Station Servicing Common Failures
Murphy was Right!
There is a long litany of things that can go wrong during station servicing, including:
- unable to find the site
- lack of spare equipment (e.g. sensor, DAS, GPS, cables, etc) to replace inoperative equipment
- poor preparation entailing leaving tools and consumable items at base camp
- losing compact flash (i.e., CF or memory cards)
- innacurate record keeping
- failure to rectify any noted problems, such as water ingress or loose solar-panel masts.
Poor preparation for station servicing, due to crew fatigue, inclement weather and just plain inattentiveness are the biggest contributors to failed station servicing. It must be stressed that planning and preparation for the service and demobilization runs need to be given as much attention to detail as the reconaissance and install runs.
Record-keeping during the service and demobilization runs are as critical as during the install. Like the install sheets (click here to see an example), the service sheets (click here to see an example) provide a step-by-step check list and final record of tasks that need to be conducted during the service.
The experienced field crew will carry a complete complement of installation tools and enough inventory to build a new station. Constructing and installing a new site may be important if the original site was damaged or proved inadequate (due to flooding, etc).
