On Wednesday Angelo and I went to the WI tower to install a prototype for a camera holder that also covers the exposed viewport.
This first version of the holder is made by a metal bracket that is tightened around the flange (NOT the viewport itself, to avoid mechanical stress on the glass) and then a metal cylinder that envelopes the camera and obstructs the viewport.
The figures show the assembly stages. Fig.2,3 in particular show the camera cables exiting the envelope through a thin slit on its bottom side.
The holder is currently installed, so the risk of accidental exposure to 1064 nm light inside the tent around the WI tower is greatly reduced.
We are considering successive iterations made of PVC to further diminish the risck of applying mechanical stress on the viewport and to possibly introduce some ability to adjust the camera. Another feature we would like to introduce is to remove the need for tools to open/close the assembly and move the camera, as currently a #8 wrench is required for these operations.
Images attached to this report
Safety (Laser Safety)galimberti - 9:06 Friday 24 July 2026 (69431)
Print this reportLaser Hazard on the NE & WELasers can be used on both Ends (NE & WE) inside the white curtains with the current laser safety rules. Any work on the lasers and the fibres on the racks 1 & 7 (PCAL & ALS) that requires to disconnect fibres or open laser enclosure must be authorized in advance.
Safety (Laser Safety)galimberti - 8:59 Friday 24 July 2026 (69429)
Print this reportComment to No Laser Hazard in the WI tower (69182)The WI tower is close and pumping. The permit to work is now close, lasers are allowed in the WI tower.
Safety (General safety)vacuum - 8:59 Friday 24 July 2026 (69416)
Print this reportWI tower closing 22/07Access flange to the WI tower is now closed. The pumping process is started (22/07 16:00 LT).
AdV-DAQ (Data collection)masserot - 7:46 Friday 24 July 2026 (69427)
Print this reportComment to rtpc: chronyd[1943]: Can't synchronise: no selectable sources (69425)
According to this plot, the issue seems to be fixed automatically during this night
Images attached to this comment
AdV-DAQ (Data collection)masserot - 0:18 Friday 24 July 2026 (69425)
Print this reportrtpc: chronyd[1943]: Can't synchronise: no selectable sources
Looking at the DAQ VIM plots (plot1, plot2) of the 2026-07-22, one can see that
starting from the 2026-07-22-11h the latency of the TolmFrameBuiders (*_Fb) started to increase
while that of their frame receiver (FbmFFE) remains at the same level (~0.4s max)
This lead that there is an issue with the rtpc's ntpd daemon.
Looking at their /var/log/messages with the date in local time , one can found that there is an issue related to the chronyd daemons .
Below the report related to the chronyd issue for some rtpcs
rtpc4 (SUSP_Fb)
Jul 22 14:37:38 rtpc4 chronyd[1442]: Can't synchronise: no selectable sources Jul 22 15:11:57 rtpc4 chronyd[1442]: Selected source 90.147.138.152 Jul 22 15:17:21 rtpc4 chronyd[1442]: Can't synchronise: no selectable sources Jul 23 20:53:24 rtpc4 chronyd[1442]: Selected source 90.147.138.152 Jul 23 20:53:24 rtpc4 chronyd[1442]: System clock wrong by -7.984378 seconds, adjustment started Jul 23 21:23:37 rtpc4 chronyd[1442]: Can't synchronise: no selectable sources Jul 23 21:37:39 rtpc4 chronyd[1442]: Selected source 90.147.138.152 Jul 23 21:37:39 rtpc4 chronyd[1442]: System clock wrong by 4.052407 seconds, adjustment started
rtpc7 ( FDS_Img; FDS_Fb)
Jul 22 13:53:42 rtpc7 chronyd[1453]: Can't synchronise: no selectable sources Jul 23 23:59:02 rtpc7 chronyd[1453]: Selected source 90.147.138.152 Jul 23 23:59:02 rtpc7 chronyd[1453]: System clock wrong by -7.775702 seconds, adjustment started
In order to measure the optimal gouy phase for the BS sensing I' ve measured the sensing matrix between Sc_BS_MAR_TX_CORR @ 3.1 Hz (for tx) and 3.7Hz (for ty) in the last 200sec of Carm null 1f (having a statistics of 200 days locks since the January 2025) and ASC_B1p_QD1/2_50MHz_H/V_I (in which we have the automatic tuning of the phase to minimize the even modes).
The result is visible in Figure 1, considering (TBC) that QD1 has -45 deg of gouy phase and QD2 45 deg (if this is wrong the fit has to be redone).
Then it comes out that the optimal gouy phase is 78 deg for ty and 16 deg for tx.
I received three high temperature alarm from North End Building. I did not take immediate action because the readings were not excessively high. When I arrived on site, the DMS showed that the temperature was in normal limit (green flag). I couldn't check remotely because the internet is down since yesterday. At the North End Building the chiller was working properly and the temperature inside the hall seemed right. Then alarms ceased.
* Note that any files attached to this report are available in the On-call interface.
While inspecting the WI payload we noticed three spots on the AR surface of the mirror. Looking through the CP, we can see two spots in the right lower direction from the center and one is located in the left lower direction from the center. All of them are within a range of 10 cm from the center.
Some remarks: the spots do not look like point absorbers. PAs are usually sub-micrometer scale and these are round cloudy mm-scale spots. A cleaning operation would be very risky and we decided not to touch the mirror, also motivated by the fact that the spots are NOT located in the HR surface of the mirror.
Some pictures will follow when the network is back.
This morning starting from 11:00 LT me, Rossi Fabrizio and INGV people (Greco Filippo, Messina Alfio and Mirabella Luca) mooved the Absolute Quantum Gravimeter from 1500W Fiber Lab to WEB experimental Hall as scheduled (#69223). The packaging procedures were completed at 12:00 LT. Then, we mooved the boxes up to WEB and we installed it along the south wall of the building (Fig 1). The hardware installation was completed around 13:30 LT. We left WEB at 13:45 LT and we went back to the building at 14:45 LT. We encountered some issues with the local interent connection in the morning (not related with the loss of GARR connection reported by IT Service), the problem has been soved by IT department in the afternoon. We completed the installation at 15:30 LT with the Gravimeter fully operational locally, once the GARR connection will be restored it will be able to be reached from outside EGO.
The Gravimeter, its control unit and the Computer must not be touched, advicing signs have been attached nearby.
During the WI payload works we also verified that the PAM system is well aligned with the mirror center. The led of the PAM system on the tower base was swicthed on and Ettore from inside the tower verified that the led beam was reaching the same place it was before. The baffles around the payload were taken as reference for this check.
Detector Operation (Operations Report)gherardini - 16:51 Wednesday 22 July 2026 (69410)
Print this reportOperator ReportBelow the list of the activities communicated in control room:
PAY: WI payload balancing and final tuning (#69411); VAC: WI tower closing and evacuation; Absolute Quantum Gravimeter installation at west end building (#69411);
During the WI payload works we also verified that the PAM system is well aligned with the mirror center. The led of the PAM system on the tower base was swicthed on and Ettore from inside the tower verified that the led beam was reaching the same place it was before. The baffles around the payload were taken as reference for this check.
While inspecting the WI payload we noticed three spots on the AR surface of the mirror. Looking through the CP, we can see two spots in the right lower direction from the center and one is located in the left lower direction from the center. All of them are within a range of 10 cm from the center.
Some remarks: the spots do not look like point absorbers. PAs are usually sub-micrometer scale and these are round cloudy mm-scale spots. A cleaning operation would be very risky and we decided not to touch the mirror, also motivated by the fact that the spots are NOT located in the HR surface of the mirror.
Some pictures will follow when the network is back.
melo, benedetti - 21:11 Thursday 23 July 2026 (69424)
Print this report
Here the pictures of the spots found yesterday.
Images attached to this comment
Safety (General safety)majorana - 15:51 Wednesday 22 July 2026 (69407)
Print this reportComment to WI operations (69402)We leave the NI vacuum chamber at 12:45
Safety (General safety)majorana - 15:50 Wednesday 22 July 2026 (69406)
Print this reportComment to WI operations (69402)We exit at 12.45
AdV-PAY (NI and WI Payloads)benedetti, gherardini, majorana - 15:31 Wednesday 22 July 2026 (69405)
Print this reportComment to WI payload deployed (69395)This afternoon, we checked the electrical continuity and insulation towards the tower for the following cables: S1 and S2 (marionette coils); U1 (Ring Heater); U2 (Ring Heater motors); U3 (mirror coils for sensing and PT100 on marionette coil); V1 (mirror coils); V2 and V3 (marionette motors); Z2 (temperature probes on mirror coils and on ring heater).
Everything is fine except one connector (U1) not well connected at the level of the F7 cage, problem fixed.
Safety (General safety)majorana - 8:59 Wednesday 22 July 2026 (69402)
Print this reportWI operationsAccess into the WI Chamber now
Comments to this report:
majorana - 15:50 Wednesday 22 July 2026 (69406)
Print this reportWe exit at 12.45
majorana - 15:51 Wednesday 22 July 2026 (69407)
Print this reportWe leave the NI vacuum chamber at 12:45
Safety (Laser Safety)mwas - 20:34 Tuesday 21 July 2026 (69401)
Print this reportComment to NI bottom flange opening request (69126)
In case someone in the future wants to connect the opening and closing of work permits. The NI tower permit to work has been closed using an independent logbook entry https://logbook.virgo-gw.eu/virgo/?r=69393
AdV-PAY (NI and WI Payloads)benedetti, majorana, Menzione, Pasqualetti, Pinto, Zaza - 17:58 Tuesday 21 July 2026 (69395)
Print this reportWI payload deployedIn the afternoon we deployed the payload into the vacuum chamber, connected the cage to F7 and the suspension wire. The operations have been concluded at 17:30
- The load on the SA must be revised. - At a glance a marionette roll seems to appear we compensated on the fly using a further counterweigth, but T7 blades must be considered not to exceed the load.
We see tomorrow morning
Comments to this report:
eugenio.benedetti - 19:49 Tuesday 21 July 2026 (69399)
Print this reportSome pic of the operations
Images attached to this comment
benedetti, gherardini, majorana - 15:31 Wednesday 22 July 2026 (69405)
Print this reportThis afternoon, we checked the electrical continuity and insulation towards the tower for the following cables: S1 and S2 (marionette coils); U1 (Ring Heater); U2 (Ring Heater motors); U3 (mirror coils for sensing and PT100 on marionette coil); V1 (mirror coils); V2 and V3 (marionette motors); Z2 (temperature probes on mirror coils and on ring heater).
Everything is fine except one connector (U1) not well connected at the level of the F7 cage, problem fixed.
While the IMC and the RFC were locked and the BPC was following the IMC, we tried to change the setpoints of the AA control loop. We changed the setpoints of the MCT_{h/v}_SET and {N/F}F_AC{h/v}_SET channels. While changing the FF_ACv_SET setpoint toward negative values, there were a clear improvement RFC_TRA power, however, the Ioop became unstable because the sensing matrix changed with the setpoint.
The next figure shows the evolution of the IMC_TRA and RFC_TRA while we were changing the diffferent setpoints
After the test, we set back the RF quadrants setpoints to 0, and the setpont the end mirror quadrand to -0.1 vertical and +0.45 horizontal. Then, we tuned the INJ_IMC_SET in order to minimize the coupling with PMC.
