sPHENIX EMCal discussion

[John Haggerty <haggerty AT bnl.gov>]

Hello,

Some of you have heard that there could be a delay in the test beam at 
Fermilab.  Of course, things could still go south, and although it would 
probably be warmer there anyway, at this moment it appears that we'll 
continue to plan to begin around Jan 18.

Below are the details.

> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> Subject:        Scheduling meeting Canceled - news
> Date:   Mon, 12 Dec 2016 18:04:07 +0000
> From:   Mandy Kathleen Rominsky <rominsky AT fnal.gov>
> To:     test_beam <test_beam AT fnal.gov>
...
> Last week we had a beamline element fail (the septa) that sends beam to the 
> Switchyard (SeaQuest and FTBF). Fixing it will require a 2.5 day access, that 
> will take down the whole complex. There is directorate level meeting 
> happening to figure out the best course of action. I hope to have news for 
> you all later this afternoon. As soon as I know something, I will be sure to 
> pass along the information.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mandy

> A little more background – there is an idea to fix the broken element, but 
> they are not sure how successful it will be. If it fries, then we’re down 
> till April. So they are being cautious.
>
> What would be a “drop dead” date for you guys? When you could cancel 
> flights/shipments etc. I sincerely hope it won’t come to that, but having 
> those kind dates would be helpful.

Today Mandy sent us the plan:

> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> Subject:        Plans at the test beam
> Date:   Thu, 15 Dec 2016 21:28:58 +0000
> From:   Mandy Kathleen Rominsky <rominsky AT fnal.gov>
> To:     John S. Haggerty <haggerty AT bnl.gov>, Eric Mannel <mannel AT bnl.gov>
...
> This is the official line from management:
>
> “The plan is to begin the ~2.5 day shutdown to replace the Septa on Jan. 
> 10th.  If something happens to take the machine down for a significant time 
> before this, the Septa replacement would be done at that time if practical.  
> AD folks are currently trying to understand better why the Septa wires have 
> been breaking, so hopefully when the time comes we will have greater 
> confidence in the fix. Please forward this to the impacted users, and let us 
> know if there is anything else the Lab can do to help.”
>
> So, in theory, things should be fixed as you are coming in. I am encouraged 
> that they are fixing it earlier. I will tell you there is still some risk. 
> The absolute worst case is that the septum breaks again, which would put us 
> down until April. I do believe they are serious about fixing this and keeping 
> it going though.
...
> Mandy

--
John Haggerty
email: haggerty AT bnl.gov
cell: 631 741 3358