To use the VLA, an observing file must be prepared and submitted to VLA Operations. This file may be generated by the NRAO-supplied program JObserve, which is a GUI-based version of the older OBSERVE program, offering a more modern graphical user interface without OBSERVE's keypad mapping problems. New capabilities (such as support for VLA observing using the Pie Town antenna) have been added to JObserve only.
An observer planning to use more than one subarray at the same time will need to submit a separate observing file for each subarray. In that case, it is recommended to specify further details of each subarray in the 'Special Instructions' field on JObserve's 'Starting Conditions' page.
After your file is prepared, e-mail it to the operators at observe@nrao.edu. Include the program name in the subject line. The operators always acknowledge receipt of the observing file by e-mail. If you do not receive a timely response, call the telescope operators at 505-835-7180. Please complete these operations at least two working days before your observing.
JObserve distributions are currently available for Solaris (Sparc) and Linux with instructions provided to allow a user to port one of these distributions to any machine which can run the Java 2 runtime environment. The latest version of JObserve is 1.7.4, released January 13, 2006, and it may be downloaded from http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/software/jobserve/ .