CERN Opendays - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 29, 2013, 08:38:45 pm
content: Cern have two open days at the end of september, with tickets for underground toursAm thinking of a short trip there, is a great opportunity while they have downtime at the lhc.Anyone in the uk/europe fancy meeting up?http://opendays2013.web.cern.ch

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 29, 2013, 09:39:06 pm
content: Hey, thanks for the tip. I am seriously thinking of going.

author: grimmjaw
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 08:00:21 am
content: Count me in.BTW I'm from germany

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 10:10:22 am
content: I hate anyone who gets to go, that is all

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 11:38:33 am
content: will check flights and hotels tonight, jeez this is not good timing as i'm about to go on holiday driving from the UK to Italy starting this weekend! Talk about wallet busting!awww dont be like that Dave, i'm sure we can get you a postcard

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 11:42:56 am
content: Quote from: dexters_lab on August 30, 2013, 11:38:33 amBastards!

author: Nermash
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 11:44:36 am
content: Ticket for Point 6 (LHC) :: Check

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 12:07:26 pm
content: trying to book underground tickets but the its a bit confusing over which location your booking for, but looks like there are no more tickets until Monday

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 12:38:53 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on August 30, 2013, 11:42:56 amFlights Helsinki - Geneva - Helsinki - - - check,Ticket to visit the ATLAS detector underground - - - check,hotel near CERN - - - in progress...... i'll be sure to take plenty of photos

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 12:54:10 pm
content: Be the first few to get sucked into a black hole.

author: rr100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 01:29:51 pm
content: Simultaneity is relative for spatially separated events so if you really want to be the first one you'll be the first one at CERN only :-)Other than that ... the site is making a knot in my brain (imagine how you would tie a watermelon), even if not a big site still I could barely find the registration place; the form where you put name and email doesn't give you any feedback after pushing the button, it seems that it din't work at all, the form where you go is only in french and what's worse all tickets are gone and some will be made available on Monday. ARGHHH!

author: AlfBaz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 01:37:48 pm
content: Quote from: Kremmen on August 30, 2013, 12:38:53 pmTake a couple of Phillips head screw drivers and do an impromptu tear-down

author: DenzilPenberthy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 03:29:01 pm
content: Well done tho those who've got tickets, they've got some pretty cool stuff to look at there! I'm fortunate enough to have been out there through my work. I made and installed some stuff underground for the 'NA62' experiment which is running at the moment from the SPS accelerator which normally feeds the LHC. Also I did some testing work on some fancy FPGA boards that sift through 72 channels of 10Gbit/sec data and pick out stuff worth looking at.While you're there go to 'Restaurant de l'Aviation', it's by the 'Blandonnet' tram stop on the crossroads of the road from the airport and the road that goes through Meyrin to CERN. They do the most amazing steaks with bernaise sauce I've had. Also free refills of bernaise sauce and fritesMost of the other restaurants around are pretty mediocre.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 03:49:18 pm
content: hopefully i can bag a ticket next week while data roaming across franceideally i want to see atlas

author: ejeffrey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 04:04:52 pm
content: Quote from: GK on August 30, 2013, 12:54:10 pmLuckily the black hole generator is offline right now while they upgrade it for greater planet swallowing capability.

author: KedasProbe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 30, 2013, 04:29:20 pm
content: http://webcast.web.cern.ch/webcast/(in about 1h30m)He get paid with a private tour at CERN (nice deal)http://www.scienceandsilliness.com/

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 31, 2013, 06:12:12 am
content: Thanks for the tip! I managed to book tickets for the ATLAS experiment on 29th!Just booking flights...

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 31, 2013, 06:22:39 am
content: Quote from: dexters_lab on August 30, 2013, 12:07:26 pmJust keep refreshing the reservation page nonstop. The free tickets pop up as a combo box where you can check what was made available and when. If you are quick to select what you want and click the reservation button, you then have ~30 min to fill in a name and date of birth.You can reserve up to 4 tickets, so what i did, i made one reservation to get somewhere and made more reservations under different names until i got what i wanted. Then released the other tickets and changed my name to the one i wanted. That worked for me.

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 31, 2013, 07:56:45 am
content: Helsinki-Paris and Geneva-Helsinki flights booked, going to go to Geneva via trainHave to spend some romantic time in Paris with the other half...I just have a few hours on sunday + the tour for CERN in the evening but hopefully it's enough!

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 31, 2013, 10:17:49 pm
content: Thanks Kremmen, will be on the refresh button on monday!Will be cool if we can arrange an eevblog meet, is your tour on saturday or sunday?I also see there maybe places available on the day, i guess for people who drop out last thing. Wonder if you could get to see more than one facility this way?Atlas is my main goal but would also like to see the cms

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 31, 2013, 10:29:46 pm
content: Be aware that if you go by car you'll need to buy a 35 euro sticker (vignet) to drive around in Zwitserland.Edit: I bet there is also lot of interesting stuff above ground. Maybe even more interesting than just big pieces of machinery in underground tunnels. In the NL there is a similar but much smaller research lab (including working nuclear reactors!) which I visited a long time ago. They had many interesting experiments on display.

author: brainwash
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 31, 2013, 10:55:17 pm
content: Yeah, the stupid Swiss vignette system. I don't get it why you have to pay for one year and it expires at the end of the year. And they make sure to stick it really well on your windshield so you don't feel tempted to 'lend' it to another friend.It was a rhetorical question, they do it for the money, of course. Yet all the sport cars from there have to come to Germany to enjoy the free (as in beer) highways and no speed limits. Talk about double standards... [/rant off]

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 07:59:55 am
content: I wouldnt be driving but will be picking up one of those swiss road tax things in a few days oddly enough!

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 10:35:56 am
content: Quote from: dexters_lab on August 31, 2013, 10:17:49 pmMy visit at ATLAS will be on Sunday, the actual visit btw 13-14 so i will be around at 11.00.I suspect multiple visits will be difficult due to the fact that IDs are checked and the tickets are coded. So they will probably check against reservation database that your ticket is a valid one. Looks like you would need a fake ID to use multiple tickets...

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 12:18:52 pm
content: Wasnt thinking of booking with fake id.Just it says on the website:QuoteSo wondered if unused tickets might be available on the day, i am sure they would prefer to have people to go on the tours instead of wasting unused tickets?

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2013, 02:04:56 pm
content: Quote from: dexters_lab on September 01, 2013, 12:18:52 pmNo of course not, that was just me making a lame joke.QuoteIt is guaranteed that not 100.00% of the booked tickets will be presented at the time of the visits, every time. There will always be some last minute impediments preventing someone from being there in time or at all. I guess that might be one reason for the long lead times in preparing for the visits. That gives the organizers a chance to count heads and fill in the tour quotas with replacement visitors.QuoteAbsolutely.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 11, 2013, 09:53:11 pm
content: jeez, been away driving in france, switzerland and italy.it either consisted of no internet access or missing the times of tickets so i still dont have any for the tourshopefully i can bag one now i am back at home

author: aargee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2013, 07:05:36 am
content: We went last year and only got the above ground tour, which itself was a bit of a let down due to power problems.If it's the ATLAS, it is the small collider, if I recall, it's not the LHC. So you won't be seeing the grand engineering of the LHC but it will certainly be worth a look.

author: DenzilPenberthy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2013, 10:22:02 am
content: Nope, ATLAS is one of the experiments on the main LHC ring. It's fekkin huge!

author: brainwash
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2013, 06:54:02 pm
content: Me and some friends might have some tickets left, we'll figure out how many we actually need in the last week once we round everybody up. I'll announce it first here and the interested people can send me their email addresses via PM so we can transfer the tickets.

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2013, 08:48:42 pm
content: Quote from: brainwash on September 12, 2013, 06:54:02 pmEh? I understood all the tickets are reserved for a specific person and are non transferable. And you have to show ID when you go for the tour.

author: brainwash
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2013, 09:05:23 pm
content: When you press delete on a ticket you reserved you have to option to transfer it to another person (via e-mail).

author: rr100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2013, 04:23:34 pm
content: SCORED - ATLAS tickets a few days ago, booked like crazy hotels for the whole week.Question (I see we have somebody who's been there before): they say photo/video cameras are allowed, I assume a bigger camera (a smallish DSLR) plus maybe a flash is still ok (sure, if they don't want flash pictures or pictures at all in some places that's fine as long as I can keep my equipment)? And a generous "man-purse" to keep them plus wallet and stuff (they say "no big bags but I assume they don't mean something as big as a big women purse).

author: lewis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2013, 05:22:40 pm
content: Got tickets, channel tunnel sorted, hotel booked... off to see the Large Hadron Collider!

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 18, 2013, 06:11:25 pm
content: Ok, managed to confirm a ticket for atlas on the sunday. I really wanted saturday so might bin it for a sat one.Had a small issue trying to confirm, it would only accept +33 and +41 area codes, anyone else see this?Need to work out flights and other details. I am guessing that given there are 1000s of tickets its going to be busy?

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 18, 2013, 06:32:16 pm
content: Seems to be a few people going, any recommendations on hotels?

author: rr100
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2013, 07:47:42 am
content: Look across the border in France otherwise hotels might be a problem. There are 2 Premiere Classe (dirt cheap hotel chain) in Annemasse, check public transport first if you don't have your own wheels.Speaking of that:what's the best parking option for Cern. I've seen the diagram with the shuttles but there are many parkins and surely they differ wildly in price and avilability.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 21, 2013, 08:43:21 pm
content: okhotel booked, flights booked

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 21, 2013, 09:14:12 pm
content: would be great to meet up with anyone else here, pm me for my mobile number, i'm staying in the NH Geneva which is near to the airporti guess we'll have to arrange a postcard to keep dave happy

author: Setar2k11
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2013, 09:02:02 pm
content: Quote from: dexters_lab on September 21, 2013, 09:14:12 pmStaying there also.....

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 23, 2013, 09:22:12 pm
content: Cool, need to organise an eevblog meetup

author: brainwash
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2013, 03:03:30 pm
content: I have two tickets available for Saturday on a first-come first-served basis. I need your data (which will not be used for nefarious purposes) in order to transfer the ticket. I don't know if there is any other way to do this.2xPoint Accelerator SystemsDay Saturday 28Arrival Advised arrival time in the vicinity of CERN taking into account the time needed to reach your visit point with CERN shuttles around 15:00Check-In Time at which you must have checked-in on visit point. Showing late at check-in may result in cancellation of your visit. 16:00 at the latestVisit time Time slot during which your visit will take place. A visit will last between 20 and 30 minutes. You have to be at Visit Entrance at least 30 minutes before the end of this slot. between 17:00 and 18:00Please send me your details via PM until end-of-day:First (Given) NameUsual First (Given) Name as in official ID document but with no diacritical characters (accented or national characters). Value RequiredLast (Family) Name Last (Family) Nameas in official ID document but with no diacritical characters (accented or national characters). Value RequiredDate of birth (DD.MM.YYYY)Visitor must be at least 12 years old at the time of visit. Value RequiredMobile phone Swiss or French mobile phones only. We will use this number to warn you by SMS in case of last minute change. If you are in a group, provide only one phone number for one visitor. Extra SMS costs (e.g. roaming) will be at visitor's expense.Preferred LanguageThis will help us organize groups of visitors by language. Only French and English visits are guaranteed. If you wish to have your visit in another language, please inform staff at check-in on visit site. Value RequiredThe email is also required (or some shared/cloud file system) so I can give you the PDF ticket.Only one ticket per individual, the site verifies similar and misspelled names and other stuff.I am awaiting your messages for the next 5-6 hours after which I will cancel the tickets completely.

author: cloudscapes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2013, 06:56:49 pm
content: The mother of all teardownsI would love LOVE to see what kind of circuitry they use as sensor front-end. I wont be able to understand any of it. just as long as it looks really really expensive.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 26, 2013, 07:08:36 pm
content: I followed a bit of the atlas construction at the time, i did find images at the time of the silicon modules used for parts of the tracker......it looked eye wateringely expensive

author: nardev
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 26, 2013, 07:12:59 pm
content: so sad i didn't know this before

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 07:51:37 am
content: Can anyone recommend stuff to do in Geneva? Or places to eat. I'll be spending the whole Sunday in CERN but I have nothing planned for Monday or Tuesday morning.I'm also staying in NH Geneva.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 10:31:59 pm
content: Met with lewis and Setar2k11 tonightHope to meet with kremmen and dago (what room are you in?) tomorowSo much to see here, some pics of the engineering workshops on my flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dexterslab2010/sets/72157635987692365/More to come...

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2013, 05:58:01 pm
content: Back from today's rounds. Took lots of photos but unfortunately don't have the means to upload from my good camera. I'll see if i can publish some phone pics though.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2013, 06:49:12 pm
content: We just arrived back at the hotel after 11 hours of science!Lots of pics to upload when i get home!So we saw...Linac 2 (Proton source for cern)Linac 3 (heavy ion source for cern)Linac 4 (future proton source, being built)Antiproton decelerator (lots of experiments involving antiprotons)Data centre servers and tape backupLow energy ion ring (ion beam conditioning)Atlas detector (part of the main lhc experiments)Compact linear accelerator prototype (Clic, maybe the future of cern)Cern workshops including the materials analysis and engineering workshops

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2013, 06:53:05 pm
content: Meanwhile I was in the Wigner Research Centre for Physics which hosts the secondary data center for CERN. They had also an open day, I was already there... I must say it was disappointingly short, and most of the locations were "too dangerous" to visit. They could have split the groups to people who can control themselves not to touch and rest. I would expect 70PB of data to be more exciting. And of course no pictures please

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2013, 09:31:12 pm
content: Shame, in fact the guides at cern kept reminding us we can take photos!

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2013, 03:05:34 am
content: ... and boy did we take photos!Additional to dexters i managed to see the magnet workshops at E1 &F1/2, and the Northern beam target site at I1 i think it was. The biggest building in CERN anyway.Got into a long discussion with the E1 site guide who was some kind of magnetics scientist. I now know the reason for the initial trouble with the big dipoles to the last detailSitting at Geneva airport waiting to fly home. Photos later today or tomorrow.

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2013, 08:11:37 am
content: Spent the whole day yesterday at CERN and got a ton of pics. Also my HTC phone broke down, CM loading screen just locks up and gets garbled. None of the backups don't work either. I'm assuming its a problem with RAM or some solder joint failure :/Also the last shuttle from prevessin left us somewhere in France in total darkness and we had to walk like 3km to our hotel. Not sure if we accidentally took the wrong shuttle or if the last shuttle didn't go all the way for some reason :pStill in Geneva for today, flight leaves tomorrow evening.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2013, 08:15:14 am
content: Quote from: Dago on September 30, 2013, 08:11:37 amSo you stole that micro black hole and tried to smuggle it out in your phone. Serves you right

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2013, 08:31:34 am
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on September 30, 2013, 08:15:14 amI think its altitude sickness because the phone started rebooting in the train to Geneva!I hope my photos turned out OK because I did not want to use a flash so exposure times were quite long...Also I think I'm getting sick. Also legs hurt.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 30, 2013, 10:08:47 am
content: Lol my feet hurt too also my wallet after the hotel bar and restaurant bill! I spent more at the hotel than the rest of the entire trip including flights!@EEVBlog / DaveWell its a shame your on the other side of the planet! There will be a tee and a postcard on the way so you dont feel so bad!

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 30, 2013, 06:04:11 pm
content: pics on my flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dexterslab2010/sets/72157635987692365/also on the map (you'll need to scroll through to see all the images)http://www.flickr.com/photos/dexterslab2010/map?&fLat=46.2323&fLon=6.0513&zl=16&order_by=recentvids will take a day or so for me to sort out

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2013, 02:10:27 pm
content: OK, here are my pics, or at least some of them.I tried to organize them as sets in a collection so as to make more sense. It would be nice to know if others see what i see.The link should open in a collection "CERN OpenDays 2013" containing 12 sets of pictures. Each of those should of course open to show the individual photos in the set. I have captioned them so you know what you see in each pic. Some are still in progress but most are done.If it doesn't work, let me know and i'll try to fix it.http://www.flickr.com/photos/103800554@N02/collections/72157636055553555/

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 01, 2013, 04:55:19 pm
content: nice pics there, shame i missed the magnet facility and to see the actual AD itself (we didnt get to see it as we had to get back for our atlas tour)

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2013, 04:46:25 pm
content: Here are my photos from the trip:http://www.dgkelectronics.com/cern-open-days-2013/I'd be glad if you guys have ideas what some of the mystery components/devices areKremmen: The antiproton decelerator looks like a cool place, too bad I missed it!

author: Setar2k11
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2013, 07:48:58 pm
content: Had a great time at CERN could have spent weeks there. Was good to catch up with Dexters_Lab. Will get some pictures and videos up when i get round to editing and sifting through them.

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 03, 2013, 06:07:03 am
content: Pity i missed seeing you guys. But since the hotels were a bit separated, the fact is that after 2 days of manic walking i barely had the energy left to fall on my face in my hotel bed.Dago, nice pictures.The "mystery parts" on page 4, last on row 3 are a bit mysterious, but resemble an electron wakefield detector. It probably isn't but could be something similar.The 2 last ones on page 4 and the first one on page 5 show typical radio frequency accelerators. All acceleration is done by RF and steering by magnetics. So the big magnets that are all over the place don't do any accelerating, they just control the beams.These babies work by alternately polarizing the cavity walls positive / negative so that the particle bunch receives an electrostatic kick just as it passes through the central hole.The 2nd and 3rd picture on page 5 are the RF kicker that does the first acceleration after the particle source. Inside you will find 4 vanes arranged in and X shape with a narrow gap in the middle. The edges facing the gap are sculpted with a sinusoidal ridge and they act as RF antennas.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 03, 2013, 07:04:33 pm
content: I learned a lot after listening to the guys at linac 2,3, 4 and clicThere is certainly a whole load of rf voodoo going on thereWhen linac 4 is finished the waveguides on the first floor are going to look very impressive

author: Kremmen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 04, 2013, 07:03:30 pm
content: Yes i was also impressed by the knowledge, dedication and enthusiasm of the guides in all the sites an experiments. I learned something new at all sites but the highlights were perhaps the beam instrumentation, large magnet workshop and antiproton decelerator as far as personal "revelations" are concerned. The northern experiment facility was also something.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 04, 2013, 08:00:49 pm
content: Yes, all of the guides were great, all of them obviously love their work. I could have spent all day talking to each one i met!

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 04, 2013, 08:08:19 pm
content: Also these make for some good reading, free download toohttp://cerncourier.com/cws/Pages/digital-edition.do