From: Riccardo DeSalvo <desalvo@ligo.caltech.edu>

Minutes before the meeting TAMA achieved its target of 100 Hours on
time, we were happy to hone them our congratulations. 1.5 10-18
m/rootHz!!!  See web site http://tamago.mtk.nao.ac.jp/
 

Akiteru ? Szabi
Oil bearing reassembled and better than ever (oil filtering and proper
assembly sequence relevant)
Horizontal TF now easy to make.  Disassembled IP to further reduce the
flex joint diameter from 8 to 7.7 mm, then will mount and test new
counterweights, then will mount F0, F1 and dummy payload to test full
chain.
 

Ruggero ? Giovanni ? Virginio
Inertial damping loops closed individually angular and linear.  Good
surprise; closing one d.o.f. does not excite the others!.  Next three
days should be closing all d.o.f. together.
Several software problems that appear to be computer dependent, is there
a faulty connection?
 

Francesco (Soy)
Preliminary data trigger evolving,  see some event candidate.
 

Virginio
Fixing DSP software compiler, getting news from Motorola for new chips.
 

Eric ?Luca ? Shanti
Join the meeting and give short report TNI.
Prestabilised laser suppressed in favour of laser locking to mode
cleaner.  This is likely to be the final configuration; assembling the
four test masses.  Expect data of TN before Christmas.
Presented their estimations for a future low frequency evolution of TNI
on SAS, internal noise should be visible with a 1/2 m Fabry Perot
cavities, pedulum noise with a 1/2 cm cavity.
Discussed on the possible options of making a cryogenic low frequency
TNI.  Looks good and exciting.

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