  The PSRIX backend is the primary pulsar timing instrument of the Effelsberg
100-m radio telescope since early 2011. This new ROACH-based system enables
bandwidths up to 500 MHz to be recorded, significantly more than what was
possible with its predecessor, the Effelsberg-Berkeley Pulsar Processor (EBPP).
We review the first four years of PSRIX timing data for 33 pulsars collected as
part of the monthly European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) observations. We
describe the automated data analysis pipeline, CoastGuard, that we developed to
reduce these observations. We also introduce TOASTER, the EPTA timing database
used to store timing results, processing information and observation metadata.
Using these new tools, we measure the phase-averaged flux densities at 1.4 GHz
of all 33 pulsars. For 7 of these pulsars, our flux density measurements are
the first values ever reported. For the other 26 pulsars, we compare our flux
density measurements with previously published values. By comparing PSRIX data
with EBPP data, we find an improvement of ~2-5 times in signal-to-noise ratio
achievable, which translates to an increase of ~2-5 times in pulse
time-of-arrival (TOA) precision. We show that such an improvement in TOA
precision will improve the sensitivity to the stochastic gravitational wave
background. Finally, we showcase the flexibility of the new PSRIX backend by
observing several millisecond-period pulsars (MSPs) at 5 and 9 GHz. Motivated
by our detections, we discuss the potential for complementing existing pulsar
timing array data sets with MSP monitoring campaigns at these frequencies.

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics;Solar and Stellar Astrophysics