And...Go...

128...127...126...125........

Over the last few days I have been learning a lot about powers of two.

1 Generator
2 UDU's
4 server rack's
8 Jet Powers
16 CPDU's
128 Panels
256 RF Cables
512 PCU wires
4096 AEU's
and more...

Equals 1 AMISR!

This thing has a LOT of parts! It has struck me as I have been working here how phenomenal it is to see this project come together and to have the opportunity to participate in constructing it. The work of many hands (and machines) has finally resulted in a very large scientific instrument sitting in Resolute Bay with the University of Calgary's name on it, very cool. It is going to be a special moment when we finally get to see it turn on.

Izuzu 75kW twinns that power the OCC

I arrived in Resolute a few days before Mike left and have been occupying my time with various different tasks. My first job was to drill holes in the sides of the UDU's so that we could pass the panel power cables through the wall to the breaker panel. 128...127...126...125...124... I soon realized that no-one wanted this job because it sucked! But hey, I'm game to give anything a try. The interior set of holes took ~ 1.5 days to complete (I think I set a speed record...seriously) and the exterior holes took ~ 20 minutes, stainless vs mild steel, mild steel wins. It was a good thing that I remembered to throw in an extra set of hole saws when I left Calgary since every single one on site was toast. There was no cutting oil on site either so we made use of some used gen set oil as a substitute, it worked not too bad but smelled awful when it heated up. Lesson learned, when cutting stainless use lots of cutting fluid and lots of pressure!

With that job out of the way and the good natured insults flying freely (its hard to keep up with the RKO boys...and Mike) I went over to see what I could do to help Perry the Electrician. He was working on tying in the 460V 3Phase power that comes from the big gen set (we call it...Leviathon). Now to get a picture of what this involves, think three guys using a sledge hammer and brute force trying to push copper cables that are thicker than my thumb through a hole that looks far too small. It really set things into perspective seeing the size of cable required to provide enough power to this radar! The main gen set cables that feed the breakout box in the generator building are bigger than my wrist!

The wind started to pick up on the second day and the next task was to head up to the top floor to help Mike terminate power cables at each PCU, 128....127...126...125 all the way down to the last one. Most of the tasks that go into this radar are pretty repetitive and so it can be difficult to remain focused and not to make any mistakes. We were able to finish the top floor that day and then Mike flew home the next day leaving me to finish the other 3 floors of PCU terminations on my own...some manager hey? Leave when the going get's tough! (It's Ok Mike I am sure Linda was very happy to see you). Simple tasks become much more time consuming when you are sitting up 4 stories high and the wind is blowing at 80 km/hr. Each PCU (128) has 4 terminations inside of it and takes ~ 15 minutes to properly complete..512..511..510..509.... By the end I was getting pretty good at this task and was managing to do ~20 PCU's a day with everything else that was going on.

Terminating Cables in a PCU

Resolute is an amazing place, the desolation is incredible and just looking around gives you a sense of how small we actually are in this universe. The RISR-C site is in a low spot and on some of the days when the weather is bad, it is quite impossible to determine where the land ends and where the sky begins. You feel like you are in a white bubble trapped in time and space.

Earl's Cooking, now that's a steak worthy of an Albertan!

After Mike left (he got out just in time) we had two more days of high winds (gusting to 120km/hr) before the big blow set in. The RKO crew was scheduled to fly out on the Thursday after Mike left and Jarrett was supposed to fly in the same day. This didn't go as planned as the blizzard set in and we all ended up stuck in the hotel for 2 solid days while Mother Nature blew herself out. All you could hear at night was the steady 120km/hr winds blowing outside the window...it was only 0degC but the wind chill was severe. I remember looking out the window after lunch one day and seeing someone walking back across the parking lot get their feet blown right out from underneath them.

Jarrett arrived on Saturday once the planes were able to begin flying again and was just in time to help me finish off the second deck of PCU terminations before moving onto the bottom row, 128..127..126..125..124...ARRRGGGGGGHHH...my fingers are COLD!

Well with that power of two out of the way it is time to move onto 256...the RF cables. Each panel has a Transmit and Receive input which feeds to an 8way power divider. The RKO crew had already run most of these cables so Jarrett and I worked away and finished the first and second deck that they didn't complete before leaving. We discovered that the technique which worked the best was to have Jarrett stay on the deck attaching the cables to the splitter and to have me sitting in the cable tray working across and reaching up to attach each cable. This symbiotic relationship really worked quite well, except that Jarrett kept complaining that his hands were cold.... what do you expect for someone who just came from the bahama's, I mean Calgary...just kidding, its great to have him here to represent for the U of C. We're having a great time working on the newest and biggest Auroral Imaging Group toy (did I mention that this thing is COOL!).

Working hard laying RF cables

Dinner!

Ohh yeah I forgot, the Generator! On Wednesday we got a special treat, the SRI group was scheduled to turn on the North Face for 2 days to take data for world day. This was very exciting since that meant that I would get to be the first U of C person to see one of these Radar's operate. Turning on the radar by the way means starting up the 1MW (catch that...MEGA Watt) generator (AKA really really big diesel engine with a spinny thing on the back). This development was very exciting, and very noisy. Once again I was put in my place to realize how amazing it is that all of these little bits and pieces combine to make something so large (and hopefully useful!).

Regarding the generator and operation of the north face, suffice to say that it was worth the wait.

Looking through to the North Face while working on the south face.

We'll I think I have written enough now to satisfy the avid readers (aka Mike, my boss, who can't stand being in the WARM south, but would rather be back up here in the COLD north) so I'm going to go to bed. We'll be spending the next two days terminating the other end of the PCU wires inside the UDU's..512..511..510..509..508..after which time we will have run out of parts and work and so will fly back home having paid our dues and made our mark on RISR-C.