Scintillator Group Report:
Erik Katsavounidis, Ioannis Katsavounidis, Massimo Orsini, Paolo
Saggese, Stefano Stalio, and Stuart Mufson (shifter)
For this shifter, the highlight of his trip occurred when he observed the
total lunar eclipse on the evening of September 17. It was a particularly
stunning sight since it was completely unexpected. A total lunar eclipse
over the Gran Sasso on a crystal clear night is a beautiful sight to behold.
DISKS
The most serious problems that occurred during this shift period concerned
disk crashes. On Wednesday, September 10, there was a general power outage
in the underground lab for electrical maintenance work. When power was
restored, 26 Gby out of a total of 36 Gby on the data acquisition disks were
lost. Although MACRO has a Digital service contract that seemed to guarantee
repair within 24 hours, apparently the small print in the contract was not
read carefully enough. It turns out that what the contract really guarantees
is that someone from Digital will CALL within 24 hours to promise that the
problem will be fixed real soon. The disks were eventually restored on
Monday, September 15, a mere 120 hours after the failure. Careful monitoring
during this period resulted in virtually no data being lost, as Erik backed
up runs daily. The only very minor loss occurred for one run which had
reduced waveforms (muon waveforms cut out).
A second disk problem occurred on Wednesday, September 17. Disk$macro was
reporting large numbers of errors and a decision was made to replace the
disk. Unfortunately the disk was not backed up before it was dismounted.
(Unfortunately)**2 the most recent backup was from September 5. So two weeks
of work stored on disk$macro was lost. poop.
LIP
The LIP trigger on SM3 had low efficiency so it was swapped with the spare.
The spare is now working well. The low-efficiency board is scheduled for
repair.
CALIBRATION
All switch boxes are being modified with a 50 ohm resistor back termination.
The boxes on SM 1-4 have already been modified. SM 5,6 will be modified
soon. Ioannis has seen improvement in the precision of the ERP calibrations
with the installation of this modification. As these modifications are
progressing, checks are being made for completion of all previously scheduled
modifications on the switch boxes over the past 3 years. Only a small
fraction (3-4%) need these previous modifications.
ERP
Seven ERP counters in SM 1 were lost last week. Several ERP S&H boards were
sent back to Indiana for repair.
WFD
The high voltage problem with the spare WFD crate has been fixed. Now WFD
boards can be more easily debugged.
One WFD channel (SM 1, mod.18) had problems with pedestal oscillations.
These problems have been fixed.
Occasionally data overflow problems occur due primarily to zero suppression
being off. Since this occurs infrequently, it is not considered a serious
problem.
CALIBRATION
The Lamosska trigger was calibrated during regular Wednesday maintenance.
Flaky hardware in SM 4 has been fixed.
LONG TERM PROJECT
A complete inventory of everything outside the detector is now taking place.
MACRO USA stickers are being placed on all MACRO equipment.
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This shiftworker reporter would like to editorialize for a moment over an
issue that should be of paramount importance to all members of the MACRO
scintillator team. I have learned through inside sources that the next Mamma
Abbondanza Memorial shiftworker award will go to Greg Tarle'. As you all
remember, this coveted prize was named for the late, beloved signora who was
tragically trampled by a herd of sheep while on a mission of mercy to bring
caffe e cornetti to the outside lab workers during those dark, early days of
MACRO when the nearest bar was an unconscionable 2 km away at the
Fiordigigli. Why do I jump the gun on this announcement? Since this award
is so valuable -- the famous bucket o' bucatini con ragu at the mensa, 'il
Saldatore' -- I believe the selection rules should be revised in the interest
of fairness. I argue that the award should not go to the best shiftworker of
the previous six months, but rather to the best shiftworker POUND FOR POUND.
Would you put WCTU flyweight champion Chi Chi 'Little Hoser' Marabunda in the
ring against heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield? Of course not.
Likewise I think any contest with an award as prestigious as the Abbondanza
should be based on criteria far more robust than just physicist on the hoof.
If you stand with me, LET THE BIG BOSSES HEAR YOUR VOICE.