Two weeks of continuous remote attendance during CONT11

Ettl, M.; Neidhardt, A.; Mühlbauer, M.; Pl"otz, C.; Hase, H.; Sobarzo, S.; Herrera, C.; Onate, E; Zaror, P.; Pedreros, F.; Zapato, O.

Between September 15th, 2011 and September 29th, 2011 a continuous VLBI session was operated by the network of the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS). This CONT11 campaign is a continuation of the series of very successful continuous VLBI campaigns that were observed at irregular intervals since 1994. Within these two weeks, fourteen telescopes contributed to this experiment. Therefore, this was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the stability of e-RemoteCtrl over long time. Furthermore, it was very useful to gather experience in remote attendance over a longer time period. The software, developed by the Observatory Wettzell, was used to attend the sessions at TIGO Concepción, Chile during the night shifts without any problems. This remote control experiment showed the usability of the new observation strategies for future experiments and developments. In parallel, a second testing connection was established to the Australian telescope Kathrine for a monitoring and integration test. Overall, the CONT11 experiment was very productive for demonstrating, testing and collecting experience with station remote control capabilities with e-RemoteCtrl over long distances and over a longer time period.