Care and Feeding of Analog-Telemetry Seismic Stations

Session: Regional Earthquake Centers: Highlights and Challenges [Poster]
Type: Poster
Date: 4/28/2020
Time: 08:00 AM
Room: Ballroom
Description: 

While many regional seismic network operators have moved away from analog telemetry, there are still a number of legacy stations that continue to provide important data for seismic monitoring. Until funding becomes available to upgrade these stations, it is worthwhile to provide continued care. The University of Utah Seismograph Stations (UUSS) maintains and operates 70+ analog-telemetry stations in the Utah and Yellowstone regions, some of which also have digital-telemetry components. Because these stations span a broad area extending ~900 km N-S, maintaining the network and providing quality data can be challenging. Here we report on problems that we have encountered and the solutions that we have developed. Knowing there is a problem and finding the source can be non-trivial. To help diagnose problems, we have designed testing equipment and specific techniques and algorithms for trouble shooting. Problems we have encountered include ground noise, electrical noise, radio interference, audio distortion and signal delays. In some cases, we have found that we are our own worst enemies when diagnosing and fixing telemetry problems. We detail some of these problems, how they were diagnosed and the fixes that we have implemented.

Presenting Author: Jon Rusho

Authors