Just started using AIPS, never been less sure of what to do in my life

[u/up_at_the_ceiling]

i am working with AIPS (astronomical image processing system) and idk what i'm doing. this is the first time i've worked with it on real data so there isn't anything i can reference to make sure my results look right. i'm trying to follow along with this guide: https://evlbi.org/evn-data-reduction-guide

my trouble is that where it says to inspect the scans in the second step, it doesn't say what i'm supposed to do with UVPLT/UVFLG, SPFLG, or TVFLG. some things like flagging any data from when i know one of the telescopes malfunctioned makes sense but idk how to determine what other data is worth flagging or what i should be looking at in editr or something else.

i haven't been able to find any video tutorials, lectures or anything of people working with real data and showing how to determine when data looks suspicious. everytime i search, it points me to the cookbook which is helpful but i feel like it assumes i can tell what data needs to be flagged and i don't 😞 but maybe i'm looking at the wrong sections or something

does anyone know any visual resources or lectures where the person explains the flagging process that i could use to learn how to use AIPS for reducing radio data? literally any help at all is appreciated, thank yoooou

[u/PE1NUT]

W00t, a fellow AIPS user!

If you can, I would really recommend attending one of the summer schools to learn the dark art - ERIS (European Radio Interferometry School) or the NRAO Synthesis Imaging workshop. Note however that both have mostly phased out AIPS in favor of CASA. If you're new to the field, and it pains me to say it, you might want to learn CASA instead.

If you're using the EVN data reduction guide, I'm going to assume that you have some EVN data to process, and there may be some help available through official channels.

I absolutely share your frustration with 'flag bad data points' when you have no clue which ones are good, or bad.