Alcator C-Mod Weekly Highlights
                  November 14, 2011


FY2012 weeks of research operations
Target: TBD
Completed: 0
Plasma Shots: 0


Operations
----------

Alcator C-Mod is undergoing a 120C bake of the vacuum vessel. Helium
leak checks early last week, before the bake began, found no leaks. The
bake will last approximately 10 days, and will soon be combined with
Electron Discharge Cleaning (ECDC) to help clean the vessel walls.

Diagnostic systems are being brought back on line including the
Two-Color-Interferometer and density feedback system, the Diagnostic
Neutral Beam, MSE, Neutron and Hard X-Ray detectors, and magnetics.


ICRF Systems
------------

Preparations for operation of the FFT system are underway.  After
repositioning a flow switch interlock, the system is operating normally
and requires only minor adjustments before being made operational.

Network analyzer measurements of the new ARRA funded 4-strap antenna
have been made in vacuum.  These data will be used by Jay Chung, PPPL,
to develop a CST simulation of the antenna.

Analysis and testing of the FMIT#3 crowbar ignitron continued last week.


Lower Hybrid Systems
--------------------

Tests of the new TPS control boards using a fault emulator indicated an
issue with the body current fault reporting. Further investigation shows
that gains for the body current channels and for the DAC channels
providing remote setpoint capability need to be changed for optimal
scaling.  These and other tests have shown that some modifications to
the software will be required for proper and robust operation.  The
vendor has been very responsive in providing information and updates to
the program and these modifications are underway.

After careful checks of new wiring, we have begun to power up the Lower
Hybrid carts and some components of the new Transmitter Protection
System (TPS).  Water flow, Collector Over Temperature (COT), and
wavegude switch boxes have been powered up thus far.  Testing of the PLC
interface boxes and fiber communications electronics continued.


Diagnostics
-----------

The new MSE inter-shot calibration system is now remotely operable and
was used to monitor changes in the MSE calibration during the initial
C-Mod pump-down and torus bake.

The Core CXRS diagnostic has been calibrated for CXRS measurements using
B VI, and for FICXS in the vicinity of H-alpha, in preparation for C-Mod
operation.


Remote Participation, Travel, and Visitors
------------------------------------------

Most C-Mod Physicists and Graduate Students are at the 2011 APS-DPP
Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah this week.

Guy Matthews, JET, UK, visited MIT on November 10. Dr. Matthews was the
leader of the engineering and design effort for ITER-like Wall (ILW)
construction project.  Over the last 6 years a completely new set of
tiles and support structures for the JET tokamak has been installed. JET
recently restarted operation, and now Dr. Matthews leads one of the two
JET physics task forces. He gave a seminar on the most recent JET
results. He also spend time discussing C-Mod high-Z operation and SOL
physics and parallels to JET with Alcator scientists.

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