Today's weather was a little warmer then yesterday. We are getting highs of -17 F. The sky is almost all blue. What a perfect day!
I have spending a lot of time, in MAPO. This is the blue building that houses AMANDA's electronics. There are several interesting things in the picture. On the right is a many-sided wooden structure. This is used to house a sub-millimeter telescope. The purpose is to study the Universe when it was about 3 minutes old. Notice the building is elevated. That is to allow the drifting snow pass under the building. To the left is a wooden, orange and black box structure. This is actually a solar heated outhouse. The building is very warm. The black panels are used to absorb the heat. We have to walk to MAPO several times a day. During the daytime we can use a shuttle. But, as the path is very pleasant, we usually walk
On the left on the second floor is where Amanda has its electronics. You can see how crowded the area is. The experiment has expanded every year. Up to this year, we installed a string of detectors in the ice every year. With each new string, the room gets more crowded. Now the room is completely crammed with people and equipment. It is so crowded that we need to work three shifts.
For the last two evenings, I have been working with Andrea Silvestri, a student from Germany. At this time, we have one string of 41 DOMs in the ice. Because of the way the electronics has been made, we must turn off all modules to reboot any one module. Every time we power-cycle the modules, there is a chance that another will stop working. Consequently, we are very reluctant to make changes or to fix isolated modules.
At LBNL, I designed and developed a box that can be used to initialize individual modules. I brought two prototypes to the pole. I need to verify that they work, as the rest of the devices are being made now. Once they are at the pole, it is very difficult to change things, so I am trying to see if there are any needed modifications. After struggling for two evenings and constantly changing our minds, we believe that we found that two sets of wires have been switched. The fix is easy. We will try to see if this works tomorrow.
On Monday, the Pole returned to normal after the day off. We have daily flights from McMurdo, which are always late. Every time there is a flight, we are warned. We are not allowed to walk on the runway within 10 minutes of a plane arriving or departing. We need to know this information, as we walk past the runway to go to MAPO.
Some people are leaving and others are coming. As I get used to the routine, I find that I really enjoy working here. In spite of the isolation and Spartan conditions, the staff is very cooperative and dedicated to make excellent science happen.
Howard Matis
South Pole