[Escoordminutes] ES Div. Coordination Minutes-- Oct.

[Lew Serna]

Minutes for the ES Division Coordination Meeting held on Tuesday, 
October 25, 2005, at 10:30 am, in the LL CB conference room.  Attending 
were Lew Serna, Guy Stanzione, Selfa Lucero, Jim Ruff, Tom Frost, Ramon 
Gutierrez, James Sullivan, Jon Thunborg, Paul Rhodes, Gene Cole, Brent 
Avery, Mark McKinnon, Ken Lakies and Charley Chavez.

BUDGET —Two ballast cars have been purchased through a special fund at a 
cost of $16.8k each.  The purchase of the ballast cars will eliminate 
the need to run the high maintenance and costly dump trucks for track 
work. FY2005 ES expenditures exceeded the allotted budget mainly due to 
Tiger Team Trips.  The next budget report will show an estimated 
allotment for FY2006 based upon last year’s allotment. Supervisors are 
cautioned to only make essential purchases until the "real" budget is 
known (sometime in March or April). Recruitment should proceed for the 
Track Crewman, Electrician, Carpenters helper, Antenna Mechanic and 
Machinist.  The Servo vacancy is still not approved.  EVLA is budgeted 
and work should continue as scheduled. The EVLA "Antenna" budget needs 
to be revisited and corrections made to reflect actual expenditures.

VLBA TT Trips— since shipping the container to St Croix is extremely 
expensive, we propose to ship a container one way, with all the parts 
needed to repair the antenna and with tools needed for future tiger team 
visits.  The existing container is fairly beat up and should be replaced 
since it may not be acceptable for shipping much longer. We would only 
need to ship small boxes of tools and necessary parts for subsequent 
visits.  The St Croix maintenance visit in FY2006 should concentrate on 
repairing and painting the steel structure. The cost estimate for doing 
this is around $10K.  Shipping costs for the container round trip is 
around $12K. Ramon will get cost estimates for tools needed and 
purchasing a better container.

A container cannot be placed at the MK site due to building codes, but 
it may be possible to store tools at the site anyway, to try and save in 
container shipping cost.

A desired schedule for VLBA TT visits in FY 2006 is to complete KP, MK 
and HN next year with a special 14 day mechanical visit to SC in the spring.

AZ Bearings-- Parts from the bearings removed from antennas are needed 
for measuring and fitting of new parts and should be stored until they 
are scheduled to be shipped to Rotek for repair. There are 2 good 
Azimuth bearings on hand. One spare bearing should be maintained at all 
times. Antenna 14, 16 & 18’s bearing will be shipped to Rotek for 
possible refurbishment, at the rate of one per year, when the budget 
permits. If possible we could ship all bearings to Rotek to save on 
shipping.  There is an 8-9 week lead time on a refurbished bearing 
delivery.  The bearing change in antenna 20 that was scheduled for 
September 2005 was canceled.  A new grease sampling shows that antenna 
26 could be in worse shape than antenna 20.  Antenna 26’s bearing will 
be changed next and is scheduled to occur in summer of FY2006 (May or 
June).  An estimated three weeks in the AAB are required before a 
bearing change can occur.  Grease samples show that antennas 26, 10, 20, 
are good candidates for the next bearing changes.


NEW PROJECTS:
ACU Modification-- A new ACU that replaces the ACU in its entirety is 
desirable.  The new ACU would hopefully improve the position loop 
response, improve reliability and replace the obsolete components in the 
current ACU.  A PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) based upgrade would 
cost around $3K per antenna.  EVLA has funded the prototype and design 
work is ongoing. No funding commitments are made for retrofitting.

Control building Stairways— After repeated unsuccessful attempts to stop 
the corrosion on the Control Building Stairways we will replace the 
stairways with an improved design conforming to ADA. Estimated cost to 
do this for both stairways is $12K.  The south stairway kick plates are 
deteriorating and should be repaired soon.  Mark reports that The EPO 
division will contribute $6K towards this project.  It is desirable to 
do this work in January or February if possible.

LWDA (Long Wave Development Array)— The University of New Mexico and the 
Naval Research Laboratory are leading a research project called the Long 
Wavelength Demonstrator Array, which is to be installed at the VLA site. 
  A new location has been selected which will considerably reduce the 
amount of earthwork necessary for the array.  ES Division provided 
manpower and equipment estimates for providing access to the site and 
installing a fiber optic cable that will be connected to VLA’s west arm 
trunk at CW7.  An estimate was also provided for trenching and laying 
the conduit for an underground power line. It is expected that work will 
begin early in November.

Fire Station- Fire Chief Tom Olney, Has acquired a newer Fire Truck for 
the Fire Brigade.  The truck will not fit inside the existing fire truck 
bay.  The fire truck should be kept indoors to prevent the freezing of 
pumps.  The ambulance is now housed in the old fire truck bay.  A bid 
package has been submitted and funds were committed from 2005 budget. 
The building material should arrive sometime in December.  Concrete work 
could begin as soon as the drawings are approved.

190 MHz Receiver System— The second review of the 190 MHz Receiver 
system was held in the AOC on 25 July, 2005. Many problems have been 
overcome however; another review will be needed when the answers to the 
several remaining questions are ready.  Several P-band feeds do not have 
the hollow tubes needed for routing the 190 MHz cables. SAO will need to 
have a plan to handle this.  There are 7 antennas that have solid rods 
on the dipoles; Antennas 2, 4, 13, 22, 23, 24, and 27. The maximum 
support available from E/S Division for cherry picker support is 8 hrs 
per week. An NRAO employee who is knowledgeable in cherry picker 
operations or receiver installation must be present at the antenna at 
the appropriate times for the installation of the 190 MHz receiver. 
Safety and cherry picker training for SAO personnel may be involved. New 
tests are underway. A second review is to be held sometime soon. Antenna 
17 currently has the 190 MHz system installed on it.

Transporter Axles – The transporter axles are exhibiting several cracks 
which are being rubbed out to prevent propagation of the cracks.  This 
is a temporary fix as more cracks will eventually appear. These axles 
should be replaced in the next 10 years with axles made of a different 
material and design to increase their life.  They are currently lasting 
about 12-14 years and were last replaced in 1992.  There are 12 axles 
per transporter and each axle will cost around $3K to replace. There is 
one spare axle of the existing design available. A plan to purchase 3 
newly designed axles per year to replace all transporter axles in 8 
years time is proposed.  It is worthwhile to investigate the cost of 
having these built up at one time by an outside shop.

VLBA FRM Drives— The VLBA is running out of spare motors due to 
obsolescence.  The current drive system utilizes three motors.  Field 
Techs are changing to a two motor drive system which should free up 
motors for spares.  Jim Ruff will also propose a new drive system for 
the VLBA FRM’s which will take around 6 months to 1 year to develop.  It 
is believed that the drive amplifiers proposed for the new VLBA system 
will work with the VLA stepper motors.  This may be and opportunity to 
test a replacement for the existing obsolete VLA FRM amplifiers 
(translators) as well.

VLBA Watch Spring Cable Wraps— The VLBA Pie Town watch spring cable wrap 
has been replaced with an EVLA type watch spring wrap at a cost of 
around $300.  It is an improvement over the current VLBA watch spring 
wraps. The Pie Town cable wrap will undergo a 6 month evaluation. Should 
it prove successful, it will be funded out of the VLBA field group 
budget.  Since the cables will need to be threaded through the cable 
assembly without connectors, the Pie Town techs are volunteering to 
prefabricate the assemblies for retrofitting.  Installation may be 
accomplished by site techs during a double maintenance day which would 
avoid lengthening the ever increasing duration of the Tiger Team visits.

VLA Counterweights— The VLA Antennas are Dish Heavy by about 7,000 foot 
pounds.  An EVLA antenna needs to be counterweight tested with all EVLA 
equipment installed.  Someday Green Bank may surplus some of the GBT 
steel rail.  If and when Green Bank surpluses their rail, with the high 
cost of steel, it would be worthwhile to transport the rail to the VLA 
for correcting the counterweight problem. Mark has asked for the rail.


EVLA STATUS
Correlator Room-- Stanzione-- The shielded room sub floor has been 
leveled and core drilling is complete.  Shielded room delivery trucks 
should begin arriving this week.   The erection superintendent and a 
couple of crewmen will arrive to supervise the offloading of the 
shielded room.  Some of the material will be temporarily stored in the 
EVLA dry storage building.  Traffic through the area will be blocked off 
at the operations door and the double doors. The Visitor tour path over 
the balcony will also be blocked off when construction begins, since the 
balcony will be used as a staging area.  It is likely that the crew will 
work 7 days a week.  The shielded room takes about 5 weeks to install. 
The assembly and installation of the shielded room is tentatively 
scheduled until December 15. RFQ’s have been submitted for the fire 
suppression system.  Be advised that the sprinkler system has been 
removed in the shielded room area.

EVLA Antennas: E Cole-- Antenna  20 will be the next antenna into the 
AAB for overhaul. A decision is still pending whether it will take an 
EVLA overhaul.  It is expected that a decision will be arrived in three 
weeks time of the antenna entering the AAB. During the first three weeks 
only regular overhaul effort is to take place.

Feed Tower-- Gutierrez-- There is a problem with fitting all the feeds 
in the feed circle of the tower.  A test feed tower will be built and 
trial fitments to try and resolve this issue will be necessary.

EVLA LOCKOUTS AND WYE MONITOR CONNECTIONS— E. Cole-- Procedures to 
improve antenna accessibility and to avoid accidental antenna movement 
are being put into effect. EVLA Antennas that have been outfitted in the 
AAB and are being “delivered” for electronic outfitting can be remotely 
controlled.  In order to prevent accidental antenna movement, antennas 
will be locked out until such time that movement is authorized.  Rudy 
Latasa (Cryo Group) will be responsible for the Lockout.  In addition, a 
sign will be posted in the Antenna pedestal room door which identifies 
those antennas that are being tested (remotely controlled).  Employees 
are reminded to use caution and to exercise proper Lock Out Tag Out 
(LOTO) procedures when visiting antennas.

SAFETY REPORT...  James Sullivan
Accident report:
There have been a total of 11 Accidents reported this year. There have 
been 6 accidents attributed to the ES Division.
Incident Report:
There have been a total of 5 Incidents reported this year. There have 
been 2 incidents attributed to the ES Division.

Training:
Monthly All Hands Safety Meeting:
The last meeting was held on Oct 20, 2005. There were 33 employees in 
attendees

Next Monthly All Hands Safety Meeting:
The next all hands safety meeting will be held on November 17th @ 3:30pm 
in the VLA Cafe.

Environmental inspection:
     There will be an environmental inspection conducted at the VLA 
site, the AOC and at the Pie Town VLBA station the week of November 8th 
through the 10th, 2005. When I receive the times and dates for each 
location I will pass it on.  An designated employee representing each 
area will accompany the inspector.  Safety committee members will be 
designated where appropriate.

OTHER:
VLBA Gearbox and Wheel Assy.  A second Wheel assembly should be built in 
FY2006.  Also there should be enough spares to repair the spare VLBA 
Gearbox that has been cannibalized and this should also be done in FY2006.

Smoke Detectors:  A Control Building “addressable smoke detector” audit 
and replacement should be made in order to maximize savings on 
programming costs. Bob Broilo will conduct a survey.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Environmental Audit at the VLA-- It is scheduled for Nov 9-11. The AOC, 
VLA, and PT will be audited.

Fred Lo, NRAO Director, will visit the VLA and hold an All Hands meeting 
in the VLA Cafeteria.  Tentative date is Wednesday, November 9, 2005, 11am.

CONACyT Visit-- We expect visitors from Mexico (CONACyT) and NRAO senior 
management to visit the VLA on November 9th & 10th.   The Mexican 
government has contributed close to $2 million towards the EVLA project.