Polaris NWT Year2 Installation Update, July 18-August 5, 2002

In year 2, 14 new stations will be installed in the NWT and the existing four stations will be upgraded with new Libra VSAT and new Trident digitizer. One of the new stations will be powered by AC, the rest by DC (solar panels).

On each installation, a temporary station code is used for a few hours during which the station data are kept in temporary ringbuffers. The temporary station is then closed and new ringbuffers are issued with the registered station code. Details are shown in table, belolw.

# Station Date(2002) Time, UT Action Libra Digitizer Seismometer Comments
1 EKTN July 18 22:16 Stopped station to install new instruments. CYG156 HRD207 T3A89 New battery charger installed for this AC station.
2 P24T July 18 23:22 Started new instruments at EKTN. CYG222 TRD143 T3A89

Slow getting TDMA from Hub. GPS in fine lock quickly.

3 EKTN July 19 14:15 P24T changed to EKTN. CYG222 TRD143 T3A89 EKTN is back with new ringbuffers.
4 P30T July 19 22:43 New station started at COWN. CYG250 TRD241 T3B90 Installed from kits in one day.
5 COWN July 19 23:34 P30T changed to COWN. CYG250 TRD241 T3B90 First DC station for year 2.
6 ACKN July 20 15:50 Stopped to install new instruments. CYG160 HRD211 T3A90  
7 P23T July 20 21:05 Started new instruments at ACKN. CYG220 TRD141 T3A90 Added 4 batteries. All batteries load tested ok. Setting on power system were off, corrected. Nothing else unusual. No cooling fan installed yet. SOH Monitor installed.
8 ACKN July 20 21:49 P23T changed to ACKN. CYG220 TRD141 T3A90  
9 YMBN July 21 14:34 Stopped to install new instruments. CYG157 HRD210 T3A86  
10 P29T July 21 19:18 Started new instruments at YMBN. CYG246 TRD235 T3A86 Re-pointed dish. Perfect x-pole. No improvement on signal level after the re-point. Cooler box installed. Animal damage observed and corrected.
11 YMBN July 21 23:17 P29T changed to YMBN. CYG246 TRD235 T3A86  
12 LDGN July 22 17:31 Stopped to install new instruments. CYG158 HRD209 T3A67  
13 P32T July 22 23:45 Failed to start at LDGN. CYG254 TRD245 T3A67 Failed to connect to the central Hub (even after increasing base TDMA power by 3 dB).
14 P28T July 23 00:55 Started new instruments at LDGN. CYG245 TRD237 T3A67 Started quickly (TDMA power increased by 3 dB).
15 LDGN July 23 15:59 P28T changed to LDGN. CYG245 TRD237 T3A67  
16 P31T July 23 15:02 Started new station at GLWN. CGY251 TRD242 T3A92 (CA reporting T3B92 but shipping records show T3A92). Installed quickly. No complications. GPS location of seismometer and antenna taken by the hand-held GPS unit.
17 GLWN July 23 16:31 P31T changed to GLWN. CGY251 TRD242 T3A92 Second DC station for year 2.
18 P25T July 24 16:04 Started new station at YNEN. CYG232 TRD179 This is the first NWT site with CMG-40T seismometer. Signal level very low, had to incrase TDMA EIRP power to 10 dB. Faked IFL loss to 3 dB for now (correct value should be 2 dB). External SOH box and cooling fan installed. LVD set lower than standard (11.30 VDC) to 11.00VDC. Some large rocks nearby may contribute to noise temperature. Seismometer was mass-centered at base camp. X-pol was perfect at zero.
19 YNEN July 24 18:16 P25T changed to YNEN. CYG232 TRD179 T4294 3rd DC station for year 2.
20 P26T July 24 22:46 Started new station at LGSN. CYG242 TRD183 CMG-40T X-pol was near perfect. Site came up quickly after IFL loss was faked to 3 dB. Current EIRP increase is at 7 dB. Some difficulties finding GE5.
21 LGSN July 25 00:15 P26T changed to LGSN. CYG242 TRD183 T4187? 4th DC station for year 2.
22 P27T July 25 23:36 Started new station at DVKN. CYG243 TRD239 CMG-40T X-pol was a perfect zero. Level of 26 dB. All OK, AC is on already. Found satellie quickly. Colling fan istalled. Seismometer vault not buired (solid ground).
23 DVKN July 26 02:59 P27T changed to DVKN. CYG243 TRD239 T4774? Only AC station for year 2. Second AC station of NWT.
24 P22T July 26 17:49 Started new station at MCKN. CYG219 TRD137 CMG-40T Chagned to IFL loss to 2dB. Upgraded Cygnus, TimeServer software. X-pol 11 dB, Co-pol 34-36 dB but still good isolation. Tweaked it as best as we possible using GE. Had to leave site quickly due to bad weather. LVD set at 11.0 VDC.
25 MCKN July 26 20:36 P22T changed to MCKN. CYG219 TRD137 T4938 5th DC station for year 2.
26 YNEN July 26 20:20 Repaired Power Sub-System       A service visit was initiated due to the fact that the SOH graphs showed poor battery volts. Inspection revealed a damaged wire in charge controller (due to bad connection). Wire replaced. No other problems found.
27 EKTN July 26 21:30 Replaced battery.       New gel-cell (non-spillable) battery installed on the battery charger.
28 P40T July 29 17:38 Started new station at NODN CYG265 TRD248 CMG-3ESP Zero X-pol without GE help first time round. Co-Pol 20 dB (low). Needs EIRP increas from the Hub Antenna mount was installed backward but it is not possible to correct it. This may load extra weight on one side. Azimuth bar was damaged but fixed the bolt on the bar and turned the antenna from the top to achieve lock. Cooling fan installed.
29 NODN July 29 19:29 P40T changed to NODN. CYG265 TRD248 T3B27 6th DC station for year 2.
30 P33T July 29 23:14 Started new station at CAMN. CYG244 TRD136 CMG-3ESP Mount is backward again. X-pol perfect. Co-pol 25 dB. Cooling fan is broken, will disconnect. Need to be replaced next year. Bad weather approaching, had to leave site quickly.
31 CAMN July 30 03:44 P33T changed to CMAN. CYG244 TRD136 T3B37 7th DC station for year 2.
32 CAMN July 30 03:44 CAMN stopped transmitting.       Visit to the site may be required.
33 CAMN July 30 13:45 CAMN is working.       Heavy rain and rainfade may have been the main reason for transmission problems. The station started transmitting on its own. The Hub EIRP increased from +8 to +10 dB to improve the power.
34 Snap Lake July 30           No field activity due to heavy rainstorm.
35 CAMN July 30   CAMN id down again.       Field crew plan a re-visit.
36 P35T July 31 18:21 Started new station at SNPN. CYG256 TRD171 CMG-3ESP Very cold very windy. Got TDMA from hub. X-pol has 2 dB leakage on it. Reverse mount again. SOH monitor and cooling fan installed. Tried P34T first, did not connect to the Hub, switched to P35T.
37 SNPN July 31 19:15 P35T changed to SNPN. CYG256 TRD171 T3B24 8th DC station of year 2.
38 P34T July 31 21:45 Started new station at IHLN. CYG253 TRD158 CMG-3ESP X-pol was 0, Co-pol 27-28 dB. Installed cooling fan. Antenna is backward. Cold, windy. Great looking site, trees, rivers and lakes and sandy beaches.
39 IHLN July 31 22:30 P34T changed to IHLN. CYG253 TRD158 T3B50 9th DC station of year 2.
40 Snap Lake - Kennady Lake August 1 22:00 Field crew in transit.       Field crew moved from Snap Lake to Kennady Lake. Due to bad weather, they needed to wait for afternoon hours before they could fly.
41 Box Lake August 2 17:20 Installation in progress.       Team 3 needs about 2 more hours to finish first phase of installation at BOXN before they move to finish Marlo Lake. No communication to Kennady Lake other than chopper's Sat phone which is not likely to be on all the time. Team 4 is heading to fix CAMN.
42 CAMN August 2 19:31 Re-pointed VSAT antenna. CYG244 TRD136 T3B37 Antenna was knocked out of alignment due to loose elevation hing bolt and strong wind. Re-pinted with zero X-pol leakage. Replaced dead cooling fan. Plugged holes in battery box. All ok. Station back to normal. High frequency noise on all channels but source unknown. Crew left around 20:42, planning to finish Box Lake station.
43 P39T August 2 22:21 Started new station at Box Lake (BOXN). CYG264 TRD240 CMG-T3E T3C59 Seismometer pier is a little soft. Waited for it to harden and then planted seismometer, pressing down on cement. X-pol had zero leakage. Antenna mount is installed properly. Cooling fan installed.
44 BOXN August 2 23:20 P39T changed to BOXN. CYG264 TRD240 CMG-T3E T3C59 10th DC station of year 2.
45 P36T August 3 18:20 Started new station at Marlo Lake (MLON) CYG258 TRD172 CMG-T3E T3A93 Mount is ok. X-pol 0, 25 on Co-pol. All antenna bolts tight. Cooling fan installed. Hub RX signal power is too low so, th antenna was re-pointed and station restarted at at 19:58. No change in X-pol but the IFL Loss was faked to 3 dB before restart.
46 MLON August 3 20:12 P36T changed to MLON. CYG258 TRD172 CMG-T3E T3A93 11th DC station of year 2.
47 P41T August 3 22:47 Started new station at Margaret Lake (MGTN) CYG261 TRD122 CMG-T3E T3C57 X-pol perfect. 22 dB on Co-pol. Big hill with rock cliff might be affecting transmission. Cooling fan installed. New SSPB installed (other was broken). Hub reports poor power level on this site, but slightly better than MLON. Seismometer signal looks odd, seismometer does not repond well to mass-center or calibration. Seismometer cable checks ok. Try new seismometer.
48 P41T August 4 00:34 Changed seismometer at MGTN. CYG261 TRD122 CMG-40T T4186 New seismometer shows same problems. It is likely a faulty digitizer.
49 MGTN August 4 01:21 P41T changed to MGTN. CYG261 TRD122 CMG-40T T4186 12th DC station of year 2.
50 Snap Lake August 4 01:30 Team 3 reporting.       Seismometers at Snap Lake: CMG-40T: T4774, T4185. Libra: P32T: CYG 254, TRD 245.
51 P37T August 4 13:27 Started new station at Kennady Lake (KNDN) CYG260 TRD220 CMG-T3E T3C58 X-pol perfect 0. Cooling fan and SOH box installed. SOH2 in box A, SOH3 in box B, SOH1 is volts.
52 KNDN August 4 16:27 Changed P37T to KNDN. CYG260 TRD220 CMG-T3E T3C58 13th (LAST) DC station of year 2.
53 Snap Lake August 4 15:00 Team 3 reporting.       Packing to ship tools/hardware to Ottawa. Plane due to leave Yellowknife at 3 PM, local time to take teams back to YK.
54 Kennady Lake August 4 16:30 Team 4 stuck.       Chopper developped mechanical problem. Team 4 is stuck at KL. YK trip on hold.
55 MGTN August 4 21:02 Service visit by Team 4. CYG261 TRD227 CMG-T3E T3C57 Installed new Trident digitizer and original seismometer. Everything seem to be ok now. Seismometer reacting well to mass-center and calibration. Good data flowing from about 21:30 UT when Team 4 is flying back to Snap Lake.
56 Snap Lake

August

5

2:00 End of installation project. Teams 3 and 4 leave for Yellowknife. Summary: Installed 14 new Polaris NWT stations (1 AC, 13 DC), serviced and upgraded existing 4 stations (1 AC, 3 DC). All 18 stations runing just fine. Team 1: David Snyder, Gerrit J. Van Beek. Team 2: Dariush Motazedian, Aaron Snider, Leonard Gal. Team 3: Kadircan Aktas, Mike Patten, Gord McKercher. Team 4: Calvin Andrews, Issam Al-Khoubbi. Team 5: Bernie Dunn (UWO Hub), Isa Asudeh (Ottawa).