Magnetometer array hardware installation trip, with UAF team
Just back from University of Alaska Fairbanks. Working with the magnetospheric research team there was a hoot. They let me pilot their Hawker Beech Baron G58 research aircraft after I showed them my log book, and we hopped to all of the Geophysical Institute magnetometer array sites in Alaska and western Canada. The team involved me in some hardware upgrades and installations at each site.
My own data collection module formed a small part of the hardware upgrades, and I learned how to bulwark my circuit board box against the harsh weather conditions of the northern latitudes. Actually, I had to remove my own enclosure completely, as it would have been prone to collecting frost inside the box, how about that. Here was my el-cheapo enclosure, which would have been fine in California; I have circled in yellow my wire access points:
And here's the enclosure they had me use. Next time I'll get my own, from Adafruit.com :
I had to use banana plugs instead of running wires directly in and out of the box, in order to seal the box completely. Also tossed in some silica gel packets. After the modifications, you could unplug my module from the main array in seconds, and then you could even play football with it without risking damage.
Of course, the tedious part of this work was retro-fitting all of the copies of my module with the new case, for each of the magnetometer array stations. Really missed the undergrad volunteers at that point!