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1-5 of 5 messages
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EOC POwer
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by WB6WLE on November 24, 2002
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Just some observations on our local backup power.
A number of years ago when Dr. Winslow, KC6THM,(San Jose's Emergency services director)suggested that the back up generator for the Police and Fire dispatch center (and 911 system for more than one million folks)
be on back-up power for a full 24 hours to see if the system would work ( a new building at the time, four stories high), the officials scoffed at the absurd idea of wasting all that fuel, as unnessary expense,etc.Ok let's try it, and have the Hams from RACES stay the duration, just in case something went wrong,of course the electricians said no problem, the system is perfect! Well, less than four hours into the test (about the same time most centers run total for the year)The massive Cat. diesel died! Yes the huge battery back-up will cover the demand until the second generator starts.Turns out the pump bringing fuel from the basement tank to the "day" tank near the generators had too low a volume capacity to run the system at full load.That fixed, the next year(held in April, earthquake month)the elctricians said hey! Graet idea, now we can do mantainence on the vaults leading in. So they had the power company shut down the mains leading in from the street, and did the cleaning, etc on the high voltage systems.Of course, the Races members are now requested for the full term. Great time to learn all the EOC systems and to interface with the city officals.Nothing like sleeping in the 911 center(well, down the hall!)Is it worth the money spent on fuel? YES!
You get to purge the old fuel, at the same time do major mantainence on the power center to the building.
Any one else doing this ??? Oh, we tried it field day, also.
Ast. Chief Radio Officer, Dan WB6WLE
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RE: EOC POwer
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by VA7KBH on November 24, 2002
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Our emergency communications group spent the night in the firehall for JOTA. Does that count? ;)
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RE: EOC POwer
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by KE4SKY on November 27, 2002
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We went through a similar exericse prior to the Y2K rollover, repeated it for our LEMOC exercise in June 2001 and did it for real on September 11th-13th, 2001.
When the county changed out the AGM battery bank for the E911 system switching, they gave all the pulls to RACES, which enabled each of our packet nodes and HF liaisons to have 220 amp-hours battery backup.
We fire up the state issued Motorola Micom 2 HF radio in the EOC when it is "our turn" to take net control duties for our statewide RACES HF net.
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RE: EOC POwer
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by WB6WLE on November 28, 2002
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OH, almost forgot: When the City built a new EOC, we were able to keep old one functional, with all the gear and upgrades!
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RE: EOC POwer
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by K8LEA on April 25, 2003
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Just noticed this thread....
Amen to testing everybody's generators for more than a few minutes!
The former day job scrounged (that's the best way to describe our "unusual equipment" purchasing strategy) a huge Onan generator. Natural Gas powered, with a floating 12V charger battery and auto-start/auto changeover.
It always worked perfectly in quick tests - the plant used to turn into a dark cave at night with the lights out (and all kinds of hot equipment all over the place), so it was wired to pick up some lights, the phone and PA systems, and a couple of other "essential" systems.
Every time we actually needed it, though, it wouldn't start.
Seems that the exhaust stack let water seep into the motor and freeze up the pistons....
Or the starter battery flaked out....
Or any one of a half-dozen other cuties.
Given the seriousness of the issue, the cost of running the thing for a few hours (or 24 hours if you can work it out) is trivial compared to the potential risks and rewards....
The old Civil Defense authority here had a similar gasoline powered generator - we used to find excuses to run a few tanks of gas through it whenever possible. Definitely worthwhile.
(One other thing - if the generator has a crank, just in case, see if you can't get a couple of crazies to learn how to start it that way. Car batteries really don't like that kind of standby service.)
Stu K8LEA
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