Alcator C-Mod Weekly Highlights
			July 13, 1999



Maintenance continued on Alcator C-Mod last week.  Cooldown and
other preparations for plasma operations began midweek.


Engineering
-----------

In preparation for operation this week, cooldown of the magnets began
last week.  The Heat system was also brought back online to maintain
the vacuum vessel near room temperature.  An extensive checkout of
the power systems was begun late last week that included all power supplies,
the bus system, and the alternator.  Gas lines have been pumped down and
baked, and overnight ECDC will begin tonight to prepare the vessel walls for
operation.

We continued to work on the RF systems last week.  Transmitters #2, #3, and
#4 are now operational.  Transmitter #1 is currently being tuned into
a dummy load.  A corona discharge along the actuator rod for the
phaseshifter for the #3 transmitter has delayed conditioning of the  J-port
antenna somewhat.  We expect to have the phaseshifter back online by midweek
with improved insulation and a corona shield at the location where the damage
occurred.  We suspect that some damage to the phaseshifter was already present
previous to the change over to SF6 as the buffer gas (instead of N2) as
mentioned in last week's report.  We can now expect reliable operation of
this component once it has been cleaned up and the modifications made.
Vacuum conditioning of the E-port antenna using transmitter #2 will begin
today, and conditioning of the D-port antenna will begin as soon as
transmitter #1 has been tuned.

The assembly of the last control boards needed for the DNB MOD/REG is nearing
completion.  


Travel and Visitors
-------------------

Gerd Schilling from PPPL visited last week to help with the RF systems.

Gary Hallock (UT at Austin) visited the PSFC on 7/7/99-7/9/99 to help
with the PCI upgrade and data analysis.

A large fraction of the Alcator Physics staff is attending 
the Snowmass, CO meeting this week and next.