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Polar Services - Remote Station Engineering - McMurdo Station Test Facility
McMurdo Station is located on the coast of Ross Island, Antarctica, at a latitude of 77.8S. The UNAVCO test facility,
on the slopes of nearby Observation Hill, experiences typical Antarctic conditions and is extremely useful as a proving
ground for advanced designs and for collecting engineering data on system performance. The site is also within easy
reach of the station Research Associate, and therefore can be visited periodically during the winter as needed.
| February 2008: |
| Station reconfigured with Iridium comms, rechargeable gel cell batteries, and
non-rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs in order to test ability of GPS system to switch between,
and operate from, independent power supply systems during austral winter.
Lithium-ion batteries have extremely high power density and good cold performance,
are well-proven by IRIS/PASSCAL for powering seismic systems, and have the
potential to reduce GPS system weight for logistically constrained projects.
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| February 2007: |
| NetRS system installed with Intuicom comms and Campbell datalogger to record
engineering data on system performance during winter shutdown and spring startup. System voltages, temperatures,
and current draws were recorded for an entire year. Wind turbine power output was also measured in side-by-side
test with a Forgen 500 and an Ampair Dolphin (now discontinued). A Vaisala WXT-510 weather station,
integrated with the Trimble NetRS GPS receiver, was also tested.
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| February 2006: |
| Side-by-side test using two identical R7 systems with FreeWave
comms to evaluate thermal performance of foam-insulated plastic enclosure versus vacuum-panel enclosure.
Data was retrieved through a master radio at the Crary Laboratory, and the lifetimes of each system
extending into winter 2006 were compared.
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Last modified Thursday, 01-May-2008 21:27:16 UTC
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