diff --git a/SAS/OTDB_Services/TreeStatusEvents.py b/SAS/OTDB_Services/TreeStatusEvents.py
index b0893915c29ae7102a2ff951fc6347738340508b..1b896e6048cae512446d5e61ad2a3b63d2c30ad8 100755
--- a/SAS/OTDB_Services/TreeStatusEvents.py
+++ b/SAS/OTDB_Services/TreeStatusEvents.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import os.path
 import sys, time, pg, datetime
 import logging
 from lofar.messaging import EventMessage, ToBus
+from lofar.sas.otdb.config import DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME, DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT
 
 QUERY_EXCEPTIONS = (TypeError, ValueError, MemoryError, pg.ProgrammingError, pg.InternalError)
 alive = False
@@ -81,22 +82,16 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     from optparse import OptionParser
     from lofar.common import dbcredentials
     import signal
-    from lofar.sas.otdb.config import DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME as DEFAULT_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME
 
     # Check the invocation arguments
     parser = OptionParser("%prog [options]")
-    parser.add_option("-B", "--busname", dest="busname", type="string", default=DEFAULT_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
+    parser.add_option("-B", "--busname", dest="busname", type="string", default=DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
                       help="Busname or queue-name the status changes are published on. [default: %default]")
     parser.add_option_group(dbcredentials.options_group(parser))
     (options, args) = parser.parse_args()
 
     dbcreds = dbcredentials.parse_options(options)
 
-    if not options.busname:
-        print "Missing busname"
-        parser.print_help()
-        sys.exit(1)
-
     # Set signalhandler to stop the program in a neat way.
     signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal_handler)
 
@@ -155,7 +150,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
                     for (treeid, state, modtime, creation) in record_list:
                         content = { "treeID" : treeid, "state" : allowed_states.get(state, "unknown_state"),
                                     "time_of_change" : modtime }
-                        msg = EventMessage(context="otdb.treestatus", content=content)
+                        msg = EventMessage(context=DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT, content=content)
                         logger.info("sending message treeid %s state %s modtime %s" % (treeid, allowed_states.get(state, "unknown_state"), modtime))
                         send_bus.send(msg)
 
diff --git a/SAS/OTDB_Services/config.py b/SAS/OTDB_Services/config.py
index e401cb8ac9c0ea023fd30d0600c5b7fd28b90838..15026360beda744b288b9e541be0ca8c796a9b53 100644
--- a/SAS/OTDB_Services/config.py
+++ b/SAS/OTDB_Services/config.py
@@ -5,4 +5,4 @@ DEFAULT_BUSNAME = 'lofar.otdb.specification'
 DEFAULT_SERVICENAME = 'OTDBService'
 
 DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME='lofar.otdb.status'
-DEFAULT_RA_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME='lofar.ra.notification'
+DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT='TaskStatus'
diff --git a/SAS/ResourceAssignment/RATaskSpecifiedService/bin/rataskspecifiedservice b/SAS/ResourceAssignment/RATaskSpecifiedService/bin/rataskspecifiedservice
index aa033f71764a7298688255df051c0f574ccf234e..c3d64a2a44d5618df88bfa077aed95f60c698eb0 100644
--- a/SAS/ResourceAssignment/RATaskSpecifiedService/bin/rataskspecifiedservice
+++ b/SAS/ResourceAssignment/RATaskSpecifiedService/bin/rataskspecifiedservice
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     import logging
     import sys
     from optparse import OptionParser
-    from lofar.sas.otdb.config import DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME, DEFAULT_RA_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME
+    from lofar.sas.otdb.config import DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME, DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT
+    from lofar.sas.resourceassignment.rataskspecified.config import DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME
+    from lofar.sas.resourceassignment.rataskspecified.config import DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT
     from lofar.common.util import waitForInterrupt
 
     logging.basicConfig(format='%(asctime)s %(levelname)s %(message)s', level=logging.INFO)
@@ -40,14 +42,18 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     parser = OptionParser("%prog -O otdb_bus -B my_bus [options]")
     parser.add_option("-O", "--otdb_bus", dest="otdb_busname", type="string", default=DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
                       help="Bus or queue OTDB publishes status changes on. [default: %default]")
-    parser.add_option("-B", "--my_bus", dest="my_busname", type="string", default=DEFAULT_RA_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
+    parser.add_option("-B", "--notification_bus", dest="notification_bus", type="string",
+                      default=DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
                       help="Bus or queue we publish resource requests on. [default: %default]")
     (options, args) = parser.parse_args()
 
-    if not options.otdb_busname or not options.my_busname:
+    if not options.otdb_busname or not options.notification_bus:
         parser.print_help()
         sys.exit(1)
 
-    with RATaskSpecified("OTDB.TaskSpecified", otdb_busname=options.otdb_busname, my_busname=options.my_busname) as jts:
+    with RATaskSpecified(otdb_notification_busname=options.otdb_busname,
+                         otdb_notification_subject=DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT,
+                         notification_busname=options.notification_bus,
+                         notification_subject=DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT):
         waitForInterrupt()
 
diff --git a/SAS/ResourceAssignment/RATaskSpecifiedService/lib/RATaskSpecified.py b/SAS/ResourceAssignment/RATaskSpecifiedService/lib/RATaskSpecified.py
index 2ab90ca848b1027545d3dbb8ae25f503fc80bef0..bf4f196c6ae31517b6477c796d6363310dbdad7c 100755
--- a/SAS/ResourceAssignment/RATaskSpecifiedService/lib/RATaskSpecified.py
+++ b/SAS/ResourceAssignment/RATaskSpecifiedService/lib/RATaskSpecified.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ from lofar.messaging import FromBus, ToBus, RPC, EventMessage
 from lofar.parameterset import PyParameterValue
 from lofar.sas.otdb.OTDBBusListener import OTDBBusListener
 from lofar.common.util import waitForInterrupt
-from lofar.sas.otdb.config import DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME, DEFAULT_RA_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME
+from lofar.sas.otdb.config import DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME, DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT
 
 import logging
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -156,11 +156,16 @@ def resourceIndicatorsFromParset( parset ):
   return subset
 
 class RATaskSpecified(OTDBBusListener):
-  def __init__(self, servicename, otdb_busname=DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME, my_busname=DEFAULT_RA_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME, **kwargs):
-    super(RATaskSpecified, self).__init__(busname=otdb_busname, subject="TaskStatus", **kwargs)
+  def __init__(self,
+               otdb_notification_busname=DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
+               otdb_notification_subject=DEFAULT_OTDB_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT,
+               notification_busname=DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
+               notification_subject=DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT,
+               **kwargs):
+    super(RATaskSpecified, self).__init__(busname=otdb_busname, subject=otdb_notification_subject, **kwargs)
 
     self.parset_rpc = RPC(service="TaskSpecification", busname=otdb_busname)
-    self.send_bus   = ToBus("%s/%s" % (my_busname, servicename))
+    self.send_bus   = ToBus("%s/%s" % (notification_busname, notification_subject))
 
   def start_listening(self, **kwargs):
     self.parset_rpc.open()
diff --git a/SAS/ResourceAssignment/ResourceAssigner/lib/config.py b/SAS/ResourceAssignment/ResourceAssigner/lib/config.py
index d66e897267d2253b9f39465787b31d7fca61bdad..d69a4adc1795ad1e118b0d1cf7d02ddabf592902 100644
--- a/SAS/ResourceAssignment/ResourceAssigner/lib/config.py
+++ b/SAS/ResourceAssignment/ResourceAssigner/lib/config.py
@@ -3,10 +3,3 @@
 
 DEFAULT_BUSNAME = 'lofar.ra.command'
 DEFAULT_SERVICENAME = 'RAService'
-
-try:
-    from lofar.sas.resourceassignment.rataskspecified.config import DEFAULT_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME as RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME
-    from lofar.sas.resourceassignment.rataskspecified.config import RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATIONNAME as RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATIONNAME
-except ImportError:
-    RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME = 'lofar.ra.notification'
-    RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATIONNAME = 'OTDB.TaskSpecified'
diff --git a/SAS/ResourceAssignment/ResourceAssigner/lib/raservice.py b/SAS/ResourceAssignment/ResourceAssigner/lib/raservice.py
index 7d93ef11acc6f03cb67fcb91125d849f89a41dca..37771269ff0452c0a087a77f2b22e618b4d2aafa 100755
--- a/SAS/ResourceAssignment/ResourceAssigner/lib/raservice.py
+++ b/SAS/ResourceAssignment/ResourceAssigner/lib/raservice.py
@@ -36,15 +36,16 @@ from lofar.sas.resourceassignment.rataskspecified.RABusListener import RATaskSpe
 from lofar.messaging.RPC import RPC, RPCException
 
 import lofar.sas.resourceassignment.resourceassignmentservice.rpc as rarpc
-from lofar.sas.resourceassignment.resourceassigner.config import RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME, RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATIONNAME
+from lofar.sas.resourceassignment.rataskspecified.config import DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME
+from lofar.sas.resourceassignment.rataskspecified.config import DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT
 from lofar.sas.resourceassignment.resourceassigner.assignment import ResourceAssigner
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 class SpecifiedTaskListener(RATaskSpecifiedBusListener):
     def __init__(self,
-                 busname=RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
-                 subject=RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATIONNAME,
+                 busname=DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
+                 subject=DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT,
                  broker=None,
                  assigner=None,
                  **kwargs):
@@ -87,15 +88,33 @@ def main():
     # Check the invocation arguments
     parser = OptionParser("%prog [options]",
                           description='runs the resourceassigner service')
-    parser.add_option('-q', '--broker', dest='broker', type='string', default=None, help='Address of the qpid broker, default: localhost')
-    parser.add_option("--notification_busname", dest="notification_busname", type="string", default=RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME, help="Name of the notification bus on which taskspecified messages are published, default: %s" % RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME)
-    parser.add_option("--notification_subject", dest="notification_subject", type="string", default=RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATIONNAME, help="Subject of the published taskspecified messages to listen for, default: %s" % RATASKSPECIFIED_NOTIFICATIONNAME)
-    parser.add_option("--radb_busname", dest="radb_busname", type="string", default=RADB_BUSNAME, help="Name of the bus on which the radb service listens, default: %s" % RADB_BUSNAME)
-    parser.add_option("--radb_servicename", dest="radb_servicename", type="string", default=RADB_SERVICENAME, help="Name of the radb service, default: %s" % RADB_SERVICENAME)
-    parser.add_option("--re_busname", dest="re_busname", type="string", default=RE_BUSNAME, help="Name of the bus on which the resource estimator service listens, default: %s" % RE_BUSNAME)
-    parser.add_option("--re_servicename", dest="re_servicename", type="string", default=RE_SERVICENAME, help="Name of the resource estimator service, default: %s" % RE_SERVICENAME)
-    parser.add_option("--ssdb_busname", dest="ssdb_busname", type="string", default=SSDB_BUSNAME, help="Name of the bus on which the ssdb service listens, default: %s" % SSDB_BUSNAME)
-    parser.add_option("--ssdb_servicename", dest="ssdb_servicename", type="string", default=SSDB_SERVICENAME, help="Name of the ssdb service, default: %s" % SSDB_SERVICENAME)
+    parser.add_option('-q', '--broker', dest='broker', type='string',
+                      default=None,
+                      help='Address of the qpid broker, default: localhost')
+    parser.add_option("--notification_busname", dest="notification_busname", type="string",
+                      default=DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_BUSNAME,
+                      help="Name of the notification bus on which taskspecified messages are published. [default: %default]")
+    parser.add_option("--notification_subject", dest="notification_subject", type="string",
+                      default=DEFAULT_RA_TASK_SPECIFIED_NOTIFICATION_SUBJECT,
+                      help="Subject of the published taskspecified messages to listen for. [default: %default]")
+    parser.add_option("--radb_busname", dest="radb_busname", type="string",
+                      default=RADB_BUSNAME,
+                      help="Name of the bus on which the radb service listens. [default: %default]")
+    parser.add_option("--radb_servicename", dest="radb_servicename", type="string",
+                      default=RADB_SERVICENAME,
+                      help="Name of the radb service. [default: %default]")
+    parser.add_option("--re_busname", dest="re_busname", type="string",
+                      default=RE_BUSNAME,
+                      help="Name of the bus on which the resource estimator service listens. [default: %default]")
+    parser.add_option("--re_servicename", dest="re_servicename", type="string",
+                      default=RE_SERVICENAME,
+                      help="Name of the resource estimator service. [default: %default]")
+    parser.add_option("--ssdb_busname", dest="ssdb_busname", type="string",
+                      default=SSDB_BUSNAME,
+                      help="Name of the bus on which the ssdb service listens. [default: %default]")
+    parser.add_option("--ssdb_servicename", dest="ssdb_servicename", type="string",
+                      default=SSDB_SERVICENAME,
+                      help="Name of the ssdb service. [default: %default]")
     parser.add_option('-V', '--verbose', dest='verbose', action='store_true', help='verbose logging')
     (options, args) = parser.parse_args()