ID |
Date |
Author |
Type |
Category |
Subject |
4569
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Tue Apr 26 22:03:49 2011 |
rana | Update | Electronics | POX_11 debugging |
I used the Jenne AM laser to tune up the PD (used to be POX_11 but now is called REFL_11). In addition to the notch at 22 MHz, I have also put in a LC notch at 5*f = 55.3 MHz. The transfer function below shows the RF OUT of the PD v. the drive to the laser. I didn't divide out by the 1811 because its not on the EE bench.

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4572
|
Wed Apr 27 15:34:38 2011 |
kiwamu | Update | Electronics | AS55 demod board with new 90 deg splitter : healthy |

A new 90 deg splitter, PSCQ-2-51W, has been installed on another demod board called AS55.
It shows a reasonably close 90 degree separation between the I and Q signals at 55 MHz with various LO and RF power.
So far we have ordered only three PSCQ-2-51Ws for test. Now we will order some more for the other demodulators.
Some plots will be posted later. |
4573
|
Wed Apr 27 17:38:01 2011 |
kiwamu | Update | Electronics | Re : AS55 demod board with new 90 deg splitter : healthy |

Figure.1 I-Q relative phase measurement as a function of LO power.
Blue curve : relative phase of AS55 that I have modified today (#4572).
Red curve : relative phase of AS11 that I had modified a week ago (#4554). Just for comparison.
The relative phase of AS55 agrees approximately what we expected according to the datasheet of PSCQ-2-51W. We expected 85 degree.

Figure.1 I-Q amplitude imbalance as a function of LO power.
From - 5 dBm to 5 dBm in LO power the imbalance is within 3 %.
But the precision of the measurement is also about 2 % (because I used an oscilloscope). Even so the imbalance is still good.
Quote from #4572 |
Some plots will be posted later.
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4601
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Mon May 2 21:14:55 2011 |
kiwamu | Update | Electronics | too loose Heliax connectors on 1Y2 rack |
I found that all the Heliax cables landing on the bottom of 1Y2 were too loose.
Due to this loose connection the RF power at 55 MHz varies from -34 dBm to 3 dBm, depending on the angle of the Heliax's head.

The looseness basically comes from the fact the black plate is too thick for the Heliax cable to go all the way. It permits the Heliax's heads to rotate freely.
What we should do is to make countersinks on the black plate like this:

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4602
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Mon May 2 23:29:57 2011 |
Suresh | Update | Electronics | too loose Heliax connectors on 1Y2 rack |
The countersink gives rise to another problem when we mount the N-type-to-SMA bulkhead adaptor. As we are making a circular hole in the plastic strip (instead of a hole with two flat sections) the adaptor is free to turn when we tighten it with a wrench. We currently hold the smooth circular part on the other side with a gripping pliers and while tightening. If that part disappears into the countersink (as seen in the pics) we will not be able to tighten the adaptor sufficiently and consequently we will also not be able to get the heliax connector to be tight.
A better solution would be to use the 1/4-inch plastic L-angle beam which Steve has used on the AS table. In addition to solving this loose connector problem, the beam is also more rigid than the plastic strip.
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4612
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Tue May 3 14:35:44 2011 |
Larisa Thorne | Configuration | Electronics | Jenne-Seismometer LPF project |
I was charge with making a Non-Inverting Op Amp Low Pass Feedback circuit for Jenne, which may somehow be integrated into a seismometer project she's working on.
Circuit diagram is attached. Calculations show that R1, R2 and C have the following relationship: if R1=10^n, R2=10^(n+1), C=10^(-n-4). For the particular circuit being modeled by the transfer function, R1=100 Ohm, R2=1k Ohm, and C=1uF.
Attached also is the circuit's Bode plot, showing frequency versus gain and phase, respectively. The frequency versus gain graph is true to what the circuit was calculated to generate: a gain of +20 and a cutoff frequency at 200Hz. Not sure what's going on with the frequency verus phase plot. |
Attachment 1: SeisLPFdiagram.jpg
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Attachment 2: seisLPF.Bose.jpg
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4614
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Tue May 3 15:48:26 2011 |
Larisa Thorne | Update | Electronics | laser temperature control LPF, final version! |
This is a continuation of this
The low pass filter is finally acceptable, and its Bode graph is below (on a ~3Hz frequency span that shows the cutoff frequency is at 0.1Hz) |
Attachment 1: LPF100k.2.jpg
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4618
|
Tue May 3 17:19:25 2011 |
kiwamu | Update | Electronics | Heliax connectors on 1Y2 rack : tightened |
My observation wasn't accurate enough.
The looseness came from the fact that the N-SMA bulk heads were slipping on the black plate.
This is actually what Suresh pointed out (see here). So the thickness of the black plate doesn't matter in this case.
Somehow I was able to tighten the bulk heads using two wrenches and I think they are now tight enough so that the heliax's heads don't move any more.
Quote from #4601 |
I found that all the Heliax cables landing on the bottom of 1Y2 were too loose.
The looseness basically comes from the fact the black plate is too thick for the Heliax cable to go all the way. It permits the Heliax's heads to rotate freely.
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4630
|
Wed May 4 17:32:06 2011 |
Larisa Thorne | Configuration | Electronics | Jenne-Seismometer LPF project |
Building on what was posted previously
The configuration has now evolved into an Inverting Op Amp Feedback Low Pass Filter circuit.
Had to change out some components to satisfy conditions: R1=1k Ohm, R2=10k Ohm, C=0.1uF. These were changed in order to decrease the magnitude of the current passing through the op amp by a factor of 10 (10V supplied through the R1 resistor yields about 10mA). The configuration itself was changed from non-inverting to inverting in order to get the frequency vs. gain part of the Bode plot to continue to decrease across higher frequencies instead of leveling off around 4kHz. |
Attachment 1: SeisLPF3.jpg
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4634
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Thu May 5 12:01:53 2011 |
Larisa Thorne | Configuration | Electronics | Jenne-Seismometer LPF project |
Having finished the bulk of the work for the LPF itself ( see here ), I have begun trying to design the seismometer box to Jenne's specifications.
Currently looking into what the voltage buffer amplifier might look like for this.
Suggestions/corrections would be much appreciated!
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Attachment 1: STS2diagram.png
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4685
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Wed May 11 10:49:16 2011 |
valera | Configuration | Electronics | MC3 LL PD has no signal |
Yesterday we found that MC3 OSEM LL PD did not have a sensible signal - the readback was close to zero and it was making MC move around. I disabled the PD LL so that the damping is done with just three face plus side PDs. There still no signal from MC3 LL PD today. It needs debugging. |
4690
|
Wed May 11 16:04:36 2011 |
Larisa Thorne | Configuration | Electronics | Jenne-Seismometer LPF project |
The schematic for the seismometer box from this last time has been updated...
Koji was helpful for coming up with a general diagram for the voltage buffer amplifier, which has now been added to the configuration pictured below.
The only thing that remains now before I try to plot it with Eagle/LISO is to pick an op amp to use for the voltage buffer itself. Someone suggested THS4131 for that (upon Googling, it hit as a "high speed, low noise, fully-differential I/O amplifier"). It looks good, but is it the best option? |
Attachment 1: STS2diagram2.png
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4691
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Wed May 11 17:10:04 2011 |
kiwamu | Configuration | Electronics | fixed : MC3 LL PD has no signal |
[Valera / Kiwamu]
It was because of a loose connection. Pushing the connector solved the issue.

We really have to think about making reliable connections and strain reliefs.
Quote from #4685 |
Yesterday we found that MC3 OSEM LL PD did not have a sensible signal - the readback was close to zero and it was making MC move around. I disabled the PD LL so that the damping is done with just three face plus side PDs. There still no signal from MC3 LL PD today. It needs debugging.
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4728
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Mon May 16 17:11:28 2011 |
steve | Update | Electronics | strain relieved 1X1 |
1X1 is strain relieved in the back. I will use similar approach on the rest of the racks . |
Attachment 1: P1070724.JPG
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4742
|
Wed May 18 18:48:46 2011 |
kiwamu | Update | Electronics | identification of RFPD interface cables |
[Haixing / Kiwamu]
As a part of the Wednesday's cabling work, we spent some times for identifying the RFPD interface cables.
The RFPD interface cables are made of a 15 pin flat cable, containing DC power conductors for the RFPDs and the DC signal path.
The list below is the status of the interface cables.
- - - - RFPD name, (cable status) - - - -
- REFL11 (identified and labeling done)
- REFL33 (identified and labeling done)
- REFL55 (identified and labeling done)
- REFL165 (no cable found)
- AS55 (identified and labeling done)
- AS165 (identified and labeling done)
- POP22/110 (identified and labeling done)
- POX11 (identified and labeling done)
- POY11 (identified and labeling done)
- POY55 (identified and labeling done)
We still have two cables which are not yet identified. Their heads are around the LSC rack and labeled 'unidentified' |
4747
|
Thu May 19 03:13:54 2011 |
kiwamu | Update | Electronics | REFL11 not working |
I took REFL11 out from the AS table for a health check because it wasn't working properly.
The symptoms were :
- a big offset of ~ -3 V on the RF output. No RF signals.
- The DC output seemed to be okay. It's been sensitive to light.
I did a quick check and confirmed that +/- 5V were correctly supplied to the op-amps.
It looks that the last stage (MAX4107) is saturated for some reasons. Need more inspections.
At the moment the REFL11 RFPD is on the bench of the Jenne laser.
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4756
|
Fri May 20 11:37:44 2011 |
Koji | Update | Electronics | REFL11 fixed (REFL11 not working) |
- Found the inductor which shunts the positive input of MAX4107 was not touching the ground.
This left the positive input level undetermined at DC. This was why MAX had been saturated.
The PCB has a cut, so it was surprising once the circuit worked.
- Resoldered the inductor to the ground. This made the circuit responding to the intensity-modulated beam.
- But the resonances and the notches were totally off, and the 200MHz oscillation has resurrected.
- Attached 40Ohm+22pF network between the neg-input of MAX and the gnd. This solved the oscillation.
- Made the tuning and the characterizations. The PD is on Kiwamu's desk and ready to go.
More to come later
Quote: |
I took REFL11 out from the AS table for a health check because it wasn't working properly.
The symptoms were :
- a big offset of ~ -3 V on the RF output. No RF signals.
- The DC output seemed to be okay. It's been sensitive to light.
I did a quick check and confirmed that +/- 5V were correctly supplied to the op-amps.
It looks that the last stage (MAX4107) is saturated for some reasons. Need more inspections.
At the moment the REFL11 RFPD is on the bench of the Jenne laser.
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Attachment 1: REFL11_transimpedance.pdf
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4758
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Sat May 21 17:02:38 2011 |
Koji | Update | Electronics | Alberto's 11MHz was modified to POP55MHz |
- Resonant at 55MHz. The transimpedance is 258Ohm. That is about half of REFL55 (don't know why).
- 11MHz&110MHz notch
- The 200MHz oscillation of MAX4106 was damped by the same recipe as REFL11.

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Attachment 1: POP55_schematic_110520_KA.pdf
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Attachment 2: POP55_transimpedance.pdf
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4774
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Tue May 31 16:07:57 2011 |
Larisa Thorne | Configuration | Electronics | Seismometer Box Update |
(Continuation of this)
I plugged the circuit into the LISO program to generate the graphs below....the first graph is a plot of frequency (f, in Hz) versus gain (in dB), and frequency (f, Hz) versus phase (in degrees). Also included is the second graph, which is a noise plot of all circuit parts which contribute to the total noise of the circuit.
The only issue I had was that two of the op amps I'd picked (see third attachment for the original circuit diagram) for the circuit were not in LISO's op amp library. So I replaced THS4131 (from the voltage buffer part) and AD826 (from the ADC driver part) with AD797 and LT1037, respectively in order to generate the plots below....
There are notes calling the AD797 "ultra low noise, low distortion", whose data sheet can be found here: AD797
Notes also call LT1037 "low noise, high speed precision op amp", whose data sheet can be found here: LT1037
I've put these in temporarily only, as I don't know if they are appropriate choices for the job or even if we have them. Suggestions? |
Attachment 1: SeisBoxLISOplot1.pdf
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Attachment 2: SeisBoxLISOplot2.pdf
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Attachment 3: STS2diagram_original.pdf
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4777
|
Wed Jun 1 13:33:22 2011 |
koji, tara | Update | Electronics | TTFSS #7 |
We replaced GE81 by PZT2907A (PNP transistor) in TTFSS #7, it's working fine.
Last time I broke Q4 transistor, which is used in the low noise power module for TTFSS, (see the schematic) and could not find another PZT2907A, so GE81 was used temporarily. Now we changed it back to PZT2907A as designed. I tested it by checking the voltage outputs of the board. It works fine, all voltage outputs are correct. I labeled one of the slot on the blue cabinet tower and kept the rest of the transistors there.

Quote: |
I brought TTFSS set #7 to 40m and kept it in the electronic cabinet.
note that Q4 transistor has not been replaced back to PZT2907A yet. It's still GE82.
Q3 is now pzt3904, not PZT2222A.
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4782
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Thu Jun 2 23:10:10 2011 |
Koji | Update | Electronics | REFL11 test results (Re: REFL11 fixed) |
The full characterization of REFL11 is found in the PDF.
Resonance at 11.062MHz
Q of 15.5, transimpedance 4.1kOhm
shotnoise intercept current = 0.12mA (i.e. current noise of 6pA/rtHz)
Notch at 22.181MHz
Q of 28.0, transimpedance 23 Ohm
Notch at 55.589MHz
Q of 38.3, transimpedance 56 Ohm
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Attachment 1: REFL11_test.pdf
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4783
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Fri Jun 3 14:27:32 2011 |
Koji | Update | Electronics | POP55 test results |
The full characterization of POP55 is found in the PDF.
Resonance at 54.49MHz
Q of 2.5, transimpedance 241Ohm
shotnoise intercept current = 4.2mA (i.e. current noise of 37pA/rtHz)
Notch at 11.23MHz
Q of 2.4, transimpedance 6.2 Ohm
Notch at 110.80MHz
Q of 53.8, transimpedance 13.03 Ohm
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Attachment 1: POP55_test.pdf
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4785
|
Sat Jun 4 15:26:04 2011 |
Larisa Thorne | Update | Electronics | Seismometer Box Update |
(continuation of this)
Here are the transfer function and noise plots of the seismometer box, using the op amps that are actually indicated on the original plan (THS4131, AD826). I added them to the LISO op amp library (can be found in /cvs/cds/caltech/apps/linux64/liso/filter/opamp.lib)
Next step is to compare the noise graph below to the seismic noise curve of the interferometer to verify that the seismometer box configuration won't affect the curve... |
Attachment 1: SeisBoxLISO_transfer.pdf
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Attachment 2: SeisBoxLISO_noise.pdf
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4786
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Mon Jun 6 02:09:39 2011 |
rana | Update | Electronics | POY11 Rework Nearly Complete |
I've finished tuning POY11 and it is now sitting on top of the analyzer waiting for Koji to test its noise.
Notes:
- R2 has been switched from a 50 -> 110 Ohm R and a (29 Ohm | 47 pF) in parallel to it. This makes the gain of the MAX4107 be ~20 above 100 MHz and ~5 around 11 MHz. The high gain at high frequency makes it stable (squashes the 200 MHz oscillation) and the low gain at low frequency is to prevent saturation (the raw 11 MHz transimpedance is too high).
- There are two notches: 22.12 MHz and 55.3 MHz.
- The TEST IN input has been disabled since it wasn't useful.
- 107 Ohms inserted into between the U11 output and the TSENSE feedthrough. This is to prevent oscillations when driving the long Dsub cable. This needs to be done on all Gold Box RFPDs.
- R4 -> 50 Ohms.
- Had trouble tuning this to get the resonance at 11.06 MHz. This turned out to be the parallel inductance coming from L3 (previously 1.45 uH) whereas we needed a total inductance of ~1.6 uH. So I changed L3 to 33 uH to get it to be negligible compared to 1.7 uH at 11 MHz. This needs to be considered for all the 11 MHz diodes.
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Attachment 1: 777.png
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4787
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Mon Jun 6 16:44:34 2011 |
Koji | Update | Electronics | POY11 tested |
The full characterization of POY11 is found in the PDF.
Resonance at 11.03MHz
Q of 7.6, transimpedance 1.98kOhm
shotnoise intercept current = 0.17mA (i.e. current noise of 7pA/rtHz)
Notch at 21.99MHz
Q of 56.2, transimpedance 35.51 Ohm
Notch at 55.20MHz
Q of 48.5, transimpedance 37.5 Ohm
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Attachment 1: POY11_test.pdf
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4807
|
Fri Jun 10 20:23:56 2011 |
Larisa Thorne | Update | Electronics | Seismometer Box Update/graphs |
(continuation of this)
The noise graphs relating total noise of the Seismometer circuit (GURALP stuff) to the LIGO seismic noise curve have been completed started.
I apparently harbor hate towards Matlab (you may have notice I do everything in Mathematica)....I will try to change my ways DX |
Attachment 1: SeisNoiseGraphs.jpg
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4810
|
Mon Jun 13 16:27:10 2011 |
Jenne | Update | Electronics | Seismometer Box Update/graphs |
Quote from elog 4807: |
The noise graphs relating total noise of the Seismometer circuit (GURALP stuff) to the LIGO seismic noise curve have been completed started.
|
What Larisa meant to post (I'm sure) is something more like this (sorry it's a little squished...I put too many words in the legend):
I've only included the 2 noise contributions from the LISO model that seem to dominate the sum noise. The plot gets a little crazy if you include all of the non-important sources.

So, what's the point??
First, the new box design doesn't have any crazy-special op-amps in it, so the noise of the new box is probably comparable to the old box. So, if that's true, the old box may not have been limiting the differential seismic noise. This definitely needs to be checked out. I'll make a quickie LISO model of the old Guralp breakout box, to see what its noise actually looks like, according to LISO. If it wasn't ever the breakout box that was limiting us, what the heck was it??
Second, the current box design seems to be better than the Guralp Spec sheet noise by ~a factor of 10. It would be nice if that number were more like a factor of 100. Or at least 30. So some work needs to be done to find a lower-noise op amp for the voltage buffer (the first op amp in the circuit).
Next steps:
Since Larisa is now starting her SURF project with Tara and Mingyuan, I'll look into improving the design of this box by a factor of 3 or 10.
Then I'll need to make a mock-up of it, and test it out.
If successful, then I'll draw it up in Altium and have it made. Recall that there should be 2 outputs per seismometer channel, one with high gain, one with low gain. Then 3 seismometer channels per seismometer (X, Y, Z), and perhaps multiple seismometer inputs per box. So lots and lots of stuff all in the same box. It's going to be pretty cool. |
4830
|
Fri Jun 17 00:17:26 2011 |
rana | Configuration | Electronics | 2 RFPDs sent to LLO |
Koji and I found 2 RFPD boxes to send to LLO. We've put them onto Steve's desk to be overnighted to Valera.
One of them is our old 21.5 MHz gold box RFPD from the FSS (which we don't use). The other one is a 2mm gold box one which was previously tuned for 66 MHz.
They shipped out on Friday |
Attachment 1: P1070895.JPG
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4900
|
Tue Jun 28 15:23:21 2011 |
steve | Update | Electronics | Coilcraft RF-design kits are restocked |
Our design kits are full again. They are waiting for a new brilliant PD design. |
Attachment 1: P1070917.JPG
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Attachment 2: P1070915.JPG
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4979
|
Sat Jul 16 18:54:05 2011 |
Ishwita, Manuel | Configuration | Electronics | AA board |
We fixed the anti-aliasing board in its aluminum black box, the box couldn't be covered entirely because of the outgoing wires of the BNC connectors, so we drilled additional holes on the top cover to slide it backwards by 1cm and then screw it.
We had to fix the AA board box in rack 1X7, but there wasn't enough space, so we tried to move the blue chassis (ligo electro-optical fanout chassis 1X7) up with the help of a jack. We removed the blue chassis' screws but we couldn't move it up because of a piece of metal screwed above the blue chassis, then we weren't able to screw the two bottom screws again anymore because it had slided a bit down. Thus, the blue chassis (LIGO ELECTRO-OPTICAL FANOUT CHASSIS 1X7) is still not fixed properly and is sitting on the jack.
To accommodate the AA board (along with the panel-mounted BNC connectors) in rack 1X7 we removed the sliding tray (which was above the CPU) and fixed it there. Now the sliding tray is under the drill press.
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Attachment 1: DSC_3236.JPG
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Attachment 2: pic1.png
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Attachment 3: DSC_3237.JPG
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5008
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Wed Jul 20 22:16:27 2011 |
Ishwita, Manuel | Update | Electronics | lying seismometer cable and plugging it |
We laid the cable along the cable keeper from the BACARDI seismometer to the rack 1X6, the excess cable has been coiled under the X arm.
We plugged the cable to the seismometer and to the seismometer electronics box in rack 1X6. We also plugged the AC power cable from the box to an outlet in rack 1X7 (because the 1X6 outlets are full)
With the help of a function generator we tested the following labeled channels of AA board...
2, 3, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 24
that are the channels that can be viewed by the dataviewer, also the channel 10 can be viewed but it's labeld BAD so we cannot use it.
We leveled the seismometer and unlocked it, and saw his X,Y,Z velocity signals with an oscilloscope. |
5022
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Sun Jul 24 20:36:03 2011 |
haixing | Summary | Electronics | AA filter tolerance analysis |
Koji and Haixing,
We did a tolerance analysis to specify the conner frequency for passive low-pass filtering in the AA filter of Cymac. The
link to the wiki page for the AA filter goes as follows (one can have a look at the simple schematics):
http://blue.ligo-wa.caltech.edu:8000/40m/Electronics/BNC_Whitening_AA
Basically, we want to add the following passive low-pass filter (boxed) before connecting to the instrumentation amplifier:

Suppose (i) we have 10% error in the capacitor value and (ii) we want to have common-mode rejection
error to be smaller than 0.1% at low frequencies (up to the sampling frequency 64kHz), what would be
conner frequency, or equivalently the values for the capacitor and resistor, for the low-pass filter?
Given the transfer function for this low-pass filter:

and the error propagation equation for its magnitude:

we found that the conner frequency needs to be around 640kHz in order to have
with 
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5023
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Sun Jul 24 20:47:21 2011 |
rana | Summary | Electronics | AA filter tolerance analysis |
This is sort of OK, except the capacitor connects across the (+) terminals of the two input opamps, and does not connect to ground.
Also, we don't care about the CMRR at 64 kHz. We care about it at up to 10 kHz, but not above. The sample frequency of the ADC is 64 kHz, but all of the models run at 16 kHz or less, so the Nyquist frequency is 8 kHz.
And doesn't the value depend on the resistors? |
5024
|
Sun Jul 24 22:19:19 2011 |
haixing | Summary | Electronics | AA filter tolerance analysis |
>> This sort of OK, except the capacitor connects across the (+) terminals of the two input opamps, and does not connect to ground:

>> Also, we don't care about the CMRR at 64 kHz. We care about it at up to 10 kHz, but not above.
In this case, the conner frequency for the low-pass filter would be around 100kHz in order to satisfy the requirement.
>>And doesn't the value depend on the resistors?
Yes, it does. The error in the resistor (typically 0.1%) is much smaller than that of the capacitor (10%). Since the resistor error propagates in the same as the capacitor,
we can ignore it.
Note that we only specify the conner frequency (=1/RC) instead of R and C specifically from the tolerance analysis, we still need to choose appropriate
values for R and C with the conner frequency fixed to be around 100kHz, for which we need to consider the output impedance of port 1 and port 2.
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5034
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Mon Jul 25 23:43:20 2011 |
Manuel | HowTo | Electronics | Manual for 1201 Low Noise Preamplifier |
I found the manual for the Low Noise Preamplifier Model 1201 at this link and I attached it.
The one we have in the lab (S/N 48332) miss the battery packs and miss also the remote programming options input/output. Its inside battery compartment is empty and I found 2 unscrewed screws with washers and nuts inside the preamplifier box. The battery cable are disconnected and they have 2 green tape labels (-) and 2 red tape label (+).
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Attachment 1: ITHACO_1201_Instruction_&_Maintenance.pdf
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Attachment 2: DSC_3249.png
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5038
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Tue Jul 26 21:11:40 2011 |
haixing | Summary | Electronics | AA filter tolerance analysis |

Given this new setup, we realized that the previous tolerance analysis is incorrect. Because the uncertainty in the capacitance value
does not affect the common mode rejection, as two paths share the same capacitor. Now only the imbalance of two resistors is relevant.
The error propagation formula goes as follows:

We require that the common-mode rejection error at low frequency up to 8kHz, namely
with , one can easily find out that the corner frequency needs to be around 24kHz.
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5673
|
Sun Oct 16 02:30:00 2011 |
rana | Update | Electronics | Testing REFL165 |
Unless the bias feedback circuit has been tuned for the 1 mm diode, its possible that you are seeing some C(V) effects. Its easy to check by looking at the phase response at 165 MHz v. the DC photocurrent. Then the feedback or feedforward gain can be tuned.
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5682
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Mon Oct 17 23:28:32 2011 |
rana | Update | Electronics | StochMon |
To get to the bottom of the RFAM mystery, we've got to resurrect the StochMon to trend the RFAM after the IMC.
We will put an 1811 on the MC_TRANS or IP_POS beam (the 1811 has an input noise of 2.5 pW/rHz).
Then the Stochmon has an input pre-amp, some crappy filters, and then Wenzel RMS->DC converters. We will replace the hand-made filters with the following ones from Mini-Circuits which happen to match our modulation frequencies perfectly:
11 MHz SBP-10.7+
55 MHz SBP-60+
29.5 MHz SBP-30+
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5706
|
Wed Oct 19 18:18:03 2011 |
Suresh | Update | Electronics | StochMon : Filters installed |
Quote: |
To get to the bottom of the RFAM mystery, we've got to resurrect the StochMon to trend the RFAM after the IMC.
We will put an 1811 on the MC_TRANS or IP_POS beam (the 1811 has an input noise of 2.5 pW/rHz).
Then the Stochmon has an input pre-amp, some crappy filters, and then Wenzel RMS->DC converters. We will replace the hand-made filters with the following ones from Mini-Circuits which happen to match our modulation frequencies perfectly:
11 MHz SBP-10.7+
55 MHz SBP-60+
29.5 MHz SBP-30+
|
The Stochmon had a four-way splitter, four hand-made filters and four mini-circuits ZX47-60-S+ Power Detectors.
Using the filters from our stock I have replaced the hand-made filters with the ones mentioned in Rana's elog. The power supply solders to the ZX47-60-S+ Power Detectors were weak and came off during reassembly. And some of the handmade short SMA cables broke off at the neck. So I changed the power supply cables and replaced all the short SMA cables with elbows. I also removed one of the Power Detectors since there were four in the box and we need only three now.
The power supply connector on the box is illegal. The current lab standard for {+15, 0 , -15} uses that connector. So we are going to change it as soon as possible. We need to identify a good {0, 5} lab standard and stock them.
The following were removed from the box:

The box now looks like this:

Steps remaining in installation of Stochmon:
1) Install the Newfocus 1811 PD at the IPPOS by diverting some of the power in that path
2) Connect the outputs of the Stochmon to ADC inputs in 1X2 rack. |
5734
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Tue Oct 25 11:48:02 2011 |
Katrin | HowTo | Electronics | solder tiny smd op amps |
Yesterday, I had the great pleasure to solder a tiny 4 x 4 mm op amp with 16 legs (AD8336).
I figured out that the best and fastest way to do it is
- to put solder with the soldering iron on every contact of the electronic board (top side)
- heat the bottom side of the electronic board with a heat gun
- use a needle to test if the solder is melted
- if it is melted place the op amp on the electronic board
- apply some vertical force on the op amp for proper contact and heat for 1 to 2 more minutes
- done
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5748
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Fri Oct 28 00:53:39 2011 |
rana | Update | Electronics | POP 22/110 Design |
The attached PDF shows a possible gain / input noise config for the POP 22/110 that we would use to detect the RF power in the DRMI. Design is in the SVN.
If Kiwamu/Jenne say that this has good enough sensing noise for the lock triggering than we will build it. This is using a 2mm diode.
If we can get away with 1 mm, we might as well use a PDA10CF for now. |
Attachment 1: poy22110.pdf
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5764
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Sun Oct 30 14:08:35 2011 |
rana | Update | Electronics | RFAM monitor in place. ( Uncalibrated ) EPICS troubles |
Quote: |
{Suresh, Jamie, Mirko]
We adapted the Stochmon box to include LP filters at 1.8Hz behind the RMS parts.
Then measured the RMS signals for different RF signal levels at 11.0.65, 29.5, 55.325MHz provided by a RF freq. generator.
As you can see in the data below the suppression of the BP filters of neighboring frequencies is only 35-35dB in power (see also manufacturer specs).
We therefor want to substract crosstalk, by calculating it out. We decided to use C-code in CDS. No computer crashing this time :)
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This is neat idea, but it seems like it would be easier to just add another set of rf BP filters inside of the StochMon box. Luckily, Steve was thinking ahead and ordered extra filters. |
5868
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Fri Nov 11 00:18:53 2011 |
Zach | Update | Electronics | Precision temperature controller |
I have made a first draft of the precision temperature controller circuit, which could find use at the 40m for stabilizing EOM RFAM as well as in the Bridge labs. Please read the entry on the ATF Lab elog and give me your feedback. |
6265
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Thu Feb 9 20:01:02 2012 |
rana | Summary | Electronics | Using RF LP filters as dispersion units for the MFD |
WE currently use long cables to give us the dispersion that we want for the MFD. A cable gives a long delay - both the phase delay and the group delay.
But we only need the dispersion (group delay). We can get this by just using a very sharp low pass filter and having the corner be above the frequency that we have the beat signal.
For example, the MiniCircuits SLP-200+ has got a corner frequency of 200 MHz and a group delay of ~10 ns (like a 3 m vacuum delay). So we would have to use 10 of these to get the delay we now get. The passband attenuation is only 0.5 dB, so we would lose 5 dB. The cost is $35 ea. We have a few on the shelf.
OTOH, if we tune the beat frequency down to 30 MHz, we can use the SLP-30 which has a group delay of 30 ns around 30 MHz. That's like 9m at light speed. We could easily get a nice result by just using 4 or 5 SLP in series.
So why is Kiwamu using cables?? And how should we really choose the beat note frequency?? |
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Thu Feb 16 21:13:07 2012 |
Suresh | Update | Electronics | REFL165 repair: PD replaced, DC response checked with a torch light |
[Koji, Suresh]
Kiwamu mentioned that REFL165 is not responding and its DC out seems saturated at 9V. Koji and I checked to see if changing the power supply to the PD changed its behaviour. It did not.
I then look a close look at the PD and found that the front window of the PD was not clear and transparent. There was a liquid condensation inside the window, indicating an over heating of the PD at some point. It could have arisen due to excessive incident power. The pic below shows this condensation:

I also checked the current flowing through the reverse bias voltage line. There was a voltage drop of 3V across R22 (DCC D980454-01-C) indicating a 150mA of current through the PD. This is way too much above the operating current of about 20mA. The diode must have over heated.
I pulled out the old PD out and installed a new one from stock. The pic below shows the clear window of a new PD.

After changing the PD I checked the DC output voltage while shining a torch light on to the PD. It showed an output of about 30 to 40 mV. This seemed okay because the larger 2mm photodiodes showed ~100mA DC output with the same torch.Below is the current state of the ckt board.

I will tune the PD to 165 MHz tomorrow and measure its transimpedance. |
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Tue Feb 28 16:31:08 2012 |
Suresh | Update | Electronics | REFL165 repair: Characterization |
The transfer function and current noise were measured. The location of the peak shifts with the amount of incident light power (RF or DC). The TF was measured at an incident 1064nm light power of 0.4 mW which produced a DC output voltage of 14 mV => DC photocurrent of 0.28 mA.
Many of the effects that Koji noted in the previous characterization are still present.
In addition I observed a shift of the peak towards lower frequencies as the RF power supplied to the AM Laser (Jenne Laser) is increased. This could create a dependance of the demodulation phase on incident RF power.
The plots are attached below. |
Attachment 1: REFL165_Characterization.pdf
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Attachment 2: REFL165_response_shift.pdf
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6337
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Wed Feb 29 00:22:35 2012 |
Suresh | Update | Electronics | REFL165 repair: Installed on the AS table |
1) The REFL165 has been replaced onto the AS table.
2) When the PD interface cable is attached the PD shows a DC out put of 6mV and does not respond to a flash light. I changed the PD interface port in the LSC rack by swapping the other end of the cable with an unused (Unidentified PD) interface cable, The PD is working fine after that. There could be a problem with some binary switch state on the PD interface where the REFL165 cable was plugged in earlier.
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6339
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Wed Feb 29 01:14:40 2012 |
Suresh | Update | Electronics | REFL165 repair: Characterization |
Quote: |
The transfer function and current noise were measured. The location of the peak shifts with the amount of incident light power (RF or DC). The TF was measured at an incident 1064nm light power of 0.4 mW which produced a DC output voltage of 14 mV => DC photocurrent of 0.28 mA.
Many of the effects that Koji noted in the previous characterization are still present.
In addition I observed a shift of the peak towards lower frequencies as the RF power supplied to the AM Laser (Jenne Laser) is increased. This could create a dependance of the demodulation phase on incident RF power.
The plots are attached below.
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[Koji, Suresh]
To determine the amount of RF power in the AM laser beam at various RF drive levels I measured the RF power out of the Newfocus 1611 PD while driving the AM laser with a Marconi. During this measurement the DC output was 2.2V. With the DC transimpedance of 10^4 and a sensitivity of 0.8 A/W we have carrier power as 0.275 mW (-5.6 dBm). [Incidentally the measured carrier power with a power meter is about 0.55 mW. Why this discrepancy?]
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
Marconi Output (dBm) |
0 |
-5 |
-10 |
-15 |
-20 |
-25 |
AG 4395 measurement (dBm) |
-8.1 |
-13.0 |
-18.0 |
-23 |
-28 |
-33 |
RF/DC ratio dB |
-2.5 |
-7.4 |
-12.4 |
-17.6 |
-22.6 |
-27.6 |
Estimation of the signal strength at the REFL165 PD:
From the 40m Sensing Matrix for DRFPMI we see that the signal strength at REFL165 in CARM is about 5x10^4 W/m. Since we expect about 0.1nm of linear range in CARM length we expect about 0.05 mW of RF power. If the (DC) carrier power is about 10 mW at the photodiode (18mW is about the max we can have since the max power dissipation is 100 mW in the diode) then the RF : DC power ratio is 5x10^-3 => -23 dB
As this is lower than the power levels at which the PD transfer function was determined and where we noted the distorsion and shift of the resonance peak, it is likely that these effects may not be seen during the normal operation of the interferometer.
The shift due to the carrier power level (DC) change may still however pose a problem through a changing demodulation phase.
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6423
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Fri Mar 16 06:17:56 2012 |
Suresh | Update | Electronics | REFL165 calibration : measurements |
These are the measurements for estimating the amplitude of the signal recorded in the CDS when a known amount of modulated light is incident on the photodiode.
I mounted the PD characterisation setup onto a small breadboard which could then be placed close AP table. I then placed position markers for REFL165 on the AP table before moving it onto my small breadboard. The AM laser was driven by an RF function generator (Fluke 6061A) at a frequency of 165.98866 MHz, which is 102 Hz offset from the 165MHz LO. The power level was set at -45dBm. This power level was chosen since anything higher would have saturated the AntiAliasing Whitening Filters. The counts in the CDS were converted to voltage using the ADC resolution = 20V per 2^16 counts.
|
RF source |
RF power to AM laser |
1611 PD |
1611 PD |
REFL165 |
REFL165 |
CDS |
CDS |
|
power set (dBm) |
Actual power out (dBm) |
DC (V) |
RF out (dBm) |
DC (mV) |
RF out (dBm) |
Amplitude (V) 102 Hz |
Amplitude (V) 102 Hz |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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1 |
-45 |
-50.6 |
-2.5 |
-58.9 |
10 |
-37.4 |
0.171 |
0.172 |
2 |
-48 |
-53.5 |
-2.5 |
-62.1 |
10 |
-40.3 |
0.122 |
0.121 |
3 |
-51 |
-56.5 |
-2.5 |
-65.0 |
10 |
-43.1 |
0.085 |
0.085 |
When the 166MHz power is decreased by a factor of 2 the amplitude of 102Hz wave recorded in CDS goes down by sqrt(2) as expected. The RF AM power incident on the REFL165 was estimated to be 0.011mW(rms) (case #1 in the above table) using the DC power ratio and using the transimpedance of the 1611 BBPD to be 700 Ohms. This produces a 171 mV amplitude wave at 102 Hz. I then stepped down the power by factor of 2 and repeated the measurement.
(These numbers however are not agreeing with the power incident on REFL165 if we assume its transimpedance to be 12500. It will take a bit more effort to make all the numbers agree. Will try again tomorrow)
Here is a picture of the small black breadboard on which I have put together the PD characterisation setup. It would be great if we can retain this portable set up as it is, since we keep reusing it every couple of weeks. It would be convenient if we can fiber couple the path to the PD under test with a 2m long fiber. Then we will not have to remove the PD from the optical table while testing it.

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6424
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Fri Mar 16 10:37:52 2012 |
Jenne | Update | Electronics | Jenne Laser |
Quote: |
Here is a picture of the small black breadboard on which I have put together the PD characterisation setup. It would be great if we can retain this portable set up as it is, since we keep reusing it every couple of weeks. It would be convenient if we can fiber couple the path to the PD under test with a 2m long fiber. Then we will not have to remove the PD from the optical table while testing it.
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This is totally sweet Suresh! I don't remember how much more fiber is coiled up under the plate that has the "Jenne Laser" label, but there's a reasonable amount. It's not 2m, but maybe we can just extend the blue snakey thing some? |