Installation Story

All we knew of the site before leaving Ottawa was the fact that it should be in the vicinity of the main shock for the NY Plattsburgh M5.1 earthquake of April 20, 2002. As we approached the location we made phone contact with US colleagues and obtained information about a possible site location behind a locked gate. By the evening of day 1, we had contacted the owner of the property 4 km behind the gate and obtained permission to install the site. By later that evening, we had information about other alternative sites. By the next morning, the city officials checked and approved the location behind the gate for a Polaris installation. By about 2:30 PM that day, Polaris station was already transmitting data to the central Hub in London. By sunset that day, the solar panel installation was complete and the station was fully operational. Calvin Andrews, Mike Patten and Isa Asudeh installed the site.