NOUS40KWBC 121551
FOS/NOAAPORT NOTICE NO. 1443 MARCH 12... 1999
ATTENTION FAMILY OF SERVICES SUBSCRIBERS
NOAAPORT USERS
SUBJECT POES 13 METER ANTENNA POWER INSTALLATION
THE POSTPONED POWER OUTAGE AT THE WALLOPS CDA HAS BEEN
RESCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY... MARCH 16... 1999. THIS OUTAGE IS TO
COMPLETE THE POWER INSTALLATION FOR THE NEW 13 METER POES
ANTENNA... AND IS EXPECTED TO LAST 3 HOURS.
THE ANTENNA SWITCH IS SCHEDULED FOR THE PERIOD 1500 TO
1800 UTC ON TUESDAY. A LARGE NUMBER OF ACTIONS WILL
PRECEDE THIS PERIOD TO PREPARE THE GOES GROUND EQUIPMENT
FOR CONTINUING OPERATIONAL SUPPORT. THESE SHOULD NOT
AFFECT THE DATA FLOW.
SOCC HAS DONE A LARGE AMOUNT OF PLANNING TO ENABLE US TO
HOPEFULLY NOT HAVE AN OUTAGE OF GOES DATA DURING THIS 3
HOUR OUTAGE. THE OPERATION TO KEEP DATA FLOWING INVOLVES
THE USE OF AN UNTESTED POWER SWITCH AT THE CDA. BECAUSE
THIS SCENARIO IS UNTESTED... THE POTENTIAL FOR AN OUTAGE OF
UP TO 3 HOURS EXISTS. THE OFFICE OF SATELLITE OPERATIONS
FEELS THE RISK OF AN OUTAGE HAS BEEN MINIMIZED. THE PLAN
/AS I UNDERSTAND IT/ IS FOR THE GOES ANTENNAS TO OPERATE ON
GENERATOR POWER... AND THE OPERATIONS BUILDING TO OPERATE
ON COMMERCIAL POWER DURING THE WORK.
THE OUTAGE CAN BE DELAYED IF THE SENIOR DUTY METEOROLOGIST
AT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
DECLARES A CRITICAL WEATHER DAY TUESDAY MORNING. THE
BACKUP DATES ARE WEDNESDAY... MARCH 17 /SUPERSCRIPT TH/
AND THURSDAY... MARCH 18TH.
SINCE THE GOES SATELLITES ARE IN ECLIPSE SEASON... THE WORK IS
BEING SCHEDULED DURING THE DAYTIME POES BLIND... RATHER
THAN AT NIGHT. THE OUTAGE REQUIRED TO PERFORM THE WORK...
COMBINED WITH THE ECLIPSE OUTAGES... WOULD CREATE MAJOR
DATA OUTAGES FOR THE GOES SATELLITES IF DONE DURING THE
NIGHT TIME BLIND.
PRESUMING THE CDA IS ABLE TO RUN ON COMMERCIAL POWER
SUCCESSFULLY... METEOSAT DATA SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE
AVAILABLE TO THE NOAA SCIENCE CENTER AND OTHER
USERS.
END
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