EVN Technical and Operations Group Meeting

Important!! Program change due to Irene

Shortened Workshop on afternoon 29.8. starting 13:30

TOG meeting on 30.8. starting at 8:30

• On the morning of the 29th setting up and testing of video and/or telecon to TOG meeting next day.
• Telescope tour as planned on Tuesday 16:00 local time.
• Tour under telescope and labs Monday morning

Please register online at: http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/div/vlbi/5thTOG/

Rental cars:

See: http://www.naic.edu/science/logistics.htm

We will try to organise sharing of rental cars depending on arrival times at San Juan airport.

Note: You will either need a visa or have to register with https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ before you travel.

This is the list of the assignements to the rooms at the observatory. Anybody else has to book a hotel room (see below):

Hotel: Quick, Zhen, Zhao, Wei

There are three hotels in this neighbourhood that Tapasi can recommend. These are about 40 minutes drive away from the observatory. Here are their webpages:

http://www.hotelrosadelmar.com/
http://hotelpuntamaracayopr.com/
http://www.elbuencafe.com/

29.8.2011: In the evening Radionet sponsored dinner at the pool of the observatory

(After 4pm we will have a tour of the telescope)

 1. History of the EVN and outlook to 2015 - Mantovani
 2. Science done with the EVN - Mantovani
 3. VLBI equipment upgrade at Arecibo - Gosh
 4. Geodetic VLBI2010 plans - Neidhardt
 5. Hardware developments in VLBI - Whitney
 6. The Event Horizon Telescope - Whitney
 7. VLBI developments in China - Zhao

For participants who arrive at the observatory Saturday night or early on Sunday, we have some suggestions for things to do. The observatory grounds themselves offer plenty of places to walk, hike, swim, or just relax. Some staff may be about to escort you around, but keep in mind a full tour is planned as part of the programme.

Also, the northwest coast of Puerto Rico has many wonderful beaches, some of which offer very good snorkeling. Some of the more popular beaches (Jobos, Shacks, Crashboat) take between 60 and 90 minutes to get to from the observatory. There are other, smaller beaches nearer to the Arecibo-Hatillo area as well.

Another activity is an opportunity to explore Old San Juan. This will not be a formal guided tour, rather a chance to roam around and discover things for yourself, though at least 2 staff members will be there. Luis Quintero and Kevin Douglas will depart the Arecibo area around 9 (?) that morning, in order to pick up some of the EVN people at SJU, and then head straight to Old San Juan, hoping to arrive there around 11:30. A suggested Google map of the Old San Juan walk is linked below, including places to park vehicles. In order to get back to the observatory in time for registration and the small opening reception, it is advised to leave Old San Juan by around 3:15 pm. This should provide plenty of time to enjoy the scenery, have some food and drink, shop, etc.

To those of you renting cars - it would be greatly appreciated if you could decide whether you want to take part in any off-site activities, and then find out how many other people you can take in your vehicles. (Perhaps the wiki site can be used to coordinate this???)

Summarising Sunday options:

1. AO cafeteria will be open for Breakfast and Lunch.
2. Possible walking tour of the grounds of the observatory, from 10 - 12 am.
3. San Juan tour between 11:30 - 4:00 pm (KD and LQ leaving observatory at about 9am).
4. There will be registration+reception in the library from 3 - 6:30 PM. Reception will include snacks that could be enough for a light dinner. Participants could also choose to drive out to town/beaches after early registration around 3pm, while participants on San Juan tour should plan to arrive back at Arecibo by 6:00 pm.

Proposed Old San Juan tour:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=209019875233393683115.0004aa2b5ec2e7b4cc781&msa=0&ll=18.469087,-66.115336&spn=0.014308,0.019248

with suggestions for lunch:
The Latin Roots (http://www.thelatinroots.com/),
Mojito's (Google for reviews) and
Siglo XX (good sandwiches… http://sigloxxpr.com/)

Info from Kevin Douglas:

Dear Walter et al,

Regarding the Old San Juan tour, if you click on the google map on the wiki page, the suggested starting point is the Banco Popular (#1 on the list of sites). It is a well-annotated map. The start time we have given in the wiki blurb is 11:30, but that is rather dependent on how quickly we can retrieve Minttu and Jouko at the airport.

And I'm sorry that I don't have a cell phone, but I will probably be at the observatory on Saturday for at least part of the day. The observatory's number is 787-878-2612 and my extension is 305. I think the total cost of tolls will be $3.25, but some rental car companies include the 'auto-expresso' pass, so I'd advise asking about it when you pick up your cars. Then you can drive through the express lanes and not worry about throwing money in the basket.

See you all soon. Kevin

Salitre-787-816-2020
www.salitre.com
Tuesday - closed
Saturday 11am - 11pm
Sunday 11am

Lenel- 787-815-8400
www.lenelrestaurant.com
Tuesday 12n-9pm
Saturday 3pm-11am
Sunday 12n-9pm

Mamposteao -787-820-2264
www.elmamposteao.com
Tuesday - 11am-10p
Saturday 11am-11pm
Sunday 11am-10pm

Menta - 787-642-3765
Tuesday - Closed
Saturday 5pm - 10pm
Sunday 12n - 4pm

Restaurants in the area called, Isla Verde, north of Rt 26. (you will be driving on that before joining Rt.22 to come to Arecibo).

Several more in that area near Isla Verde can be found here:
http://www.yelp.com/c/isla-verde-pr/restaurants

Metropol - 787-970-1000 (they are a chain -to see their locations click on “contact” on their webpage. Their unit in the Bercelonetta Outlet mall, is about 30-minutes east of Arecibo, just off the expressway 22. So, Saturday's early arrivals could be there at a good time for dinner - may turn out to be easy to get back on RT22).

http://www.metropolpr.com
Tuesday 11am - 10pm
Saturday 11am - 11am
Sunday 11am - 10pm

Spice Restaurant Bar and Lounge -787-200-9967
Marginal Ave. Isla Verde 6700
Sunday Wednesday 11:30am - 2:00am
Thursday - Saturday 11:30am - 5:00am

For further help please contact Walter Alef (MPIfR, Bonn) or Tapasi Gosh (Arecibo)