Today was much better as the pain behind the right knee dissipated. I was able to walk and climb the ladders in the stairwells. It seems when I surpassed 50 a few years back that was the threshold where there would be pain occurring on the body. Gone are the days when I used to do my daily seven mile jog during lunch at Dugway. I take a jog when I am at Ford Island in Hawaii as they have a magnificent oval road around the old airfield. Quite an historic area as the old control tower that you see on photos and movies of the Pearl Harbor attack is still there. Much of the airfield has passed on but you still have the seaplane ramp. It is becoming the housing area for Navy personnel stationed at Pearl Harbor.
We are still conducting dive ops for coral reef assessment around Tutuila. The scientists who are doing the diving have a blog set up as well as a Facebook page. The link is American Samoa and Remote Pacific Islands and their Facebook page is NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystems Division. The ship has a Facebook page as well at NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai. These are articles written by actual scientists who are doing the diving, research, analysis and writing. Unlike information you may read, watch or hear in the media or blogs focusing on politics. I sailed with most of the scientists here two years ago on this same cruise. I also sail with them in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
We were stationed at the northern end of Tutuila Island for most of the day. This area of American Samoa I like. It is remote and unlike Pago Pago and its surrounding “suburban” villages, this region is very Samoan. I came up here years ago when I first met “L”. She and I went for a cruise on my last day here and we stopped at the beaches as well the village that is literally the end of the road. I can remember my future sister-in-law (the one I recently visited) climbing a coconut tree to knock a few of those down and then hiding it in the car to take back. Now she is married with two children.
The weather was hot and the one outside project was hooking up the telephone in the Dive Chamber. It is the decompression chamber used if a diver came up to quick and had the bends. The electronics in the chamber room is under my jurisdiction as well. Being the only ET (Electronics Tech) on the ship, you have to be the “jack of all trades” but definitely I am a master of none. Parts availability is limited so you have to be creative and unlike the past, today’s manufacturers do not supply you with a wiring diagram or schematic. I need to order a hand mic but it will take some time for it to get here. In the mean time I did not have a spare so I went back to my old ham radio novice ticket days and took the mic apart. Not much inside and the only moving part was the switch which has the tendency to “stick” after normal wear and tear. Cleaned the switch contacts, exercised it and returned it to the radio. I should see if it still works and the intermittent problem has disappeared. Meanwhile, I need to order several mics for spares so you can just replace it when future problems arise.
High-tech low cost maintenance equipment is a wooden broom handle. I have a close circuit camera that is giving me fits this year. It worked fine for years but I guess it decided to be malicious this season. After it went out yesterday when we thought we had it fixed on the day we left, I tapped it several times with a broom handle and the video returned. Unfortunately it still does not show up on the CCTV network and another camera on the main mast decided to do the same in as far as showing up on the network. It works fine when using it locally through a switched keyboard, so I am downloading manuals of the new equipment that was added on this winter in port and research that.
In as far as work, I have issues to keep me busy for quite some time. My network was recently upgraded and whenever I hear of upgrades or migration, I know what worked before will not work now and results are never perfect.
First deployed weekend is upon us in the morning. I have to hit the rack and be ready for tomorrow. It will be overtime and OT is not capped so I get the full time and a half.
I bid you goodnight or manuia po from American Samoa.
We are still conducting dive ops for coral reef assessment around Tutuila. The scientists who are doing the diving have a blog set up as well as a Facebook page. The link is American Samoa and Remote Pacific Islands and their Facebook page is NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystems Division. The ship has a Facebook page as well at NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai. These are articles written by actual scientists who are doing the diving, research, analysis and writing. Unlike information you may read, watch or hear in the media or blogs focusing on politics. I sailed with most of the scientists here two years ago on this same cruise. I also sail with them in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
We were stationed at the northern end of Tutuila Island for most of the day. This area of American Samoa I like. It is remote and unlike Pago Pago and its surrounding “suburban” villages, this region is very Samoan. I came up here years ago when I first met “L”. She and I went for a cruise on my last day here and we stopped at the beaches as well the village that is literally the end of the road. I can remember my future sister-in-law (the one I recently visited) climbing a coconut tree to knock a few of those down and then hiding it in the car to take back. Now she is married with two children.
The weather was hot and the one outside project was hooking up the telephone in the Dive Chamber. It is the decompression chamber used if a diver came up to quick and had the bends. The electronics in the chamber room is under my jurisdiction as well. Being the only ET (Electronics Tech) on the ship, you have to be the “jack of all trades” but definitely I am a master of none. Parts availability is limited so you have to be creative and unlike the past, today’s manufacturers do not supply you with a wiring diagram or schematic. I need to order a hand mic but it will take some time for it to get here. In the mean time I did not have a spare so I went back to my old ham radio novice ticket days and took the mic apart. Not much inside and the only moving part was the switch which has the tendency to “stick” after normal wear and tear. Cleaned the switch contacts, exercised it and returned it to the radio. I should see if it still works and the intermittent problem has disappeared. Meanwhile, I need to order several mics for spares so you can just replace it when future problems arise.
High-tech low cost maintenance equipment is a wooden broom handle. I have a close circuit camera that is giving me fits this year. It worked fine for years but I guess it decided to be malicious this season. After it went out yesterday when we thought we had it fixed on the day we left, I tapped it several times with a broom handle and the video returned. Unfortunately it still does not show up on the CCTV network and another camera on the main mast decided to do the same in as far as showing up on the network. It works fine when using it locally through a switched keyboard, so I am downloading manuals of the new equipment that was added on this winter in port and research that.
In as far as work, I have issues to keep me busy for quite some time. My network was recently upgraded and whenever I hear of upgrades or migration, I know what worked before will not work now and results are never perfect.
First deployed weekend is upon us in the morning. I have to hit the rack and be ready for tomorrow. It will be overtime and OT is not capped so I get the full time and a half.
I bid you goodnight or manuia po from American Samoa.
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