Peter visited the Olinda RISERnet site with Simon, Cathy and Namo. During this visit, Simon and Cathy set up protection hoses for the cables of the sensors. We have found this is an effective way to protect our sensors and cables from being damaged by wild animals. Peter and Namo checked the base station together. The base station was found to be broken due to too many on/off cycles, and required repair.
Since the warrantee of the base station has already expired, Peter, Simon, and Namo opened the base station (see below) in an attempt to figure out the issue. This helped us narrow down the reason for the failure to the Power over Ethernet (PoE) module. The Linux system of the base station can still be accessed through the PoE module, but the power cannot pass the PoE module to the base station.
We consulted with the local representative (M2M) of Libelium about possible solutions. On option is to connect a PoE to DC adapter in the base station to utilize the direct DC connector. However, without knowing why the PoE module failed, this exposes potential risk of damaging the direct DC power connection too. Unfortunately, M2M is not qualified to fix the equipment, and the base station would to be sent back to Libelium in Spain for further investigation. We are still discussing how best to solve this tricky problem.
