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Second IVS Technical Operations Workshop
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Objectives The intended audience for this meeting is the technical staff of the stations. The meeting will be oriented towards hands-on training and problem resolution in VLBI operations. We hope that all VLBI stations will be able to send technical representatives. This meeting represents a rare opportunity for both training and communication with personnel from other stations, the coordinating center, and the correlators.
Location The workshop will be held at Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts USA.
Program and Schedule
Icebreaker reception Sunday, September 21, 2003, 18h00m EDT
First session starts: Monday, September 22, 2003, 09h00m EDT
Last session ends: Thursday, September 25, 2003, 12h00m or 16h00m EDT
The ending time of the meeting is not certain until the program is set. A definite time will be determined in late August.
The Program Committee has prepared the class descriptions. Comments on the program are solicited from potential attendees. Please send comments to the TOW Program Committee and/or provide comments via registration.
Registration Everyone who plans to attend must register. Registration deadline is August 22. Registration is closed. Contact the IVS Coordinating Center if you missed the deadline and want to attend the meeting.
The registration fee is $200. This covers morning refreshments, coffee breaks, lunches, and two dinners (Monday and Wednesday) during the meeting, and course materials. The fee will be collected at the registration desk at the meeting. Only cash or checks (made out to "MIT Haystack Observatory") in USD can be accepted.
Class Sign-up Everyone who registered must sign up for classes. The deadline for signing up for classes is September 8. If you did not sign up for classes and still need to do so, please contact the IVS Coordinating Center.
Class Assignments Class assignments have been made based on the class selection forms. On the class assignment page you can find a link to your individual form as well as schedules of all classes. If you want to add or change any classes, please contact the IVS Coordinating Center.
Transportation
Haystack Observatory is about equally distant from two airports,
Boston, MA and Manchester, NH. The Manchester airport is closer
to the meeting hotel.
There are several choices for ground transportation to the Sheraton Tara from Logan Airport. Use the phone numbers below to reserve a seat.
| Flight Line 1-800-245-2525 www.flightlineinc.com |
$40 This is for a shared ride. Both Boston and Manchester airports are served by Flight Line. |
| M&L transportation 781-938-8646 |
$30 for 1 person
$40 for 2 $44 for 3 $50 for 4 This also would be a shared ride |
| TWC Limo 1-800-223-2325 |
$65 for 1 person |
| Superior Courier 1-800-371-6666 |
$82 for 2 people
$10 each additional person |
Lodging A block of rooms has been set aside at the Sheraton Tara in Nashua, NH. The hotel has a full-service restaurant and bar. Room rates are $89 + state tax (government) and $99 + state tax (non-government).
Participants are requested to make their own reservations. Please mention "NASA TOW" to get this rate in our block of rooms. Rooms will be released from the block about one month in advance of the workshop so please make your reservations before then. To make reservations you must contact the hotel directly via phone or fax. They require a credit card to guarantee your room. If you need assistance with reservations or have any questions please contact Heidi Johnson.
If you wish to stay later than September 25, please contact
Heidi Johnson and she
will extend the reservation so that you can get the reduced rate on
the extra nights.
Sheraton Tara
11 Tara Boulevard
Nashua, MA 03602
http://www.starwood.com/sheraton/search/hotel_detail.html?propertyID=826
Phone: +1-603-888-9970
Fax: +1-603-888-4112
Driving directions to the hotel from either Manchester or Boston airport are on the hotel's web page. Driving directions from the hotel to Haystack are available under Local Information, below.
Driving directions to Haystack have text and maps.
Weather in late September in the northeastern US is usually wonderful. Participants can check the local weather conditions before leaving home.
Other links to local information:
Pheasant Lane shopping mall
Westford area restaurants
Local restaurants in Nashua
Nashua, NH info
Boston Online
Lincoln Labs visitor info
MIT visitor info
Invitations Although IVS cannot provide financial support for attendance at the workshop, we will send a letter of invitation to attend the meeting. If this would be of assistance for your travel plans, please contact Nancy Vandenberg at the IVS Coordinating Center to request a letter.
Program Committee The Program Committee is responsible for deciding on the topics to be covered at the workshop and setting up the sessions. Please send comments or requests for classes to the TOW Program Committee.
Members of the program committee are:
Local Organizing Committee Members of the local organizing committee are:
Please feel free to contact any of the committee members with any questions.Pictures Taken at the Meeting Pictures taken at the meeting were converted to thumbnail size (2-3 kb) and arranged on web pages for easy viewing. Clicking on the small image will download and display the full size picture in a new browser window.
All of the full-size pictures are available on the IVS ftp site.
Feedback During the meeting there were two feedback sessions during which attendees discussed issues related to the Field System and to overall operations. The notes from these sessions were discussed at general TOW sessions led by Ed Himwich. The feedback notes are available at the links below.
Evaluation Evaluation forms were filled out by meeting attendees. A summary of the comments and ratings is available at the link below. After the meeting, the teachers met to share their experiences and evaluate the meeting and their teaching. Notes from this meeting are are available at the link below.
Notebook Most of the hard copy material provided in the notebooks distributed at the meeting is now available in PDF files. The notebook page has links to the files.