Installation try-out
Yesterday EISCAT 3D project leader Mr. Johan Svensson, Dr. Assar Westman and Mr. Magnus Thorebäck had a first try-out of the installation process of the antenna units. Along with personel from Orfeield, Metria and ECRIEE.
With a lot of important equipment they went out to the EISCAT 3D site in Kaiseniemi about 70 kilometers from Kiruna, to find that the ground was frozen and could be used as a ice hockey rink. (Have a look of that in this video.) It posted some trouble to move around, but in the end worked out fine. Orefield reported that the ice would be of no concern when the installation process really starts, Monday 7 November.
Precision work
Yesterdays work aimed to find out the best way to assemble the different objects that make up the antenna units. It is a of great importance that all antenna units are in the exact position. The margins of error are just 25 mm.
At first the four feet of the container need to be placed with a precision of 1 mm. That is four feet per container, adding up to 220 feet, to be placed manually with great precision in just this site. In Karesuvanto, Finland, there are 220 more feet.
The EISCAT 3D site in Skibotn, Norway, will contain twice as many antennas. And of course twice as many antenna feet to position. Our staff will repeat the process with Lastbilscentralen, who is the company doing the installation in Norway. Hopefully that will work out as smooth as this one did.
Succes
With the help of good instruments and joint effords the test went just fine. Now we are excited to move on with the installation process. A great step in getting EISCAT 3D up and running has been taken.
