Version 1.3-04 25-Feb-1996 - Command FIT accepts thresholds on option /LEVEL. - The relative channel gain corrections can be modified at any time using one of the following commands: sic\let chan_gain ... or nic\set gain_c on ... or nic\set beam = = ... The commands are fully equivalent. - The skew of the mapping field is added to command HEADER. - CONVERT can combine Jy and mJy maps. - CONVERT computes limits of output map if RA_EXTENT=DEC_EXTENT=0. - CONVERT accepts a new parameter CUTOFF which defines the threshold below which data are blanked. - Channel flags are not erased when getting a new scan. Version 1.3-05 15-Mar-1996 - FLAG accepts option /SUBSCAN. - The procedure PR:RMASK defines a mask for RESTORE task. It will soon be replaced by the new command SUPPORT. - DESPIKE : In previous versions of NIC, variable SIGNAL was restored before despiking: spikes found by previous DESPIKE command were replaced by their initial value before looking for new spikes. It is not done anymore. Version 1.3-06 03-JUL-1996 - Variable REF_GAIN replaced by BOLGAIN. - Option LIST /SUBSCAN is now available. - Some minor bugs (ONOFF) and a major one (NOISE) were removed. ONOFF: wrong weighting of individual subscans, NOISE: an error in the channel to channel correlations caused a loss of signal. Version 1.4-01 20-Nov-1996 - SHIFT AND ADD to produce single-beam images from variable SIGNAL - SUPPORT replaces the BASE /SUPPORT command. - FIT command updated to allow a file named nic.fit to be used by the software in order to provide alternative beam parameters. - The annoying loss of all the parameters in the header of maps is currently solved with a trick. Waiting for a new data format ... - X-Window features enabled. Version 1.4-02 27-Jan-1998 - Total power data of a sequence of maximum 20 scans can now be retrieved with the POWER command. For more detail have a look to the on-line help. Use procedure TOTPOW to plot total power data: e.g. totpow 5802 5804 plots the data of scans 5802 to 5804. For more information please consult "input totpow". - The FIT command allows fitting amplitudes in units of mJy, Jy and Counts. - A new gain-elevation curve (Greve et al. A&A 1998) will now be used for all data recorded later than February 1995. It corrects for a slightly different (10%) efficiency loss observations carried out at elevations below 30 degrees. - The logical link by default of "BOLO_DATA:" is now "$HOME/nmb/" - ON-OFF scans: o The ON-OFF command was completely revised, including the noise estimates. Several options were made available for the removal of high frequency noise in excess. Please consult the NIC documentation for detailed information. o The reference channel for ON-OFF observations can now be any of the channels in the multi-beam bolometer. - FOCUS scans: o Solving focus data gives SFCZ in millimeters. o Focus data can now be solved for the reference channel - POINTING scans: o You may now solve for pointing scans with 4, 8, 12 and 16 subscans. Use /BEAM and /TRUNCATE for more flexibility. o Variables FIT_POINTING and FIT_FOCUS are now available for further processing. These variables are in the FIT section. o Noise suppression is now feasible on pointing scans using the BASE /NOISE commands. To solve for noise corrected pointing scans execute the following commands support base /order 0 /noise solve o Pointing data can now be solved for the reference channel - To retrieve the number of the current NIC release we have now implemented the "version" command. - NIC allows reducing data obtained with SHARC, the Submillimeter High Angular Resolution Camera at the CSO, on an experimental basis. Please contact us at nic@ iram.fr for more information. Version 1.4-03 03-Feb-1998 - To avoid confusion when retrieving total power data with the POWER command, misleading messages like "Using a mean zenith opacity of" are now suppressed (no correction is definitively applied). - The SOLVE /ALL command produces maps which are not realigned in azimuth. Version 1.4-04 04-Dec-1998 - The ONOFF data reduction takes into account ON- to OFF-beam contamination by variable ONOFF_BEAM which is the radius of the ON- and OFF-beam avoidance region in arcsec. - The SOLVE /ALL command was refurbished: use it to retrieve the pointing parameters of the telescope (col* and nule) whenever the central channels is off by more than a beam. - Flagged subscans are now taken into account when solving for the atmospeheric opacity (SOLVE command). - RASTERDIPs (= short integrations made at equidistant elevations using procedure @ rasterdip.pro ) can now be reduced using command SOLVE. - COL* is now available in variable COLSTAR. Together with NULE it is used to fix the pointing corrections for the telescope via the OBS program. - Fluxes may now be computed using procedure FLUX. Version 1.4-05 12-Feb-1999 - The signals from the on- and off-phases are now accessible in variables PHASE1 and PHASE2 (currently, only for Pico Veleta). Version 1.4-06 10-Mar-1999 - ON-THE_FLY scans : In the RESTORE task, it is now possible to use the restoring comb-like function on a smaller support to reduce noise resulting from the restoring process. The variable COMB_TEETH is used to choose how many impulses are taken COMB_TEETH=0 means full support (default value) COMB_TEETH=1 means 1 positive impulse and 1 negative impulse in the restoring function COMB_TEETH=2 means 2 positive impulses and 2 negative impulses etc ... - ON-OFF scans : The variable SCAN_LIST is used to select scans when computing mean and rms on several scans. New graphic windows are available to display maps. Version 1.4-07 07-Feb-2000 - SKYDIP: command SOLVE takes the telescope forward efficiency into account. The RF passband of Mambo II is implemented and can be activated by option /BAND. The atmospheric transmission profile is plotted (variable BAND_ATMOS) when using an RF passband. - SIMULATE: command simulate was completely refurbished. - FIELD: option /NOISE was implemented to create NMB data files containing simulated correlated (sky)noise. - Minor changes were made on command HEADER (lists more information), FLAG (allows use of the ".. to .." syntax), CHECK, BASELINE and in the procedures. - Current version is ready for the new 117 channel bolometer array and is ready to read "fast sampling" data recorded with Bogle, the new MPIfR backend in use since January 2000. Version 1.4-08 02-May-2000 - SUPPORT: correction of an error which was inserted unfortunately in the 1.4-07 version of NIC. When defined from cnv maps, the support was not correctly calculated for Az-El plane.