[HamWAN PSDR] BawFaw is back online
Bart Kus
me at bartk.us
Sat Feb 20 23:42:25 PST 2021
Dale & I went up to BawFaw today to assess the outage situation today.
Due to a cable failure at CapitolPeak, BawFaw was running on its backup
link via Larch Mtn. Then, this path failed too. Here's the culprit:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZBKyrkJRA5sJdTVr7
That's the result of water getting into the cable (jacket penetration),
and then running down to the RJ45 PoE injection point. With those
contacts submerged and 24V present, the copper begins electrolysis.
This ruins both the cable end, and the PoE injector.
Luckily, I brought spare injectors, and my crimping kit. Two injectors
were swapped out, and this Larch RJ45 was re-terminated. Water started
dripping out of it immediately though! To combat the outdoor jacket
breach, I installed "drip loops" at the bottom of the cabinet for every
one of the CAT5 cables coming in. You can see the Larch cable drip loop
here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/exgP2ozmKJuppsTq7
Notice the puddle already forming! The ground wire keeps the shield
integrity from end to end.
I think the cause of the outdoor CAT5 jacket destruction may have been
improper installation. The lowest 10-20ft of cable didn't have any
cushions, and were swaying pretty significantly in the wind, hitting
metal edges. Dale remedied this situation a little bit by sticking the
HamWAN cable bundle into some free space of another tenant's cable
hanger. We didn't bring cable cushion hardware and weren't planning on
climbing the tower, so that's all that could be done.
BawFaw should stay online for a little longer now, until we can properly
address the cable system.
--Bart
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