In my previous column in this newsletter, I alluded to a reorganisation of the JCMT Group at the JAC, which was at that time in the works. This change has since been approved and fully implemented. The post of Associate Director, formerly held by Dr Per Friberg, has been replaced by two new positions: a Head of JCMT Instrumentation and a Head of JCMT Operations. The former post has been taken by Per, while Dr Remo Tilanus has been appointed to the latter. Both Per and Remo have taken up their new duties with energy and enthusiasm, and we are already reaping the benefits of this.

The major development at the telescope since my last column is the continued, incremental implementation of the Observation Management Project (OMP). The Observing Tool released for semester 03B, which has just started as I write this, allows PIs to enter both heterodyne and SCUBA programmes into the database for the first time. Together with the queue management tools and PI feedback tools, the OMP software suite is now virtually complete. Our next target in this development is a thorough revision and reorganisation of the JCMT web pages to fully integrate the new observing paradigm. I remain convinced that the shift to flexible scheduling, which drove the development of the OMP, will enhance the scientific productivity of the JCMT.

At the time of writing, the facility and instruments are performing well. The secondary mirror unit was removed from the telescope in July for its first complete overhaul in many years: the mechanisms were stripped, cleaned, lubricated and reassembled. In the course of this work we discovered some failure modes waiting to happen, so the downtime was well worth it. The heterodyne receivers are all functioning well, with the exception of RxW, in which one C-band mixer recently failed; the device is currently at MRAO for assessment. SCUBA has continued to perform reliably since the cryogenic repair last November, but it continues to exhibit erratic noise levels, for reasons which we have so far been unable to identify.

The next new instrument to arrive at the JCMT will be THUMPER, a 200µm imaging photometer being developed at Cardiff (PI: Dr Derek Ward-Thompson). A four-week period of daytime integration work is scheduled to begin on 3 November. THUMPER has been awarded 9 shifts during the remainder of semester 03B for astronomical commissioning, which will be flexibly scheduled to take advantage of the best weather as it occurs. Assuming all goes well, THUMPER will then be available to the entire JCMT community as a common-user instrument beginning in semester 04A.

Looking ahead, 2004 will be an extremely busy year at the JCMT. ACSIS, the new correlator which will replace the venerable DAS, is currently scheduled to arrive in March. Infrastructure work is already in progress to make room for the four racks of ACSIS electronics on the carousel floor. HARP-B, the imaging heterodyne receiver which will replace the current workhorse instrument RxB, will arrive not long afterwards. The commissioning of these two instruments will keep our engineering, software and scientific staff extremely busy. Finally, a new polarimeter called ROVER, being developed for use with HARP-B and RxA, has already been used successfully at IRAM and will be ready for commissioning at the JCMT during 2004.

The flagship development for the JCMT is, of course, SCUBA-2. I am pleased to be able to report that the project is making excellent technical progress, and is on schedule for delivery in late 2005. Unfortunately, we have not yet identified sufficient funds to enable us to build the instrument to specification: the funds received to date from the UK Office of Science and Technology, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the JCMT Development Fund make up about 85% of the total cost. While a descope plan is in place should it be needed, I am busily seeking the additional funds which will enable the full instrument to be built. This is a critical element of the strategic plan for the JCMT.

Our current long-range plan calls for the following instrument suite on the JCMT from 2006 onwards: HARP-B, with ROVER as its polarimeter; SCUBA-2; and two ancillary instruments for SCUBA-2, a Fourier transform spectrometer and a polarimeter, which are being developed in Canada. Because these instruments lend themselves to large-scale survey-style observations (particularly SCUBA-2), it is appropriate at this time to begin the development of a survey strategy. In order that this strategy may be driven by the user community, the JCMT Board has designated three individuals to lead this debate within their countries: Rob Ivison (UK), Gilles Joncas (Canada) and Paul van der Werf (Netherlands). The development of a robust and scientifically strong survey strategy which will take maximum advantage of the JCMT's future capabilities is critical for the future of the facility, and I encourage any users with an interest in this development to contact one of the individuals listed above.

Although the Board approved the development of linked interferometry with the SMA in 1996, little has happened since then while we have waited for the SMA to be ready. In view of the time which has now passed since the Board's decision and the developments elsewhere in submm interferometry (e.g., CARMA), I have convened an ad hoc panel from amongst the community to review the scientific case for this project. The JAC will, in parallel, review the technical plan and the cost of the project. The future of this project will, on the basis of these assessments, be reconsidered by the Board at its next meeting in November.

The end of June marked the end of an era at the JCMT, when we said farewell to Henry Matthews, who was recalled to Canada by the HIA. Henry had been with the JCMT for 15 years, and his vast experience with the observatory will be missed. I wish him every success in his new position at DRAO. Henry has been replaced by Ming Zhu, a former PhD student and Research Associate of Ernie Seaquist. Ming and Gerald Moriarty Schieven will continue to provide support for Canadian users of the JCMT. In other personnel matters, Greg Sarge, our newest Telescope System Specialist, joined us in early July.

Professor Gary Davis
Director JCMT
4 August 2003

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