Apparently, somebody, over the long holiday weekend had a wee bit too much time on their hands. So much so that they decided ripping the doors off of the generator shed at the WGHQ transmitter site was a good idea. And so they did:
Generator shed doors ajar
That, and smash the light fixture.
The good news; thus satisfied with their bit of malfeasance, they left the generator and other contents of the building untouched. It could have been worse.
Perhaps the site could do with some security cameras?
Generator shed door repaired
The local carpenter was called and the door frame was replaced. Truth be told, the wood door frame was a bit past its prime anyway. Once the doors were remounted, I check out the generator and it starts and runs just fine.
Generator
It’s a cute little thing, 23 KW, 4 cylinder diesel engine.
This video shows some of the maintenance required for an HF (AKA Shortwave) broadcast station. It starts with transmission line tensioning, some shots of a curtain array then goes on to show the inside of a transmitter building. Transmitters shown are Harris HF-100 (a 1980’s model tube type PDM design) and Continental 418, but I didn’t see the letter number. They are likely tube-modulated units.
These are from the international service of Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), or Radio Australia International.
The big lesson learned from Sandy is to take nothing for granted. For several days prior to the storm’s arrival, we checked everything; refueled and started every generator, checked the oil, water, and battery electrolyte, set up fuel deliveries ahead of time for the worst-case scenario, checked all the backup transmitters and STL’s, and so on. The one thing that I didn’t consider was a storm surge so high that the propane tank would float away. After all, those tanks are heavy.
However, a brief examination of elementary physics reveals that even when full, a propane tank will float:
One gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds if it is freshwater or approximately 8.55 pounds for saltwater (depending on where it is from).
One gallon of liquid propane weighs approximately 4.1 pounds, thus it is about half as dense as water.
Most propane tanks are not full, being at most 80% liquid volume. It is always the thing that you didn’t think of.
We seem to be suffering a 500-year storm about once a year or so around these parts. I expect that things will only get worse. With that in mind, it is perhaps time to re-think our disaster preparedness and recovery plans to incorporate every worst-case scenario we can imagine. Everyone knows, but it bears repeating: Radio is the last link that people have when all other technology fails. Thus, when it comes to storm preparation, there is no such thing as too much. Thus:
Secure everything
Assume nothing
Take nothing for granted
Our assumptions about power utility and telephone network reliability and restoration may be wrong. Our assumptions about access to remote sites, our ability to use vehicles, availability of gasoline and other fuels may be over-optimistic. Our assumptions that basic foodstuffs, clean water, and secure resting areas may also be wrong. Get those items wrong and it does not matter how much equipment redundancy is built into facilities.
For remote transmitter sites, access can be a major problem after a storm. In low-lying coastal areas, flooding will be an issue. In those situations, having backup transmitter sites would be a key feature of any disaster plan.
All good disaster plans also have the human component; clean water, food, and safe, secure resting areas for the staff. As always, when the SHTF and there are no options and no ideas, there is the Bear Grylls survival method:
Bear Grylls
Which we really, really don’t want to do (from the TV showMan vs. Wild on Discovery).
Long Beach, used to be an isthmus, now it is a sand barA set of old stairs on the beach where the cottages used to be located.SurfFound the reason why the generator is not runningPropane tanks adrift from storm surge. There was a strong propane smell around these tanks, I secured all the valves.Where the propane tanks should beDebris washed ashore during storm surge around the north tower, including a section of dockSecond high tide after Hurricane Sandy, noon on Tuesday, flooding the ground systemThree phase power line down due to windMore wind-damaged power linesTelco wires were taken down by treesGenerator room water level, as seen on the side of the battery
More work here tomorrow.
Update: Took longer than anticipated, but the station is back on the air with generator power as of 8:15 am, Thursday (11/1). Commercial power restoration is not expected until Monday or Tuesday at the earliest.
Update: Commercial power restored on Thursday, 11/8 for a total outage of 10 days. One good thing about incidents like this, I now have a fresh set of contacts for all the important people connected to servicing this site.
