2018 Feb/March AVN Training School
Programme and Talks
Download the FULL AVN 2018 Training Programme here
Programme Overview: 2018 AVN Training School:
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PART I:
CHPC Training - Basic Introduction to Linux and Python
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Monday 26 February: Welcome and Introductions - CHPC Training: Linux
08:30 - 09:00: Registration
09:00 - 10:00: Welcome and Introduction to HartRAO-DARA <download> <download> <download>
10:00 - 10:30: Tea/Coffee break
10:30 - 11:00: Participants to introduce themselves/student representatives
11:00 - 12:00: Introduction to CHPC-DARA <download>
12:00 - 13:00: Running commands and getting help
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Browsing the file system and bash shell
15:00 - 16:00: Standard I/O and pipes, user groups and permissions
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee Break
16:30 - 17:30: Linux text editors, Manual Pages
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Tuesday 27 February: CHPC Training: Linux
09:00 - 10:00: Recap
10:00 - 10:30: Tea/Coffee break
10:30 - 12:30: Linux file system in depth
12:30 - 13:30: Lunch
13:30 - 15:30: Regular expressions: sed, grep and find
15:30 - 16:00: Tea/Coffee Break
16:00 - 17:30: Introduction to shell scripting
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Wednesday 28 February: CHPC Training: Python
09:00 - 10:00: Shell scripting and recap
10:00 - 10:30: Tea/Coffee break
10:30 - 12:30: Python basics, launching python
12:30 - 13:30: Lunch
13:30 - 15:30: Strings, lists, arrays and dictionaries
15:30 - 16:00: Tea/Coffee Break
16:00 - 17:30: Input and output
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Thursday 01 March: CHPC Training: Python
09:00 - 10:00: Recap
10:00 - 10:30: Tea/Coffee break
10:30 - 12:30: Conditionals and loops
12:30 - 13:30: Lunch
13:30 - 15:30: Conditionals and loops, funcions
15:30 - 16:00: Tea/Coffee Break
16:00 - 17:30: Numerical routines, Numpy
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Friday 02 March: CHPC Training: Python
09:00 - 10:00: Recap
10:00 - 10:30: Tea/Coffee break
10:30 - 12:30: Numerical routines, Scipy
12:30 - 13:30: Lunch
13:30 - 15:30: Curve fitting
15:30 - 16:00: Tea/Coffee Break
16:00 - 17:00: Access to the CHPC cluster in South Africa
17:00 - 18:00: Hike
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
20:00 - 22:00: Games night
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Saturday 03 March: No class, Free time
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Sunday 04 March: No class, free time
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will be closed)
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PART II:
Observational and Tecnical Radio Astronomy Training
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Monday 05 March: Overview and Tour of the Facility
08:30 - 09:30: Radio Astronomy Overview <download> <download>
09:30 - 11:00: Tour of the Facility
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:30: Historical Background of Radio Astronomy I <download>
12:30 - 13:00: Historical Background of Radio Astronomy, Interactive Session
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Historical Background of Radio Astronomy II
15:00 - 16:00: Historical Background of Radio Astronomy, Interactive Session
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee Break
16:30 - 17:00: Student presentations
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Tuesday 06 March: Introduction to Radio Astronomy
09:00 - 11:00: Radiometer Equation & Signal Flow <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:30: Radio Antennas <download>
12:30 - 13:00: Introduction to Equipment and Instrumentation, Overview
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 16:00: Introduction to Equipment & Instrumentation, Practicals & Exercises
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: Continue with exercises
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Wednesday 07 March: History of Radio Astronomy in SA
09:00 - 10:00: History of HartRAO <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
16:30 - 17:30: The Path Less Travelled: The adventures of building the AVN <download>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Thursday 08 March: Coordinate and Timing Systems
09:00 - 10:00: Overview of Coordinate Systems <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Overview of Coordinate Systems, Exercises
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: Geodesy Equipment at HartRAO: A core site and remote sites <download>
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:00: Student presentations
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Friday 09 March: Microwave Receiver Systems
08:30 - 09:30: Microwave Receiver Systems, Overview <download>
09:30 - 11:00: Microwave Receiver Systems, Practicals and Tour
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Microwave Receiver Systems, Practicals and Tour
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 16:00: Microwave Receiver Systems, Exercises
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:00: Student presentations
18:30 - 22:00: Dinner/Cultural Event (labs will close at 18:00)
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Saturday 10 March: Excursion
09:00 - 17:00: Excursion: Paint ball (buses depart at 09:00)
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Sunday 11 March: No class, free time
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will be closed)
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Monday 12 March: Astronomy with a Small Radio Telescope
08:30 - 10:00: Calibrating a Small Radio Telescope, Practical
10:00 - 11:00: Measurement Errors
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:00: Measuring the Brightness Temperature of the Sun, Overview <download>
12:00 - 13:00: Measuring the Brightness Temperature of the Sun, Exercises
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Astrophysical Radiation Mechanisms <download>
15:00 - 16:00: Continue with exercises
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:00: Student Presenations
17:00 - 18:00: Continue with exercises
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Tuesday 13 March: Antenna Systems, RFI and Antenna Conversion
09:00 - 10:00: Antenna Systems & Maintenance <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:30: RFI, Demonstration
12:30 - 13:00: RFI, Exercises
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 16:00: Amateur Radio Astronomy, Demonstrations
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 – 17:30: Antenna Conversion <download>
18:30 - 21:30: Star Party (labs will close at 18:00)
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Wednesday 14 March: Single-Dish Continuum Observations
09:00 - 10:00: Radio Continuum Observations <download>
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 I, Exercises
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Radiometers, Square Law Detectors and Noise Diodes <download>
15:00 - 16:00: Drift Scan Observations and Calibration II, 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)
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Thursday 15 March: Single-Dish Spectral Line Observations
09:00 - 10:00: Single-Dish Spectral Line Observations <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Spectrometer <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:00: Visit to HartRAO Control Room, Demonstration
12:00 - 12:30: Introduction to Spectral Line Data Reduction, Overview
12:30 - 13:00: Spectral Line Observations, Exercises
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:30: Continue with exercises
15:30 - 16:00: Student Presentations
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: Introduction to Gamma Ray Astronomy <download>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Friday 16 March: Radio Surveys and Data Mining
09:00 - 10:00: Multi-wavelength Astronomy/Radio Surveys
10:00 - 11:00: Astronomical Data Mining and VO Tools
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:00: Astronomical Data Mining and VO Tools, Demonstration
12:00 - 13:00: Data Mining and VO Tools, Exercises
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Continue with Exercises
15:00 - 16:00: Student Presentations
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: The PhD Journey without Tears
18:30 - 22:00: Dinner/Star Party (labs will close at 18:00)
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Saturday 17 March: Excursion
09:00 - 17:00: Excursion: Tour to Soweto (buses depart at 09:00)
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Sunday 18 March: No class, free time
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will be closed)
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Monday 19 March: Introduction to Interferometry
09:00 - 10:00: Introduction to Interferometry <download>
10:00 - 11:00: Two-Element Interferometer, Demonstration and Exercise
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Fourier Transforms and Sampling Theorem, Exercises <download>
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Advanced Interferometry <download>
15:00 - 16:00: Imaging using CASA, 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)
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Tuesday 20 March: From Interferometry to VLBI
09:00 - 10:00: Current and Future Connected Arrays <download>
10:00 - 11:00: VLBI Fundamnetals I <download>
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Visit to HartRAO Control Room
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: VLBI Fundamentals II <download>
15:00 - 16:00: The VLBI Radio Sky and Science Highlights <download>
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: Overview of Geodesy and Why VLBI <download>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Wednesday 21 March: Introduction to Geodetic & Astrometric VLBI
09:00 - 10:00: Introduction to Geodetic VLBI <download1> <download2>
10:00 - 10:30: Introduction to VieVS, Demonstration <download>
10:30 - 11:00: Exercises using VieVS
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00: Continue with exercises using VieVS
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Introduction to Astrometric VLBI & Spacecraft
Applications <download>
15:00 - 16:00: Astrometric Analysis and the ICRF-3 <download>
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: VLBI Simulations and their Applications for the AVN <download>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Thursday 22 March: Geophysical Modelling and Experiment Scheduling for VLBI
09:00 - 10:00: Geophysical Modelling and Atmospheric Propagation
10:00 - 11:00: Models and Mapping Functions used in VieVS, Demonstration
11:00 - 11:30: Tea/Coffee break
11:30 - 12:30: Planning, Scheduling and Running a VLBI Experiment <download>
12:30 - 13:00: Feedback and discussion session: Student Proposals and Talks
13:00 - 14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:00: Scheduling a Geodetic VLBI Experiment, Exercise <download>
15:00 - 16:00: Simulating a Geodetic VLBI Experiment, Exercise <download>
16:00 - 16:30: Tea/Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30: System engineering in the SKA Project <download>
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Friday 23 March: Excursion and Closing Ceremony
09:00 - 10:00: Stellar GPS: Navigating the Solar System
10:30 Excursion: Boat trip (buses depart at 10:30)
12:00 - 13:00: Closing ceremony
13:00 - 13:30: Lunch
13:30 - 14:30: Boat trip
14:30 - 15:30: Boat trip
16:00 Buses depart
18:30 - 19:30: Dinner (labs will close at 20:00)
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Saturday 24 March: Departure
09:00: Transport to airport
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