When & Where

14th to the 25th September 2009.  The training will take place at a hotel in the Boulder Colorado area; the exact location will be confirmed shortly.

Who Should Attend this Course?

The course is for any existing customers who are interested in learning more about our Radar product range or any potential customers who want to see the benefits a Vaisala Radar system can provide.

Trainers

The training will be delivered by Jason Selzler, Fritz O’Hora and Lester Atkinson.

Jason is the product manager and is responsible for determining and prioritizing product development needs and providing technical support to Sales and Marketing teams. He also helps with system integration, upgrades, and testing.

Fritz works in project management, system integration and testing. In addition, he provides customer service support.

Lester was the Engineering Manager for development and deployment of the NASA Portable S-Band Dual Polarization Radar, (NPOL). Lester has been involved with Vaisala Sigmet equipment since 1986. 

Between them they have a wide range of experience of all aspects of Weather Radar  which will ensure the high standard of the training.

Costs

The cost of the event will be $3000 for both weeks and $1750 for any one week.  This fee covers the training, drinks and refreshments during class and one cocktail/dinner/party function each week.  There will also be a tour of the Vaisala facilities in Boulder and training certificates will also be issued at the end of the weeks.

Course Objectives

At the end of the course the students will be able to:

• Give an overview and describe the hardware incorporated in the RCP8/RVP900 Digital IF Receiver and Signal Processor
• State the main principals involved in Doppler Processing in the RVP8/RVP900
• Explain how to install, configure and calibrate the RVP8/RVP900
• Give an overview and describe the hardware incorporated in the RCP8 Antenna Control Processor
• Describe how to configure, control and monitor the RCP8
• Show how to install and upgrade the software associated with the RCP8
• Perform a system backup and restore
• Describe the basic IRIS architecture
• Show how to configure the IRIS software
• Perform task scheduling and monitoring functions in the IRIS software
• Explain how to record data and also play it back in using IRIS software
• Describe how to use the developer’s environment, directory structure and source code modification functions to their benefit
• Perform operational configuration and simulation tasks

Basic Course Content

Week 1 - 14th to the 18th September

Covers the RVP8/RVP900 Advanced Digital Receiver, Digital Transmitter, and Signal Processor, the RCP8 Radar and Antenna Control Processor.

Week 2 - 21st to the 25th September

Covers IRIS software.  Includes installation, operation and maintenance.

Training Syllabus

Monday, 14 September
 
AM1    Introductions and overview of the RCP8/RVP8 hardware.
AM2  RVP8/RVP900 Hardware Description                   
PM1      RVP8/RVP900 Doppler Processing                   
PM2      RVP8/RVP900 Doppler Processing                  

Tuesday, 15 September
 
AM1     RVP8/RVP900 Doppler Processing
AM2     RVP8/RVP900 Test – Ascope Utility & Time Series Archive
PM1      RVP8/RVP900 Calibration – ZAUTO Utility
PM1      RVP8/RVP900 Installation and Configuration (setup utility, start/stop

Wednesday, 16 September
 
AM1      RVP8/RVP900 Installation and Configuration (dspx)
AM2     Tx Card and Pulse Compression
PM1      Dual Polarization
PM2     Adv. Dual Polarization, Hydroclass and Attenuation Correction

Thursday, 17 September
 
AM1      RCP8 Overview and Hardware Description
AM2     RCP8 Antenna Servo Theory
PM1      RCP8 Antenna Servo Configuration
PM2     RCP8 Antenna Utility, Sun Tracking, SunCal utility
 
Friday, 18 September
 
AM1      RCP8 Control and Monitoring I/O (Bitex)
AM2     Software Installation and Upgrade
PM1     System Backup/Restore
PM2    Open Topics

Monday, 21 September
 
AM1      IRIS (standard and optional items)
AM2     IRIS architecture (Hardware, Data Flow, Basic Navigation)
PM1      Quick Look Forecaster’s Window to IRIS
PM2      Quick Look Window Hands-On
 
Tuesday, 22 September
 
AM1     TASK Configuration (scanning and signal processing)
AM2     TASK Configuration (clutter maps, velocity corrections)
PM1       Task Scheduling and monitoring (Real Time Display, Radar Status)
PM2       Product Configuration and Scheduling
 
Wednesday, 23 September
 
AM1    Product configuration and interpretation
AM2    Product configuration and interpretation
PM1      Product Output (Network, Printer, Windows, Archive, Export)
PM2      Data Recording and Playback
 
Thursday, 24 September
 
AM1      Overlays & Color Setup
AM2      System Monitoring (IRISnet, BITEX, log files)
PM1     Developer’s environment, directory structure, source code modification
PM2     User Product Insert/Pipes, Data Formats
 
Friday, 25 September
 
AM1     Operational configuration and simulation
AM2     Operational configuration and simulation
PM1      Operational configuration and simulation (maintenance/test     
             software (sigterm, rays, show_iris, etc.)
PM2    Services associated with Weather Radar and Open Topics

Course Materials

Food and beverages during the class will be provided to attendees on all the days. Each delegate will also receive full handouts on CD which will contain the following manuals and technical specifications: -

• IRIS Product and Display User’s Manual
• IRIS Radar User’s Manual
• IRIS Installation Manual
• IRIS Programmer’s Manual
• IRIS Utilities Manual
• RVP8 User’s Manual
• RCP8 User’s Manual

In addition to manuals students will also receive:

• Ron Rinehart’s Radar for Meteorologists, an introductory text on radar meteorology that is written in an entertaining and informal style. 

• Unix for Dummies, a task-oriented book that contains information about file searches, software installation, and X Windows navigation.

Vaisala will also be supplying computers for you to work on during the training sessions.