Tech Staff Meeting Notes July 5, 2011

The top priority is always repair of down stations.
NM problem stations
ET problem stations

Duty Table


Priorities

  • Complete remaining ARRA upgrade
  • Repair down stations and routine maintenance
  • Contact all landowners for permission refresh
  • Site visits and Preventive Maintenance at all stations

  • News & Highlights

    The Fish Fry is July 8. The cost is $5.

    Good work on the languishing items list.


    NMSZ

    ISIS station review.

    Short Period & Broadbands

    For the record, some notes from Jim on 6/30:

    CWPT has been rebuilt and now transmits directly into Lenox. It should be more reliable and a bit quieter due to less telemetry noise getting into the recovered seismic data.

    FPST is down. It repeated CWPT. We removed the repeater hardware and I pulled the canister to re-work it. We should be able to reinstall next Wednesday.

    MORT was not accessible. Dave was able to pull the canister a couple of weeks ago with the four wheeler but since the Birds Point levee, which protected the MS meander where MORT is located, was breached and now has a several hundred yard gap the water level in the meander rises and falls with the river level. Mr Edlemon thinks "they" probably won't replace that levee, so we may need to rethink rebuilding MORT right now. If we do rebuild it it will need to be hardned as it will probably see flooding every year.

    EDIT, NNAR & CHNM: NNAR and CHNM repeat through EDIT and the received signal is very bad due to trees. NNAR and CHRM are very noisy and fade out quite a bit. EDIT is now located in the Chicksaw National Wildlife Preserve so cutting trees is not an option. I'm looking at installing an analog repeater on the forest tower at Edith, TN where the DBB repeater is located.

    WALK: Chris and Manning were unable to reach WALK up in the KY bend. Mr Lynn indicated that the station was completely underwater but it is still up?

    A bunch of other stations were serviced but nothing noteworthy to report from me, Chris might have more.

    Power is restored to mud island so we can reinstall HDBT at our liesure.

    The levee that formerly protected MORT is still breached and may not be repaired. It was privately contructed in the 50's or 60's. Its probable this station will flood yearly with currents. There was erosion damage this time which hopefully will only be repeated during 100 year floods. We'll rebuild MORT, harden it, and see what happens.

    NBNT was decommissioned on or about 6/28.

    CWPT now telemeters directly to the lnxt node. Unfortunately it and GOBM are even noisier now than they were before?

    Dynamic NMDown list

    Flooded
    HCAR
    EPRM
    GOBM
    MORT
    TNMT - reinstalled after flooding but still having problems -can't see the quake on the station
    MIST - reinstalled after flooding but still having problems- "
    HDBT

    Down
    PLAR - to be moved
    RDGT - sporadic
    FPST - to be reinstalled this week
    MATM

    Isis Oxidation
    GLST.EHE

    Muted Amplitude
    DWDM.EHE
    WADM.EHN

    Gain Channel Problems
    CHRM

    Strongmo Down
    HDAR

    NODE Tasks

    MKTA

    need a padlock on the door.

    AC unit in the penthouse isn't working. Probably just needs cleaned.

    DSL is installed but the networking is slightly different from lnxt. Steve is working out the problems making both the dsl and the dbb simultaneously accessible.

    Construction is finished at the mill. We can get the phone line permanently buried now.

    LNXT:

    Chris got a quote for the service contract for the generator. It raised some questions and he'll get more detail on what it actually includes so we can decide whether to purchase it.

    NMAD:

    Need alternate comm path. Telecom says dsl isn't available (though we once had ISDN).

    Does G and D provide internet service? Would it be worth purchasing service from them?

    G and D and the local EMA installed a 25kW generator to power that side of the building. If there's room power-wise would they let us power the rack from it too? We could share the maintenance of the generator. We'd also have to install a transfer switch.

    Mitch is working on lease renewal with Hunter Enterprises.

    AZTN: Replaced XLAK clock. Still doesn't work. The new clock tested successfully in the shop. Bad antenna?

    CERI:

    P-plant has a spare Carrier AC unit that we could use a backup for the Liebert. It consists of a large internal unit like the Liebert and an external condensor. Chris will check it out.

    Install backup server rack in 3892 room 115A1 (room behind and to the left of Kathy and Tanya's office).


    ANSS SM

    Ownership, Operation, and Maintenance of the four Charleston, SC stations (C1SC, C2SC, ADSC, and TRSC) will be turned over the Univ. of SC at Columbia. Initial December 8-9 went well. John contacted site owner and IT people for firewall and permissions. He requested CERI access be continued for a tbd transition period. Mitch will work with Phillip to get data flow redirected to Columbia. Then those feeds will get added to the CO network export to CERI. The stations will keep the same name but the network code will change (from NM to CO).

    Worst offending hanging stations are RDST, CBHT, and MCAR. Mitch will put them on gcf2ew with a forced kill and restart cron.

    Year3 upgrades
    stationyr3 hardwareroutermss100firmwareplugcomment
    RDSTYYN??Al has determined that other RDST IP's are trying to access our router, and Steve will look at routers external connection and security settings
    MCARYYY??upgrade not documented
    CUETYYY?Nupgrade not documented
    MKARYYY?Ncomment
    CBHTYNY??Steve torequest our 192 IP be put on a private VLAN
    COLTYYY?Ynone
    GILTYYY3.81Ynone
    NAITNNN??still not on internet
    NMEMNNN??none
    TUMTNNN??none

    Replace foam rubber plugs at all year 1 stations (need to notch it to accomodate the GPS pods): ASAR, CBHT, CUET, CVTN, HDBT, LNXT, MCAR, NAIT, SFTN & TUMT.

    NAIT: Couldn't get the NWS cable modem to cooperate at NAIT (firewall?). Dean was going to ask Comcast about it and maybe get a new modem. Steve will follow up.

    CVVA once again appears stalled. John distributed a draft email to send. We won't in a position to act on a reply, if there is one, until after GTTN/CPRT upgrades are complete. So we'll wait til then to send it and.

    We need a single document (access database excel spreadsheet) to document information on all freefield strongmotion stations to include contact(s), current IP's(eternal/external), what ports are allowed in from what IP's here at CERI, telnet yes or no, trigger levels etc. etc.

    HDBR

    Funding is in place. We are meeting at 9:30 on 7/6 to finalize procurement.

    HDAR

    Bad CMG5 E/W.

    Not getting broadband feed.

    On hold for Boswell comm.

    HDBT

    Replace two bad mss100's.

    Bad 100' accelerometer.

    On hold for Boswell comm.


    ETSZ

    Dynamic ETDown list

    Most of the "down" are BRBC node and most likely a result of the ham operator's interference. John will meet with him the week of 7/18 to resolve the issue.

    Down
    CCNC-sporadic
    RBNC- "
    GFM- "
    WSNC - "
    TVNC
    TRYN - reinstall after tower is rebuilt.

    Unknown problem
    BCRT.HNN

    Strong Motion down
    CVVA

    Remaing upgrade stations are DYTN, CCRT, and CPRT (remaining ARRA upgrade is GTTN). See map.
    CCRT is next on the list.
    CPRT is trenched and ready for upgrade. Repeats through GTTN so we want to do these in the same trip.
    DYTN permission is Nashville awaiting a decision
    GTTN is awaiting internet permission (Dollywood is top prospect).

    STAR Node

    star node needs tower work and power supply upgrade.

    BHT move. Latest update from John:

    1. We had planned on moving BHT from it's present location because access has gotten so bad.
    2. I have been working on getting a permission to move it about 3 miles to the E NE to Black Mtn. There is some issue with the permission, but my contact with the Cumberland Trail State Park says he believes we can work it out.
    3. If this station is ever upgraded to a RefTek, it is doubtful we would be able to make the 45 mile radio shot from Black Mtn. to Starr Mtn. so we would have to find a new place to transmit to. It will not repeat through any other station, because it is either blocked by mountains or too long a shot.
    4. Previously, we had discussed trying to find another site to relocate BHT to in order to center it between WMTN and DYTN.
    5. I found a site in the Catoosa Wildlife Area called Pilot Knob Mtn, (36 deg. 322'N, 84 deg. 45'W). It is about 18 miles NE of BHT. It is at an old fire tower site and apparently there is still a good road up to it.
    6. I have also found a couple of potential sites to transmit to where we could get internet.

    So, before I proceed any further, we need to decide if a replacement station for BHT should get a RefTek and if so, do we want to put the station at Black Mtn. or at another site.

    BRBC Node

    Power upgrades: RBNC, and TRYN.

    TRYN: Hardware is removed from the tower and will be reinstalled when the new one is complete.

    There seems to be a strange, repeating signal on many of the stations, most notably on WSNC/RBNC. It repeats about every 14 minutes and lasts about 1 sec. Example data are in /gaia/home/mwithers/public_html/STAFF/Analog/2010/20100910_051500_MAN. Click this picture of it on CCNC. John listened for them on the spectrum analyzer at the BRBC node and reports:

    Every 13 min. 53 sec. there is a noise burst that raises the noise floor and knocks out our stuff. I'm wondering if it could be a sideband from something. I listened and I couldn't hear anything but white noise when it happens. I'm wondering if cavity filters and pre-amps will help.
    John identified the source of the interference as an amateur radio operator who has a repeater at 224.540 MHz which has a side band right about 217.5 MHz. He'll be meeting with him at the tower in two weeks to determine how best to resolve it. He's transmitting 2W and we're pointed right at his omni, so either the ham radio needs tuned or a filter, or we need to move our antenna.

    MTTN Node

    Greentop is getting a new tower too. There will not be internet up at the mountain, so we need to find a place to transmit to. We should be able to hit just about anything in Knoxville, Maryville or Pigeon Forge; is there a preference?


    GPS


    STLE landowner has asked that we move eq. cabinet and protect antenna monument with steel barricade.
    HCES has a new ip address and is awaiting on NATing config updates at the host. Done.
    MCTY has a firewall problem. Done.

    All monuments still need general PM, mainly painting.

    The VLF power supplies and chargers are in house awaiting installation at NMKM, and RLAP.
    These stations still need to be steinerized: CVMS, MACC, HCES, MAIR, NWCC.

    MAIR is now connected directly to the Water District internet. We can recover the wireless hardware.

    James's May departure may be delayed til July.

    AG Network

    USGS provide RT147 accelerometers for all 6 stations. Done. RT147's seem to have reliability problems with single components variously failing and producing bad data.


    ARRA Upgrades

    GTTN upgrade is scheduled for the week of July 25. Upgrade trip to include: Install receive hardware at Seymore, TN firestation where they are allowing us to piggyback on their dsl.

    Complete upgrade and repeater installation at GTTN.

    Complete upgrade at CPRT.

    How do we repeat/access CPRT through GTTN? Steve will craft a document describing our router/NAT scheme to post to the ANSS-netops list. Hopefully we're not the first to cross this bridge. Does it require two external static ip's?


    FDL


    NSMP

    NSMP Station List.

    Due to remodeling, we pulled K2 1738 from Firestation #2 in Dyersburg, TN in February 2009. It is in the shop with accessories.


    MISCELLANEOUS

    The seisnet group on umdrive is at http://umdrive.memphis.edu/mwithers/seisnet You will need your uuid and password.

    The pink palace display now includes a heli connection for MPHB. Need to retrieve any remaining hardare (e.g. antenna and reciever on roof).