Beam Up!

Whew! It's been a hectic last week. Beam up on the 7th October as planned, after a lot of tense moments and hard work by all. The table, with the Extended Barrel in place, finally found its home in the Beam Chamber.

Cleared Space in the Beam Chamber

Extended Barrel in Place on top of the Long Barrel

Table moving into the Beam Chamber!

With the table in place, work could continue with the final checking of the electronics and testing the communications and date transfer. The amount of modules in the racks continued to grow. Connections between the NIM bins, VME crates and dedicated electronic systems multiplied.

 Rack Growth is almost organic

Included in that growth was the PPr emulator box, assembled by the Wits team. Very innocuous looking but the heart of the demonstrator electronics.

Front Panel of the PPr Emulator

A lot of work was also put into the set-up of the workstations for the Shift Workers. The "Shifters", as they are called, are a vital link, keeping an eye on all systems as the beam continues through a 24 hour cycle. Oscar and Roman are part of that team.

Roman at one of the Shifter's Workstations

Meetings every morning are a core part of the the process and are well attended. Lots of new ideas and solutions to immediate problems are addressed and then it's "Back to Work!"

Roman explaining latest progress

The Beam quality is apparently excellent, so the pressure is on to get the best possible results. There are some major issues that need addressing, however data collection has began and the signs are positive for a successful test beam!

 The Wits contingent!

More Later!