2017 March AVN Training School
Programme and Talks
Download the FULL AVN 2017 Training Programme here
Programme Overview: 2017 AVN Training School:
Monday 06 March: Welcome and Introduction
08:30 - 09:00: Registration
09:00 - 10:00: Welcome and Introduction <download> <download> <download>
10:00 - 10:15: My AVN School Experience <download>
10:15 - 11:00: Participants to introduce themselves
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Tour of the facility
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 14:45: Historical Background of Radio Astronomy I <download>
15:00 - 15:45: Historical Background of Radio Astronomy II
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee Break
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner ( labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday 07 March: Introduction to Radio Astronomy
09:00 - 10:00: Introduction & Overview <download> <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Radiometer Equation & Signal Flow <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Radio antennas <download>
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 16:00: Equipment & Instrumentation Introduction
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: Scientific Methods vs Serendipity <download>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday 08 March: History of Radio Astronomy in SA
09:00 - 10:00: History of Radio Astronomy in South Africa <download>
10:00 - 10:30: Tea/Coffee break
10:30 - 13:00: Half day tour to SANSA
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: History of the AVN <download>
15:00 - 16:00: The Square Kilometre Array <download>
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday 09 March: Coordinate and Timing Systems
09:00 - 10:00: Overview of coordinate systems <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Overview of coordinate systems
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:00: Continue with exercises
12:00 - 13:00: Timing systems <download>
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Telescope pointing
15:00 - 16:00: Travels of a Scientist
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday 10 March: Microwave Receiver Systems
09:00 - 10:00: Microwave receiver systems <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Tour of the workshop
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Microwave receiver systems
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 16:00: Microwave receiver systems
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner/Cultural Event (labs will close at 18:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday 11 March: Computer Skills for Astronomy
10:00 - 11:00: Basic Introduction to Linux & Python <download> <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:30: Basic Introduction to Spreadsheets
12:00 - 12:30: Additional help using Linux, Python and Excel
13:00 - 17:00: Excursion: Boat trip (buses depart at 13:00)
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday 12 March: No class, free time
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will be closed)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday 13 March: Astronomy with a small Radio Telescope and Amateur Radio
08:30 - 10:00: Calibrating a Small Radio Telescope <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Measurement Errors
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Measuring the Brightness Temperature of the Sun
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 16:00: Amateur Radio Astronomy
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 18:00: Continue with exercises
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday 14 March: Single-Dish Continuum Observations
09:00 - 10:00: Radio Continuum Observations
10:00 - 11:00: Drift scan Observations and Calibration <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Drift Scan Observations and Calibration <download>
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Radiometer, Square Law Detector <download>
15:00 - 16:00: Continue with exercises
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 18:00: Continue with exercises
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday 15 March: Single-Dish Spectral Line Observations
09:00 - 11:00: Single-Dish Spectral Line Observations <download> <downlaod>
10:00 - 11:00: Interferometric Spectral Line Observations
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:00: Spectrometer <download>
12:00 - 13:00: Spectral Line Observations
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 16:00: Spectral Line Observations
15:00 - 16:00: Continue with exercises
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: The Phd Journey without Tears <download>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday 16 March: Single-Dish Pulsar Observations
09:00 - 09:30: Pulsar Observing
10:00 - 11:00: Introduction to Pulsars <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:00: Pulsar Sensitivity
12:00 - 13:00: Pulsar Sensitivity
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Pulsar Timing Instrumentation and Techniques <download>
15:00 - 16:00: Astrophysical Radiation Mechanisms <download>
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 18:00: Hike
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday 17 March: Antenna Systems, RFI and Antenna Conversion
09:00 - 11:00: Antenna Systems & Maintenance <download>
10:00 - 11:00: RFI <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Antenna Systems and RFI
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Antenna Conversion <download>
15:00 - 16:00: The path less travelled:
The adventures of building the African VLBI Network <download>
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 – 17:30: Using your imagination <download>
18:30 - 21:30: Star Party (labs will close at 18:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday 18 March: Excursion
10:00 - 16:00: Excursion: Planetarium (buses depart at 10:00)
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday 19 March: No class, free time
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will be closed)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday 20 March: Radio Surveys and Data Mining
09:00 - 10:00: Radio Surveys <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Data Mining <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Virtual Observatory Tools <download>
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Virtual Observatory Tools: TOPCAT and Aladin
15:00 - 16:00: Data Mining
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: Radio Telescopes of the Future <download>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday 21 March: Introduction to Interferometry
09:00 - 10:00: Introduction to Interferometry <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Two-Element Interferometer
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Fourier Transforms and Sampling Theorem <dowmload>
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Advanced Interferometry <download>
15:00 - 16:00: Imaging using CASA
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 18:00: Continue with Exercises
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday 22 March: Introduction to VLBI and Astronomy
09:00 - 11:00: VLBI Fundamentals <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:00: Visit to HartRAO Control Room
12:00 - 13:00: VLBI Post-Correlation Analysis and Fringe-Fitting <download>
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: VLBI for Astronomy: the VLBI radio sky <download>
15:00 - 16:00: VLBI for Astronomy: Science highlights of VLBI <download>
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: Radio Astronomy with the NASA DSN <download>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday 23 March: Introduction to Geodetic & Astrometric VLBI
09:00 - 10:00: Introduction to Geodetic VLBI <download> <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Introduction to VieVS <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Introduction to Astrometric VLBI & Spacecraft
Applications <download>
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 16:00: Exercises using VieVS
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: VLBI Simulations and their Applications for the AVN <downlaod>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday 24 March: Geophysical Modelling and Experiment Scheduling for VLBI
09:00 - 10:00: Geophysical Modelling and Atmospheric Propagation <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Models and Mapping Functions used in VieVS
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:00: Planning, Scheduling and Running a VLBI Experiment <download>
12:00 - 13:30: Scheduling a Geodetic VLBI Experiment <download>
13:30 - 14:30: Lunch
14:30 - 15:30: Stellar GPS: Navigating the Solar System
15:30 - 17:00: Closing Ceremony
18:30 - 19:30: Social Dinner (labs will close at 18:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday 25 March: Excursion
10:00 - 16:00: Excursion: Maropeng (buses depart at 10:00)
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday 26 March: No class, free time
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
15:00: Transport to Ekudeni (Networking Meeting)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday 27 March - Wednesday 29 March:
Networking Meeting
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday 30 March:
10:30: Transport to HartRAO
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (lab will be open from 12:00 - 18:00)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday 31 March:
10:30: Transport to Airport
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------