WC68 lives again

After swapping out the stage motor on WC68 it is now operating normally.  For now it is co-located with WC49 on the 4.0 pad at the NWTC.

WC49 transformer failure

While checking on our instruments today (2014/5/21) I noticed the power transformer on WC49 was not providing power to the LIDAR.  For further diagnosis I swapped the WC68 (not operational) transformer to feed into the WC49 port and then removed the WC49 transformer.  Everything started up as expected with the swap.

The internal WC49 transformer fan was running while it was plugged in but insufficient power was getting to the LIDAR.  I will post an update when I know further information.


Update:  The transformer seemed to be operating normally when tested in Boulder.  It has been providing power to WC49 for a couple weeks now without any issues.

Covered windows and failed stage motor

From ~8:30 to 10:45 on Friday November 8th both the WC61 & WC68 windows were covered for a diagnostic test (Clara knows about the details).

WC68 was also showing signs of a failed stage motor.  Further investigations hope to pin point when the system failed.


Minor update:  All three windcube covers were removed and place in the 3.1 shed along with the shipping boxes, wooden stands, and stand hardware.

LIDARs and Radiometer back at NWTC

On Monday September 9th WC49, WC61, WC68, and the CU Radiometer we re-deployed at the NWTC.

Instrument	NWTC Location	Latitude (dd.ddddd N)	Longitude (dd.ddddd W)
Radiometer	4.1 Pad	39.91058	105.22350
WC49	3.1 Pad	39.91122	105.22605
WC61	4.1 Pad	39.91061	105.22349
WC68	4.0 Pad	39.91194	105.22252

The radiometer shipping box is located in the 4.1 data shed.  All of the LIDAR shipping boxes and wooden field stands are stored in the 3.1 data shed.

Data outage for Windcube 68

WC68 was down from 5/2 til 5/17 due to a tripped GFCI outlet.  I think the reason for the tripped GFCI was due to water infiltrating the power chord that runs from the windcube to the power converter.  There was a gash in the external insulation of this line and there was obvious copper corrosion inside of the insulation.  I did not see any other damage to the line.  I was able to cut out the bad section of wire and replace the weather proof connector.  The system seems to be operating normally now.

Power Loss

This morning at the NWTC, both the NCAR and CU windcubes shutdown due to a loss of grid power.

It looks like the NCAR windcube was offline from ~13:38 until 14:51:20 on April 23, 2013 UTC time.  As of 19:30 the NCAR windcube was recording below the CNR threshold for all heights.


The CU windcube was down from ~13:38 til 14:51:51 on April 23, 2013 UTC time.  As of 19:30 the CU windcube was recording strong CNR values at all heights!

CU windcube back online

Power to the 4.0 pad has been replaced and the CU windcube is back up and running.

I also ran a diagnostic test for Welly at NRG on the NCAR windcube.  The window was covered from about 11:50 MDT to 15:20 MDT.  Later in the day I noticed that the NCAR system was 1 hour ahead of UTC which is likely due to the daylight saving time shift of the GMT timezone.

In addition to the diagnostic test I refilled the NCAR water container and gave the windcube window a good cleaning with vinegar to remove mineral deposit build up.  The removal of the build up on the window greatly improved the CNR for the north and east retrievals.