Next Meeting
Agenda for Next Meeting
This Week's Attendees
J. Bennett, S. Benson, C. Bohn, J. Boyce, D. Douglas, F. Dylla, R. Evans, J. Fugitt, J. Gubeli, R. Hill, K. Jordan, R. Li, L. Merminga, G. Neil, C. Pillar, P. Piot, M. Shinn, R. Walker, M. Wissman, B. Yunn
Closed Action Items
New Action Items
Old Action Items
Items of Discussion
R. Walker summarized the status of the hardware tasks. Basically the MUSTs either are, or will be, complete by early next week, and many of the SHOULDs and LIKEs will also be done. Walker will be contacting system owners for checks and sign-offs of their respective systems early next week.
F. Dylla summarized the machinations of the BESAC Committee Meeting and other "current events", including program development for the Navy, upcoming meetings with members of the Virginia congressional delegation, ADM Gaffney's visit planned for 16 Feb 98, etc. C. Bohn also added that the Air Force has requested a presentation on the FEL to support an ongoing directed- energy study. Bottom line: Interest in the FEL is very much alive and apparently growing, and our funding situation is being widely advertised.
Bohn went over the two-week commissioning schedule and assignments; please regularly check the schedule to keep up to date on the assignments (it's accessible from the FLOG page on the Web). The pattern is the usual one: diagnostics during Owl Shift, high-power lasing during Day Shift, and lasing studies during Swing Shift. Bohn also pointed out that occasionally he will need to appoint a surrogate Commissioning Coordinator, especially since he is aware of some upcoming absences. R. Walker eagerly volunteered for the job, thereby nearly triggering a brawl over who will be selected for the task. After restraining everyone, Bohn offered reassuring words that he will be liberal in doling out the assignment.
A. Grippo summarized the status of the software tasks carried out during the January down. One interesting addition is a software screen that will provide beam current at both the 1G and 2G dumps and at the first BCM cavity, both for pulsed and cw beam. Consequently we should be able to identify easily the presence of beam loss, and to some extent isolate its location. We can now run 75 MHz beam, control the new beam viewers, do a Golden Orbit Save/Restore, and we have a more capable AMS, just to name some of the key accomplishments.
D. Douglas not only revised the "High-Power Setup Metaprocedure", but he also wrote a new "FEL Driver Recovery Procedure/Optimization Test Plan" as a guide to recovering the "15 Dec 98" machine. Bohn will put copies of these documents in the Procedures binders located in the FEL and MCC control rooms. Both Douglas and Bohn emphasized the strategy of recovering the Dec machine and then working from there to get rid of the beam loss in the reinjection region.
G. Biallas summarized the status of his planning for injector work, and it reflects the ideas expressed over the last few months. P. Piot pointed out that there may be a legitimate need to lower the gradient of the buncher cavity, especially if careful calibration shows it is too high, because PARMELA indicates a high gradient generates a distended beam profile and concomitantly poorer emittance at the wiggler. He reminded us that the emittance in the Dec machine was relatively large. Plan is to make the change when deemed necessary, but do so in consonance with keeping in check the radiation on the wiggler. More precisely, we will invoke Biallas' plans for injector setup if and when we have difficulty pushing up the average current.
Bohn is grateful to everyone for their hard work during the down. He thinks the prospects of making rapid progress toward a kilowatt are good. We will soon know for sure.
New Issues
None.