[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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