On-site personnel:
Initial team deployment included Dave Zastro and Vince Gordon (Field
personnel/Groomers). The Twin Otter (KBG) crashed on takeoff neccesitating
a change in
the servicing of the site to support the removal of the Otter (via
Herc). On day 364 Kevin Killilea and Erik Barnes (Field personell/Groomers)
and Tom Barfield (AGO Engineer) arrived on-site to replace Dave and
Vince. On day 007 Joe Kujawski (AGO Engineer) arrived on-site with a Herc
crew that stayed the evening and returned to McMurdo the following
day.
Station:
The station was warm upon arrival with the snow level even with the
bottom of the windows on the station. A failure the the DAU to DCU communications
caused the station to not collect data for the majority of the year.
The station was raised to grade level using three existing winches and one new winch (brought with the service team). The plan to raise the station to a height of 30 inches above grade was abandoned due to the amount of snow whichwould have to be moved to accomplish this task. The station will have to be raised again next year.
Recommend replacing the three older winches on the station next year. The gear teeth on the reels are galled and the worm gear does not fully engage the reel teeth. Two left hand drive and one right hand drive winches are required.
Also recommend engineering a new tie-down system for the AGO. The existing cable tie-downs are very labor intensive to adjust (lengthen or modify). Chains with clevises or adjusting hooks would probably be just as secure and much faster to adjust. In addition, turnbuckles should always be attached to cables with a shackle or clevis so they can be removed without digging out the cable to the last connector. In several cases the raising team had to excavate a five foot tunnel to remove the cable clamps and free the turnbuckle.
Effective dead men can be made of a flitch beam comprised of a 2x4, a steel or aluminum plate 1/4 to 3/8 thick, and another 2x4. The hole for terminating the guy wire should be reinforced to prevent tear-out.
The CAGOSYS upgrade was completed. Additionally, a 100 lb propane cylinder located outside the AGO shelter was plumbed for cooking.
NOTE: Snow accumulation at this site is verified to be about three feet per year. All experiments which have been in place for over two years are inaccesible.
TEG:
The TEG was upgraded to add a forced combustion air delivery system,
called the Turbo, and to make it compatible with the new station configuration.
Additional noise suppresion (capacitors and inductors) were added to the
Turbo electronics to reduce EMI to an acceptable level.
Batteries for the electronic shutoff valve were changed. Manifold propane pressure was set to 3.5 psi. The burner temperatures were left at: #1: 310 C, #2: 240 C, #3: 300 C, #4: 270 C, #5: 300 C, #6: 310 C.
This TEG is in fairly good condition, though it may need to have the
zinc oxide coating in the burners renewed next year.
Data Control Unit (DCU):
All six optical disks were removed and will be shipped to Augsburg
College.
CAGODCU Rev. 1 was installed. Also installed were two Storage computers
(Rev 2, SN: 018 and 011).
Power Supply Controller (PSC):
CAGOPSC Rev. 2 was installed without any problems.
See AGO6.AGO for experiment power settings, priorities, and other station
information.
Data Acquisition Unit (DAU):
The DAU had a known problem with its serial interface to the Allsky
camera and with its serial interface to the DCU. The problem with the serial
interface to the Allsky camera was found to be a defective SIO4 board.
The DAU-DCU communications problem could not be reproduced, but was probably
either a defective SIO4 board (interfering with communications) or a defective
SBC-40 board. Both the SIO4 board and the SBC-40 board were replaced
with new boards.
See AGO6.AGO for DAU settings.
Global Positioning System Receiver (GPS):
The GPS was functional when the AGO electronics were turned on.
Bell Labs Fluxgate Magnetometer:
Data was examined to verify the operation and leveling of the magnetometer.
The data seems to indicate that the leveling of the magnetometer had shifted
again (after being reset last year). Per the experimenter's instructions,
the magnetometer was dug up and relocated to another vault about
30 feet away.
Historical performance of this instrument has had it releveled or relocated
every year at a cost to the service team of between 8 and 16 man hours.
This level of support for a single experiment is considered excessive and
may not be practical at this site in future years due to weather considerations.
The experimenter is highly encouraged to change the nature of the
experiment or to consider relocating it to a site where it can be
more easily serviced.
New settings for the magnetometer (after the relocation) are:
Sensitivity : 1000 nT
H Offset : + 00 02 794
D Offset : OFF 00 00 000
Z Offset : - 03 02 850
Note that the above settings were adjusted for a final time on UT 012/22:19.
The electronics were checked out per the servicing documentation. The results of the checkout are as follows (note that all three axis saturated the DAU at +10V and -10V, so the readings were taken at +/-9.5V):
Axis Meter Out
DAU
Save File
Reading
Reading
Name
H: - 9.500 V
062 H P699_FLH.GIF
+ 9.500 V F9D H
D: - 9.500 V
057 H P699_FLD.GIF
+ 9.500 V FA8
H
Z: - 9.500
V 05C H
P699_FLZ.GIF
+ 9.500 V* FA3 H
* Scale adjusted to 10^3
The secondary ground on the experiment was already connected to chassis.
Tohuku ULF Search Coil:
Tohuku was upgraded per CAGOULFM. Sample data was recorded to disk.
University of Maryland Riometer:
Data was collected and examined. There appears to be anomalous data
in both channels (P699_RI1.GIF
and P699_RI2.GIF).
After discusion with the PI, it was decided that this data may be
due to Solar activity, or it could be a problem. Since the riometer vault
is over 10 feet below the surface, it is considered inaccesible and the
vault electronics could not be replaced. All data taken during the service
visit was recorded to the laptop hard disk and will be given to the
PI.
Anubis Seismic:
Not installed at this site.
Dartmouth LF/HF Receiver:
Data was collected and examined on the Dartmouth experiment. Sample
data can be seen in P699_LFH.GIF.
The problem that was reported with the data last year was due to the Signal
and Calibration lines from the antenna being installed incorrectly. After
the two cables were installed correctly, the experiment started to
function properly.
NOTE: The Dartmouth experiment radiates enough noise to interfere with
shortwave communications at 11.997 MHz. The PI should address this issue
and implement a fix next field season.
Allsky camera:
The Allsky electronics retro-ed last year was installed on the site
this year. The service team verified that the camera Sun setting was correct
(see P699_AL1.GIF
for a saturated two second camera exposure). Images were also taken using
the calibration flashlight (see P699_AL2.GIF
for a 16 second exposure).
The Allsky camera was connected directly to the DCU (Channel 96).
Miscellaneous:
GPS position: S 69 31' E 130 02'. Elevation: 2343 m.
Notes for the future:
1) Experimenters that provide cable for outside use should provide cables
that are cold-friendly and are flexible at -40 C.
2) Experiments that provide junction boxes and connection points outside
the AGO should allow for the fact that these connections will be made by
people with gloves and should have adequate spacing between the connectors.
3) Bring an ACAB036 to AGO-5 next year.
4) All hardware that goes from the outside of the AGO to the inside
of the AGO should be made of stainless steel to prevent rust formation.
5) Replace the Left solar panel at AGO-5.
