Ops officially begins tomorrow. The first IOP is planned for 3 days later.
Liz and Steve spent the day getting back to Cuyama Peak. Was worried about making it in a pickup, so rented a UTV from Z-team in Oxnard. Both of us took a turn behind the wheel.
The ride up was so much easier and somewhat faster than using the pickup, with the UTV going from 10–25mph. In the days since we were last there, the rain has scoured more gullys in the road and deposited even more rocks and biota. I so happy using the UTV that we decided to keep it for a drive to Little Pine tomorrow (the first time I will have been to this site).
s17:
- One inner guy was slack, others (including all outer guys) were fine.
- Tsoil binder connector was just a tiny bit loose – I'm actually surprised it wasn't working – but reseating it (and now taping) brought back the Tsoils
- TRH again needed the entire housing and SHT replaced. I think this makes 4 failures in this way. Still haven't had time to dig into the bad ones here.
- One DSM port didn't have a cap. Added.
- Took soil core
- Cleaned NR01 with alcohol at about 1420.
- We knew that the EC150 has had low readings and were prepared to lower the mast and clean it, but in 10m/s winds, we weren't comfortable doing this with only 2 people.
- Met Ranger Chris at the road junction who was curious about us. Says he patrols there a lot.
That's it! – a lot of driving.
Just a social morning for Steve:
- Met Dave Fitzjarrald at s1 to discuss his deployment plan.
- Also met Craig Clements and students at s1, who told me they saw 2 whale spouts this morning from the site! They seem ready to go with a lidar, surface met, and radiosondes.
Met the ISS crew for lunch in Solvang.
With Isabel:
s12:
- found that the station outage was due to the serial FTDI board coming loose from the serial front panel! Reseated, and the station came back up.
- guy tensions okay, manfrotto was a bit loose (probably the feet sunk in a bit)
- took a soil core
s2: (Finally got to Frinj)
- installed Y cable
- took soil core
- replaced fuse
- took photos
Plan for tomorrow is to rent a UTV and head back to Cuyama (s17) with Liz.
A glorious day after the rains yesterday. Clouds filled the Santa Inez Valley in the morning, but nothing on the Santa Barbara side.
Isabel went off to help ISS, so Steve went alone...
s11: (try to get on the net)
- modem status was red, even after unplugging the external antenna that we installed a few days ago, but which seemed to make things worse. Station was up otherwise. Decided to copy the raw data files from the DSM to my Mac, and could only think of doing this via WiFi from the Pi. Soon after the copy started, noticed that the modem LEDs were both green. After the copy (about 40min later), rebooted (via console command) and modem came up, with pings working.
- noticed that the guy wires were loose because one split link had pulled open – I assume it hadn't been fully closed. Replaced both it and a triangular split link on another wire and retensioned
- took a soil core
s10: (just taking a core, since on the way)
- When checking data, didn't see Victron messages. Reseated USB connectors (inside connection to the bulkhead may have been loose?) and ddn/dup brought it back.
- took soil core
s9: (getting back on the net)
- manfrotto had partly blown over, being held up only by the screw anchor. Ended up resetting up manfrotto, but couldn't get the screw anchor in very much. Should revisit with a power drill or stake.
- as found:
- redeployed:
- Also found one guy wire totally loose, with the turnbuckle on the ground. Resecured and made sure the lock nuts were tight.
- As for what brought me there, the bank2 2A fuse was blown. Replacing blew it again. Replaced with a 3A and brought up each sensor one by one. Noted that the TRH fan seemed to be running at full speed, rather than 40% duty cycle. Found the SHT probe unresponsive and the housing fan always on high speed even with no probe. Replaced both and all seemed normal.
- took soil core
s18: (normal visit)
- okay, I didn't read the site page all the way to the bottom before getting there, but I <had> read the top, which had stale information. Thus, I annoyed Milo by showing up unannounced. I've since rewritten the site page to be more of what I expected.
- didn't use the punch list, since I thought I'd remember everything, but then forgot photos and to replace the 1-2A fuse. That will teach me(?). Anyway, did add port caps and took 2 photos.
- took soil core
So, a moderately busy day, but some improvement...
s7 lost the usb memory stick this morning around 9:30 am local. It looks like the whole serial card disconnected and reconnected. All the devices recovered, but the memory stick came back as /dev/sdb1 . So I rebooted it. I don't know what caused the disconnect, so this may need more investigation if it happens again.
(We took yesterday as a day off, so skipping a day in the burn-in sequence.)
Adam and Andrew have now departed. ISFS crew is Isabel and me. Liz (and soon Bill) join John today for ISS.
A rainy and cold day(!), often driving in cloud. Also a day filled with meetings. Nevertheless, got some things done:
s5: (finally visited Exxon; somewhat muddy)
- power Y cable
- soil core
s7: (pouring at the time, lots of mud)
- installed NR01 (the last sensor in the entire array to be installed)
s8: (to debug TRH that died)
- Had to replace both SHT probe and housing. Not sure yet what happened, but many other TRHs died overnight.
- soil core
- road maintenance by (Isabel's) hand. Note that there was a "gravel slide" into the road about 2 miles west of the site.
Started to organize the base by moving spares into the POD. Note that we somewhat buried the spare 2D sonics in the process.
Thick marine layer through most of the day, almost up to San Marcos pass and spilled through to the Santa Inez valley to the west of Gaviota peak.
Adam and Andrew's last work day – they've been great! John showed up this afternoon for ISS work.
At breakfast, found several more odd sensors, so adjusted the punch list.
s14: had made a reservation to visit, so used it
- tower seemed a bit off vertical. adjusted the guys.
- found that this modem is the 5G, so couldn't play with external cell antenna. Left as we found it.
- took soil core
s15:
- mote had gone offline, just Bulgin not completely seated. Mote still needed a power cycle to get all sensors back online.
- took soil core
- No cats today.
s6:
- Tsoil not reporting. Ended up pulling the entire Tsoil probe and popsicle stick and replacing with our last spare (with the Roden popsicle stick). Inserted upside down at first, but Isabel caught this
- took soil core
- added an external directional cell antenna pointing west, of all places, to get 4 barss
s7: Thought to finally install the last NR01 on a manfrotto, but no one answered at the gate (hadn't called ahead), so we left.
All sites that we've visited now have the "Y" power cable, generally providing 38+VDC to the Victron.
There was an issue at s9, I believe, that one of the lower panel's connectors was very corroded. I only got 30VDC in full sun with the Y cable installed. However, I then cleaned this corrosion as much as I could with a stick and got up to at least 36V, so I assume that the corrosion had started shorting this panel.
Also, s4 was connected with a Y cable when we got there, but in a configuration which (I think) would have ignored one of the panels. It should be happy now.
From the time series, it is obvious that the s2 Gsoil was inverted. I've just updated the config to use Gsoil cal_files and set the gain for s2's sensor to -1. Also restarted statsprocs.
Coastal fog this morning – seems to have taken out s1 EC150, but it came back. Nice (warm and light winds) rest of day.
Started with data orientation for Adam and Andrew.
s12:
- installed manfrotto and NR01. In the process, disconnected Tsoil binder, but replugged and taped
- discovered that the QDP port was loose and hanging down. Lowered the mast, fixed, and raised the mast.
s4:
- moved NR01 to correct mote
- found that the GPS wasn't sending a consistent GPGGA message. Tried reseating the antenna cable (which seemed okay even before) and rebooting. Saw a few GGA messages fly through about 30s after reboot, then back to missing. cs consistently showed "#X pps0 ..." indicating that it wasn't getting useful GPS messages. Thus, swapped DSM to one used at CFACT LC. GPS and chrony seemed happy again.
That's it for the day. We have s14, s7, and s6 planned for tomorrow. Also will start the first round of soil samples.
Another 5-site day to work through our punch list:
s15:
- were met at the gate by Gato #2.
- finally install manfrotto and NR01
- connect the soil mote with an appropriate cable
s13:
- TRH fan was running fine, just reporting bogus values. Swapped housing to fix. Kept the same SHT (116?)
- Dropped the mast to install a lightning spike (involving swapping the top crossarm as well)
- Taped a hole in the NR01 ventillation
- Installed an omni cell antenna
- dsm is giving under-voltage errors. We tried reseating the USB cable to the pi but it didn't help. Maybe consider replacing (some parts of) the dsm?
s9:
- Again, fixed a hole in the NR01 ventillation
- Installed Victron USB cable
- Noted strange manfrotto setup!
s10:
- Installed soil sensors
s11:
- installed soil sensors
- Noted strange field of view of the NR01
- Investigated cell antennas. In my laptop, the modem without an external antenna got 1-2 bars, occasionally losing signal. We tried the omni antenna and got up to 4 bars sometimes, but signal would still drop in and out. We tried the directional antenna but never got any signal in any direction. Nothing was that helpful, but we decided to leave the omni attached. So far that doesn't seem to be helping, but it's also not worse. I don't know what else to try here–it's on the wrong side of the ridge crest to see down to cell towers along the coast, and down the other side doesn't seem to have coverage.
Patronized the strawberry lady!
Started working through the burn-in punch list, with an emphasis on the sites that have been down...
s6:
- found that the bank2 fuse (1A) was blown, cutting off power to the FTDI board, USB devices, and of course the sensors. Replaced with a 2A fuse.
- We didn't do anything special to the radiometer, and assume that the fuse issue was related to the NR01 outage in the data matrix.
s7:
- found no manfrotto and thus radiometer. Installed the manfrotto, and had a radiometer, but not a boom or top plate, so couldn't finish the install.
- Not sure what we did that would have brought up the soils – the mote and sensors were already installed.
s8:
- again, the bank2 fuse was thee culprit, and replaced with 2A.
- Yes, a strange install close to trees and a steep drop to the north. I had thought this might have been installed a bit higher on the south side of the road, but not going to change now!
- Also found that the modem worked better outside the box than inside, despite a lot of towers being pretty close. Chose to install an external omni antenna, which perked up the cell signal.
- Also, as with s15 yesterday, had to uncomment the RawSampleOutputStream on the station to get data flowing to barolo.
- I think Isabel also enabled the 4-hour watchdog.
Stopped for lunch at the El Capitan campground "market" and had a wicked Janga competition...
s3: needed a soil sensor installation. Also, white tape around NR01 had popped open with the ventillation and was repaired.
s1:
- needed both normal and "cr" soil installation. This install was horrible, with very hard and dry ground. I ended up placing both the TP01 AND the Gsoil in holes and covering them – something I've almost never done.
- Fan not wired on this NR01.
- Found that the OTT wasn't working, so replaced. (I'm hoping that it is just a configuration issue.)
- The SHT probe had become loose under the Gortex cap. We ended up replacing the entire SHT probe because I wasn't sure of the correct SHT85 orientation. (I'll check this later in the base.)
A pretty good day to address a lot of issues!
Beautiful, clear, day. Truck temp got to 80F. Chris and Tony flew out today, Isabel, Adam, Andrew, and I worked together.
Set up (mostly) s15 (Fig. Mtn.). Gate was open, so didn't try out the combination. Called Dispatch prior, but they didn't know about us. Called Veronica, who let people know we were there.
Black cats at fire station are friendly!
Spoke with UC Davis people who were servicing an air chemistry sampling site in a hut overlooking the station. They said it was part of the IMPROVE network that has been running 20+ years. I told them about SWEX.
Drove to (others') microrain radar site, then hoofed it another 100m to the site.
Didn't have a Manfrotto – FedEx delivered to the hotel while we were there – so no rad set up. Deployed soils, but didn't have a long enough serial cable to reach. Cell connection was fine without an external antenna. Decided that a label/sign were not needed, since well off the beaten path (no casual visitors expected). Otherwise, the set-up was without incident.
Dropped by the ISS Boy Scout site to swap license plates and learn where it was.
Cleaned out and returned the Penske.
ISFS SET UP FOR SWEX IS NOW OFFICIALLY DONE (but lots of stuff on our punch list before we are operational).
Yesterday, Chris, Tony, and Dais set up Gaviota Peak (s12) using the white pickup.
Today, Chris, Tony, Adam, Andrew, Isabel, and I set up Cuyama Peak (s17) using both white and green pickups (green left at the bottom of the mountain). Road was rocky, with a couple of "holes" and some branches down, but passable as far as we pushed the vehicles. Only problem was that the gate was locked with a new combination lock, and it took about 1.5 hrs to get the code from Veronica (via the satellite phone, which doesn't seem to receive messages). See the site page for the combo. Chris and Isabel took photos and Tony took sensor IDs. A long day, but we are happy.
Tomorrow, Chris and Tony leave after a huge amount of hard work.
Also tomorrow, FedEx should deliver some more Manfrottos that I sent out on Friday.
The plan for tomorrow is for Isabel, Adam, Andrew, and I to install Figuroa Mountain using just the green(?) truck.
Neither s6 or s8 are reporting at the moment, despite both having been set up. We'll have to do some checking next time we are in the area. s8 connected for less than 2 hrs after being set up on 3/16, and never was seen by statsproc. Vbatt was still 13.8V, so probably not a power issue.
March 18: Tony and I returned the Uhaul with a bad tire in the bed.
Daisuke, Callum, Adam and Andrew got everything set and organized for the day's work, while Chris and Tony were goofing off waiting for Uhaul to correct the billing.
Today we setup the S2 (Frinj Coffee).
Griffen Hall is one of the managers, and his call phone is 805-720-5224. He helped us get into the farm.
Steep hill to climb to the tower, but at least the cows no longer enter the area where the tower is set up, so no electric fense was required.
The solar panels were only generating 3 Amps (instead of an expected 7 A). Each panel connected individually will generale 3A,, but when the panels are tied together they still only generate 3A (we also tried different cables). A single panel should be enough to keep the batteries charged, but this is something to watch, and the solar assembly could be swapped out.
March 19: Reagan Ranch (S7) also called bald mountain.
Communicated with Micah Salazar (ranch manager) at cell phone 805-252-5925, and he buzzed opened the gate when we arrived at the call box
Quick setup with great views at Reagan's Ranch Helipad.
No Manfrotoe was installed, but soils where installed and mote connected (Steve shipped additional tripods, and I mentioned to Micah the we would need to return when convenient to install the tripod)
There is a VOR on this site, plus lots of communications equipment, so we need to consider this if there are any communications or instrument anomolies.
The challenges for setting up this site included a steep carry and layout. There is a fence that runs NW/SE along the best patch we could find for tower placement. Thus, we placed the OTT, NR01 and soils more southeast than usual while maintaining a 10M distance. Our options for solar were limited by the steep grades and tall grass.
When visiting the site, Exxon requests 24hr notice. They will check your ID at the gate. Be "bear aware"; apparently there are lions and bears. No tigers reported...yet.
