NOAA engineers are currently looking at a contingency plan for the NOAA-17 AVHRR anomaly. In the meeting this morning the engineering staff are considering to changing HRPT transmitters on NOAA-16 to a RHCP antenna so that users can use their current configuration. Also NOAA has express interest in changing the APT transmitter on NOAA-17 back to 137.620 but leave NOAA-15’s APT transmitter alone. Another option that NOAA is exploring is to try a last attempt to revive the APT system on NOAA-16 but engineers have stated that due to the hybrid failure that connects the to VTX transmitter to the antenna that its probably unlikely that it would ever recover. In the mean time NOAA is making plans to make the LRIT data from METOP covering both East and West coasts of the United States available via the data collection system. More on this when a process is defined in greater detail.
NOAA is comparing the current situation with the one that occurred on NOAA-14 many years ago to see if any of the procedures used then could be applied in this case. The data obtained from the PACS system show similar signature in the current draw and base plate temperature but the way the anomaly presented itself in the past few months may make it impossible to determine if anything could be done. This may be a wait and see game like before.
Over the next few days NOAA will make and evaluation of the anomaly and report to the users what the plan of attack will be. They ask that we all be patient while the process take place and are doing their best to fill the gap caused by this failure. I should more to pass over to you all in the coming days.
Thank you,
Steven Ross
Weatherscience.net
08:27 UTC
Hello Sir:
I was thinking about the scan motor problem and was wondering if the power to the sync motor was to be cycled on/off as a test,if that may free up the motor? And also I could never understand why no redundency has never been investigated,like say a second scan motor inline with a single shaft and a release bearing as the second motor is switched on to take over.This problem it seems has always killed the AVHRR instument on many spacecraft!