Anecdotes from the Field – The Lighter Side
America's Cup Practice /
Nova Scotia Oil Rig
U.S. Navy Research Vessel /
Uninhabited Island Off Alaska's Coast
Midwest Industrial Monitoring Site /
Fire Truck Manufacturer
America's Cup Practice
A WEATHERPAK® was attached to a large Coast Guard buoy, which was also used by sailboats as a course buoy or marker during practice. One day the WEATHERPAK® abruptly stopped transmitting, and our customer sailed out to inspect the buoy. The WEATHERPAK® had been ripped out of its substantial, thick pipe mounting and was missing. A few days later a racing team returned the WEATHERPAK® in person, after they determined ownership, with the following explanation: "We like to cut as close as possible to the buoy, to keep our times down low. When we cut around the buoy that day, the sail swung back and ripped the WEATHERPAK® off the buoy, throwing it up into the air. It landed on one of our crew, breaking his collarbone, and then crashed on the deck. Sorry." When the WEATHERPAK® was plugged back in, it worked fine.
An Oil Rig Off the Coast of Nova Scotia
Average winds of 40 to 50 mph and temperatures well below zero are normal. After a particularly big storm, someone noticed that the customer-manufactured mast supporting their WEATHERPAK® had snapped off and had been blown into the sea. A replacement WEATHERPAK® was ordered, manufactured, and sent to the oil rig. The weather was so nasty that nobody had climbed up to inspect the damaged area until the new WEATHERPAK® arrived, and the original WEATHERPAK® was spotted where it had crashed on the catwalk. A new wind monitor was required, but after that the original WEATHERPAK® operated perfectly.
U.S. Navy Research Vessel
A customer sent in a version of the WEATHERPAK® that is used on ships, complaining that it didn't work properly. When he saw it, our service manager was surprised because it looked like the WEATHERPAK® had been beaten with a heavy hammer about 100 times. It did need some work to get it running properly again, and the wind monitor was missing. Finally, our customer explained that the mast holding the WEATHERPAK® to the ship's bow had snapped off in a big storm. The WEATHERPAK® had been assumed lost; however, one week later a sailor noticed a cable hanging over the side of the ship. When he pulled the cable up he found the WEATHERPAK® still attached to the other end; it had been banging against the side of the ship for the entire week, not to mention the storm.
An Uninhabited Island Off the Coast of Alaska
A radio telemetry WEATHERPAK® was mounted on an 80-foot tower that also contained a large microwave antenna. After about two years of flawless operation, the wind speed dropped to zero and stayed there. This was noticed after a big storm with 70 to 80 mph winds, so it was assumed that a mechanical failure was responsible. A ship was sent out to inspect about a month later. Upon arriving they saw that the entire tower had blown over and smashed on the ground. This broke the wind monitor off of the WEATHERPAK®, but with its own radio, it kept on transmitting.
A Midwest Industrial Monitoring Site
Our customer called to ask if there was a restart switch or something that we could install in his WEATHERPAK®, because it kept shutting off, and his employee had to keep restarting it. During questioning, the customer volunteered: "Well, it keeps getting hit by lightning, and that seems to shut it off." We were unable to substantiate his explanation, and we hope he meant that lightning was hitting things nearby. Actually, the WEATHERPAK® is uniquely grounded at a single point to discourage large EM fluxes; however, we make no claim that it will survive if used as a lightning rod. We provided our customer with a lightning rod, and we installed a watchdog timer in the WEATHERPAK®, and this solved his problem.
Manufacturer of Fire Trucks
A version of the WEATHERPAK® is frequently used by hazardous materials response teams around the world. One model mounts directly to the vehicle. A manufacturer wanted to mount the WEATHERPAK® on a 25-foot tall telescoping mast. For a trial run they slid the unsecured WEATHERPAK® inside the mast and began the telescoping upward. The first 18 feet were smooth and uneventful; however, as the seven-foot section of tower rose, something went very wrong. The final seven feet of tower shot straight up and launched the unsecured WEATHERPAK®, as spectators watched with dread. Of course the WEATHERPAK® landed with full force on concrete. But when it was plugged in, it worked fine.
