“the monkey’s paw is too calloused”

Posted by WWN

My assignment was to buy a monkey proof fence in less than 48 hours.

And it needed to fit in my luggage along with 2 two 36 inch long Yagi antennas.

What I learned;

No “so called” livestock supply store in the greater DC Metro area sells monkey fences.

They all sell monkey chow however.

All farms in the greater DC area have electricity and therefore battery power fence controllers are rare.
What I bought;

Zareba S12_-A controller ($70.00)
“Solid-state fence controllers are an effective and affordable option for controlling shorthaired livestock, small animals and pets with light to moderate weed conditions. Available for up to 10 miles of fence.
We recommend 6- or 12-volt rechargeable deep cycle batteries (not included with fence controller). Note: Frequently check and recharge your batteries to maintain secure fence operation.”

Insulators
2  bags of yellow; ($4.00)
Economy wood post insulator (SF25WP)
Bag of 25
# Economy wood-post insulator
# N-style wire channel
# Simple one-nail installation
# Nails included

3 bags of black ($6.00)
DARE Elfin 241 wood post insulators  (25 each)
Total 125 plastic for wood insulators with nails

656 ft of BAYGARD by Parmak
Portable Electric Fence Wire PM-121 ($24.00)
PVC coated fiberglass gives Baygard high strength as well as low stretch and sag properties.
High conductivity (low resistance) aluminum wire conductors.
Baygard wire is light weight, only 4.5 lb. (2 kg) per 1/4 mile
Baygard will not kink and is easy to re-roll and reuse.
Breaks can be rejoined by a knot.

My new friend, a middle aged woman with a mustache named Amy who works at

Bowen’s Farm supply in Annapolis says this won’t work because “the monkey’s paw is too calloused”.

April 29th Kanpur Update

The Lidar was transferred to the guest house and installed on the second floor balcony.  It seemed to perform well although during the hottest part of the day the airconditioner was not up to the 44°C heat.  The control unit was moved inside the compound which appeared to solve the problem.  It will be tested again tomorrow.  The pbl was ~4 km and the retrieval an AOD of 0.6 in the UV very close to the cimel observation.  Sebastian has done a superb job getting this up and running.

The drum sampler was put together and will be tested tomorrow on the compound roof where we also hope to install it.

Mikhail spent is final full day here lamenting his return.  He installed a dual polar on the roof of the Apt. with the new software.  He tested several other cimels and corrected some contact problems.  Two more cimels remain to be tested.  The vitel antenna failure is a great concern.  Wayne and Tom will bring two more yaggi antennas.  

Harish and Joel completed the set up of Barielly and established a temporary set up at Pantnagar.  Barally had some status errors during the heat of the day but Pantnagar seems to be working well.  They went onto Nainital and will establish that one tomorrow morning.  If they have a chance they will explore Almora.

Suresh Babu is at VSK installing that instrument.  He has one more day there before leaving.  At this writing I’ve not seen any data from the site.  

The souther site Chitrakut (sp) has monkey issues.  Wayne and tom will bring electric fence supplies (??) to provide some shock and awe to our little relatives.  Deployment will probably not be possible until around Friday and the fence there after.  I hope the little buggers stay away in the mean time.

We have two bicycles, two sim cards and a few wimpy mosquitos.  My cell is on the website as are other phone numbers.

Many thanks to Daya and Sumit for helpings greatly with the details today.

Thanks to Dave for getting the Calipso links up on the website.  

 

 

Tips, etc.

Questions;

How much is the taxi from the international airport to the train station?

How long is the ride?

How much is the tip to the porters at the train stations?

Would like an answer before 05/01

Space Blankets not available

Space Blankets have been suggested for sun protection for instrument cases and human data collection units

Wilburwayne has scoured the metro area and found No More space blankets at REI College Park or Rockville.

Three Coghlan’s All Purpose Thermal Blankets were found at Bass Pro for $18. Look the same as REI’s 12.50 Space Blanket.

Bought a bag of beef jerky at Bass Pro so please have a couple beers for Tom and I in Kanpur.

Suggest a dog igloo as another option

http://www.futurepets.com/DOGLOO_HOUSE.HTM

April 28th Instrument Status

Joel and Harish set up the Bareilly instrument late in the day 28.38996 N and 79.43696 E 169 m.  It appears to be functioning properly.  Curious monkeys are a concern.  After some morning adjustments they will proceed to Nainital for the next deployment.  VSK is supposed to be installed today and tomorrow but no word as of this writing.  Five mobile sites are planned.  Chitrikoot site visit is planned for Wednesday.  Gandhi College is intermittent but worked most of today.

The Drum sampler and Leosphere EZ lidar were examined today and a first attempt at deployment is planned tomorrow.

Mikhail continues to sort out heat related problems affecting the reliability of the transmitters. He leaves for home via Delhi on Wednesday.

 

April 28th shipping update

Holben arrived with the PHOTONS instrument in New Delhi.  It was setup at IITM but the communication and a missing battery cable foiled a full installation.  Mikhail will provide the missing cable and install the communication software on Wednesday on his way home from his new Dacha in Kanpur.   IITM approved the installation on Monday. The Leosphere Lidar is expected to arrive in Kanpur on Monday.  Joel successfully carried a complete system in on Saturday.  Suresh Buba will install the VSK instrument on the 28th and 29.  In total there are 11 instruments in the A-Train Calypso track.

Mikhail has melted

Mikhail has melted and is no longer functional or responsive. 
Please send replacement engineer.

Mobile Cimel Activities Discussion

Had a good discussion with Sachi and Harish about mobile deployments.  He said the center track distances will not pose any excessive logistical challenge and suggested that we might use 3 vehicles to cover these activities, with one transporting half of the mobile Cimel operators (and dropping them off at the monitoring locations) and half transporting the others. A third vehicle could be used to distribute cold drinks to the operators periodically throughout the day, providing a break from the heat, etc.

Student availiability may be quite limited since they are involved in other support activities already.   However, we will have Harish to work with us consistently, plus likely one other student so that would give us at least four mobile Cimel operators assuming there are always 2 or more foreign scientists here for overpasses.

We talked very brieflly about the east and west track activities.   Reaching the sites by noon is very possible with an early start.  Harish estimated it might take 5 hours to get to the East track.

Joel

Estimated Travel Times From Kanpur (by car)

Bareilly (~4 hours)

Pantnagar (~7 hours)

Nainital (~10 hours)

Upcoming Installation Schedule

Joel Schafer will be installing three Cimels at the northern sites beginning Monday, Apr 28th.

#84: Bareilly  on 4/28 (Vitel)

#158: Pantnagar  on 4/30? (Sutron with pyranometer)

#452: Nainital on 4/29? (Sutron with pyranometer)