The day
The session on 14 March was planned for a ridge crest above the drained fields, with a forecast of rising westerly wind through the afternoon. The array went up at first light, with the lowest channel set on the windward side. The session ran for just over five hours and produced the crest file in the catalogue, KA-W-014. This note records what happened during it, and what was changed afterwards.
Timeline
- 07:10, start of session
- Gain set with a light breeze; peak about eighteen decibels below full scale.
- Position sketch drawn on the log header.
- 09:40, first sustained gust front
- The lowest channel clipped for about four seconds.
- Clipping noted in the log at the time stamp.
- File not restarted, since the other channels were clean.
- The lowest channel clipped for about four seconds.
- 11:25, first equipment fault
- A cable on the upper pair of capsules began to crackle.
- The session was paused for eleven minutes while the cable was replaced in the same position.
- 13:50, second equipment fault
- The windshield on the lee capsule came loose and was tightened in place.
- Recording was not stopped; the change is audible as a short rustle in KA-W-014d.
Changes afterwards
The windshield fault led to a rule that every shield is checked against its mount before a session and again at each time stamp. The cable fault led to a spare set of cables being carried in the same bag as the array, kept in the same order. Neither change affects the masters already in the catalogue, which are kept as recorded and flagged where the fault is audible.