May/June 2003
Summary (photo album link)
Rapid advances are being made both in deployment of the pre-production surface array and the installation of fluorescence detector telescopes. At this writing the pre-production array has already recorded two11-fold events!
The Observatory staff is now deploying and filling tanks at regular rate.Pre-production tank number 100 was recently taken to the field and will be filled shortly.Although there are currently an adequate number of tanks available for deployment, delivery is uneven due to ongoing procurement efforts.The third tank vendor has still to prove the ability to make tanks.
All the components for the first production surface detector electronics packages have finally come together.There are now 35 preproduction surface detector stations in operation (as of 28 July).Electronics packages for all of the pre-production tanks are either at the observatory or in the pipeline.Delivery of electronics will soon outpace the deployment of detector tanks.
Two fluorescence telescopes are operational at Los Leones.PMTs for a two more telescopes have arrived at the observatory.PMTs will be delivered and cameras built at the rate of two every two months.The first mirror installation in Coihueco will begin in September.Most other necessary components for telescope assembly are available.The critical path for installation of more than six telescopes is the fabrication of shutters and aperture boxes.
Construction of the communications tower at the third fluorescence building, Los Morados, is scheduled to start in September.The antenna array at Morados is necessary to receive signals from the stations that will be deployed over the next few months.
WBS 1.0 Fluorescence
Detector (Jonny Kleinfeller – Karlesruhe)
Los Leones
Telescope 4 and
5 fully operational, telescope 4 with corrector ring, telescope 5 with
2.2m diameter mask (position of camera 5 not yet optimized for this setup).
Shutters and curtains in bay 3,4,5,6 installed, with motor and motor control box, bay 3,4,5 fully wired, bay 4,5 integrated into slow control although the interlock in bay 5 is not yet foolproof.Integration of bay 3 into slow control will be completed this week,
wiring of bay 6 requires an expert from Campinas.
The first 1000 photomultipliers have arrived in Malargüe. A crew from Rome has started to assemble the camera of telescope 3, commissioning of telescope 3 is scheduled for the beginning of next week. This telescope will also operate without corrector ring but with a
2.2m diameter mask. The damaged mirror in telescope 3 will be replaced, the damage is most likely due to incorrect handling of the mounting tool.
I expect 3 telescopes
at Los Leones fully operational by the end of next week, this is unfortunately
also the end of this dark period.
Coihueco
Assembly of one
camera for Coihueco is scheduled for next week, parts of this camera are
already assembled.
Shutter motors
and curtains for Coihueco have arrived in Malargüe, but are not yet
installed. I am waiting for a crew from Campinas to complete this task.
The mirrors of
telescope 2 and 3 will be mounted in the first week of September, commissioning
of telescope 3 at Coihueco is scheduled for the dark period at the end
of September.
General
The dead EyePC has been revived, the harddisk could be recovered in Karlsruhe, the disk had some problems, but had not really crashed. The culprit for the boot problems is a broken wire in the SCSI cable to the external streamer tape unit.
A new version of data acquisition software has been installed, DAQ is working (even remote control from the central campus), but there are some bugs, an expert from Karlsruhe is working hard to eliminate the bugs. Communication with the new GPS clock is still a bit shaky, but this week a DAQ-update will be installed to re-enable hybrid event
detection (with the new GPS unit).
For the next dark period (20. August to 3. September) 3 telescopes at Los Leones should run a full shift of data taking, operated from the central campus (but with some staff at Los Leones as a safety backup).
WBS 1.1 Fluorescence Detector (Paolo Privitera - Rome)
The situation regarding the cameras is the following: - 2000 PMTs have been sent to Rome from Photonis up to now (1000 in June, 1000 in July, in batches of 500).
A first batch of 1000 was tested and sent to Malargüe in June.It arrived this week on site.The 500 out of 1000 PMTs arrived in July are already tested, and the remaining 500 will be tested in August.The production looks good, we had only a few tubes not working properly (at per mille level), but some of them were recovered by changing the head electronics.
The installation in Malargüe is going on. We had a first crew preparing for the installation of four additional cameras, two in LL and two in Coihueco.
In particular, all of the mechanics (camera body+support+pre-alignment) are
ready for installation. The distribution boards for the four cameras were tested and mounted on the supports. Also, HV and LV crate, boards and cables for the two eyes were installed. A second crew is coming (leaves on the 27th July) for completing the installation of two cameras: PMTs, mercedes, cabling and connection to HV and LV, final alignment. We plan to install LL telescope 3, and then CO telescope 3. There is no mirror at Coihueco telescope 3 for the moment.
The Czech mirrors will be installed in CO in September.
Thus, we can expect to have one additional telescope (LL bay 3) running in August. By the end of September, CO telescope 3 will be operational.As soon as the second batch of 1000 tubes will arrive in Malargüe (I expect by end of September), two additional cameras will be mounted and commissioned (LL telescope 6 and CO telescope 2).
As far as the electronics
is concerned, all the equipment needed for CO and LL (computer and additional
crates for two cameras) are in Malaga and Matthias is working on the installation.
The new DAQ is also being installed by Hermann Mathes.
WBS 1.1 Fluorescence Detector (John Matthews – University of New Mexico)
The new “Central Laser Facility” CLF has been installed (see photo album). Next to the CLF is a new (Celeste) surface detector.The CLF (and Celeste) are located almost equi-distantly from the Coihueco, Los Leones and Morados FDs.The CLF provides a number of atmospheric monitoring tasks including:
a) (new) home of the "central" weather station
b) (future) home for a single-pixel IR cloud monitor
c) vertical 355nm laser beam
d) and later this year a steerable 355nm laser beam
Light scattered from the vertical (and steerable) laser beams will be viewed by (all of) the FDs.This allows a number of atmospheric and relative calibration measurements including:
a) aerosol vertical optical depth versus height, AVOD(z) ... with
different systematic uncertainties from the backscattered LIDARs
b) comparisons of relative timing and absolute calibration between the
different FDs
c) FD triggering efficiency versus laser output intensity
A fraction of the laser beam is "picked off" and sent (via optical fibers) to the adjacent SD tank.The simultaneous observation of the laser beam by the FDs and in the Celeste SD will provide a continuous monitor for possible timing offsets between the (Celeste) SD and FDs.
The CLF/Celeste system has involved individuals from many institutions who deserve fantastic thanks for making this happen over an approximately 6 month time interval (from concept to [almost] operation)!
WBS 1.2 Fluorescence Detector Electronics (Daniel Camin – Milano)
1.2.2.1 Head Electronics
By June 2003, 50 % of the Southern-site production (12000 units) has been completed. Production was organized in two batches of 3000 units each. All units were subjected to a pre-test, burn-in and post-test cycle using a specially designed test system installed at Elbau GmbH in Berlin, the production site of Intratec.
Given the very different production rate of PMTs and HE’s, the problem of where to stock the HE units came out as an additional, non negligible problem. A solution was found by storing the boxes containing the sets of HE’s in a special area at Intratec, in Hamburg. Each time Photonis requests a set, it is shipped from Intratec directly to Photonis. Karl-Heinz Kampert who is responsible for the 50 % of the PMT production and testing, takes care of the contacts with Photonis and keeps updated the status of stocks at Photonis and Intratec.
The results of the HE production test are quite satisfactory. After the first experience with the system, when some bugs appeared, tests proceeded regularly at Elbau . The firm follows the procedure that we have indicated and sends from time to time to Milano the files with the tests results. We analize the data and screenout those units that failed at least one of the various parameters measured. So far all failures are “fatal” and easily screened from the good ones. Good parameters show nicely narrow distributions with dispersions within about 1.5 % in the various parameters. A GAP-note describing the results of the tests will be produced after completing the data analysis.
1.2.2.2 Analog Board
The production of Analog Boards for 24 telescopes has been completed already by January 2003. All Analog Boards produced have been successfully pre-tested and thermally cycled following the Paul Clark’s “Electronic Stress Screening and Burn-in Procedure” report.
Torino has already provided 520 AB’s which are sufficient for 24 telescopes + 40 spares.
The Analog Boards have been sent to FZK for integration with the FLT board. 200 units have been interconnected to the FLT boards and tested, looking for linearity and noise. About five integrated units, or Analog Boards, have been identified as presumably not satisfactory and are at present under investigation. Some climatic tests have been performed.
1.2.2.7 HV/LV Power Supply system
At the moment a Catania team is replacing the old CAEN SY 527 system, used with the prototypes, with the new CAEN SY 1527. The cabling for bay 3 are being completed .
In
Bays 4 and 5 the PMTs are equipped with the HE’s produced for the prototype
telescopes which require larger current than the HE’s production-version.
For that reason two additional LV modules have been installed in the LL
Crate.
The
second crate was used during a certain period by FZK group to develop SW
for the slow control system. By now it is on its way from FZK to Malargue
and will be made available in Coihueco. Unfortunately the document’s handling
created some delay , but the Crate is expected to be at Coihueco in time.
The
12 LV modules plus 2 extra for LL and 12 HV modules plus spares, necessary
for 6 cameras are also available. We see this item no critical, providing
that the second Crate will indeed arrive in time as expected. A comprehensive
GAP note on the HV/LV PS system is being prepared.
WBS 1.2 FD digital
electronics and readout systems – (Matthias Kleifges – FZK – HPE)
Transport to
Argentina
Personal from IK
and IPE assorted the parts for our transport to Malargüe, which contained
all missing electronic components for the installation of 3 more telescopes
as follows:
Front-end
crates #3 (for LL bay 3), # 20 and #21 (for Co bay 2 and 3) were assembled,
temperature cycled in our climate chamber and the electronics completely
tested to ensure smooth operation in Malargue.
Before
shipping to Malargue we have built up the full electronics system of 3
telescopes, which included 3 crates, 3 MirrorPCs, 1 EyePC, a serial server
and a GPS clock. Our EyePC (HPEPC29) was configured for the power-on boot
procedure of the MirrorPCs and the necessary file system was installed.
All components were connected the same way as we will do in Argentina.
The configuration was operated for 3 weeks and was especially useful for
software checks and debugging.
The
shipment will also contain the 6 UPS systems to ensure safe operation of
the shutter systems and the HV/LV crate for Coihueco, which was in Karlsruhe
to develop slow control software.
GPS
clocks (for LL and Co) were brought to Besancon to measure the stability
of the 10 MHz output and the accuracy of the 1 PPS. The analysis of the
recorded data is still in progress.
New Interface
to access the front-end via FireWire (IEEE 1394) standard
Our original design
provided a PCI plug-in card (MicroEnable card) in the MirrorPC and an appropriate
interface card (SIB board) in the front-end crate, which are interconnected
by two 40 pin flat cable. We have decided to replace this configuration
using the IEEE 1394 standard (FireWire) for a long time. FireWire
interfaces have become standard interfaces of modern computers, but we
have of cause to develop a FireWire compatible SIB board on the front-end
site and provide firmware for handshake at different software levels. The
current status is as follows:
We have finished the PCB design and fabricated 2 prototype cards. The cards contain also a serial RS-232 interface, which was used during firmware development, but will not be mounted in the final design.
We have developed a driver for LINUX and are able to communicate at a lower software level. The hardware-near software library allows already read and write access to single addresses, but not in block mode to memory segments.
Further
tests have to follow and optimisations of the code with respect to functionality
and speed are necessary, but the hardware design proved to be correct.
Until October 03 we want to produce the full amount of boards and continue
the software development.
WBS 2.1 Surface
Detector (Peter Mazur – FNAL)
Preproduction
of Surface Detectors is nearly complete with 98 detectors in place, 96
of them filled with water, four more ready for deployment, and eight more
nearly so. (Electronics for these are rapidly being deployed, see SDE report.)
Manufacture of
tanks by Alpina in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and by Mexican supplier Rotoplas
in Pilar, Argentina, is continuing, with deliveries continuing through
the period and beyond. Resin for future tank production has been ordered
by Mexico and delivery is likely in August. Resin ordered for use by Brazil
was shipped by the manufacturer in June.
Battery boxes were
provided by Argentina for Preproduction. Boxes for Production will be delayed
until early August while the manufacturer waits for delivery of high quality
resin.
The liner facility
at UTN Mendoza has passed a production-readiness inspection by the Liners
Subtask Leader David Warner. Some suggestions were made for small improvements,
but the facility was found to be in good order and ready for production.
Test specimens of welds made in the facility were sent to Colorado State
University for testing and have passed the strength tests, meeting the
specifications of the Liner Requirements. The facility has upgraded storage
capacity for finished liners in preparation for high rate production of
liners.
Nine hundred weather
enclosure domes have been manufactured and 60 shipped to Malargüe
for painting and installation. The remaining domes are in a container to
be shipped at the end of July. These weather enclosure domes have a different
hold-down system from the simple latch used for Preproduction, and an example
is shown in the Figure 1. Tests on a gasket system by Mike Duvernois and
Tiina Soumijarvi as a temporary method (and retrofit for Preproduction
tanks already deployed) seem to be successful, and this system has been
expanded and continued for future work. Although a hatchcover gasket was
used in the first test, thicker (and softer) dust gaskets are being sought
for better sealing on warped tanks. The test model in the field is shown
in Figure 2, where little dust is seen.
One of the tanks
in the field has had the battery box undermined by wind erosion of sandy
soil. Although this batty box has not fallen yet, concern exists that a
method of stabilizing the soil in sandy areas exists and the idea of pavers
(plastic or concrete cell-filled sheets which hold the soil in closed cells)
is under consideration. The eroded battery box is shown in Figure 3, and
the tank is shown in Figure 4, also undergoing some erosion around the
edges.
WBS
2.2 Surface Detector Electronics – (Tiina Suomijarvi – IPN Orsay)
PMTs
and bases
The
PMT/base PRRtook place May 22-23 in Brive la Gaillard (at Photonis). The
French base production company FEDD was also visited. PMTs are now floating
to Malargue ! They come in batches of 72 PMTs twice a month. Italian base
production is also starting.
The PMT-House is in full operation, testing and potting PMTs.
Station electronics
The CdF UB company
LST has now received the circuit boards for the preproduction batch of
120 UBs. The test bench from LAL-Orsay, which will be installed in the
company, is ready. The tests will be performed at the company between July
21 and August 5 and the UBs are expected to be in Malargue around August
20.
More time tagging
ASICs are currently being tested at the CdF. A batch 300 out of 2100 has
been already tested and had only 6% of bad chips, which is a very good
result.
Matthias has
sent the first batch of 120 coated and tested LED controllers to Penn State
in order to be integrated to the UBs.The production of 390 more boards
(2. batch) is in progress.
Penn State has
ordered outside cables for the half of the array from China. The quality
of the cables seems to be very good.
SDE-Fabrica
SDE-Fabrica
has advanced a lot. There is now a phone line, heating/air condition, alarm
system. The internet link will be installed in a couple of weeks. Mike’s
container including SDE integration equipment and enclosures for the whole
array should arrive early August. We should be integrating and testing
electronics in the Fabrica in the middle of August.
Mariela Videla
from UTN (Mendoza) is in charge of activities in the SDE-Fabrica. She has
already started her job and is enthusiast to work for Auger.
Water
level sensor + temperature sensors
10 water level
sensors were installed. There will not be more water level sensors (they
are not part of the baseline design). We are currently looking to fabricate
and install a temperature sensor which would measure the water temperature.
SDE-Truck
The
SDE group has bought a 4x4 truck.
SD
LED controllers (Matthias Kleifges – FZK – HPE)
120 (more) controllers were received by Jim Beatty to be integrated in the UB. The production of 400 more boards (batch #2) is finished, about have of the boards
are
already cycled in the climate camber and tested afterwards. We expect to
ship 400 pieces after coating to Jim Beatty at beginning of August 2003.
WBS 3.0 Comms
Task (Paul Clark – Leeds)
Not much news to
report from the comms task over the last 2 months. Steady progress is being
made in all areas.
Radio production
proceeds - we are around 1/2 way through the production of our next batch
of 460 subscriber units. We plan to ship these to site in around 6-8 weeks
time which will bring the total delivered to Malargue to 820 units or just
over 1/2 the array. Yield continues to improve as we hit full production
rates.
Microwave licensing
activity is on-going - We hope to hear news of good progress with the application
for the Los Leones-to-Los Morados link soon.
Surface array antenna
deployment proceeds - the local Mendoza UTN team continue to brave the
elements to deploy antennas on the new tanks in the pampa. This swork is
proceeding steadily to match the needs of UB deployment.
WBS 5.0 DPA-
Offline software progress report (Stefano Argiro – INFN)
The infrastructure of the offline code is near completion. Progress was made in the description of the detector and of the atmosphere, in the I/O section and in the definition of geometry classes.
The Offline Core team expects to be able to move in some physics soon.
A release is planned to beta testers (i.e., people who have shown interest in dealing with an early version) in the northern autumn.