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08-17-2012, 05:52 AM
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#1
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Rivet Master
Airstream - Other
2016 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Bosque Farms
, New Mexico
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 7,017
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If you're headed our way ... Internet problem!
We had a bad storm in Santa Fe yesterday evening, but it was evidently even worse in Angel Fire: The wifi system was struck by lightning. From Maria's report, parts of it were blown apart, burned pieces landing on the other side of her office area.
Pretty obvious that the park is without Internet. I'm going up later today to assess the damage: Expecting the worst, but hoping for the best. At worst, I'd suspect about a week to order and install all of the fried equipment. At best, just a couple of hours of work with older spare parts we have in boxes.
Oh, and Santa Fe was exciting, too! A large electric line passing through a tree just behind the Airstream moved about. Suddenly, I heard very loud electrical humming and saw huge sparking. The neighboring rigs all lost power (and may have lost some equipment). The electric company showed up late last night and got the lines repaired.
Lynn
__________________
ACI Big Red Number 21043
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08-17-2012, 06:54 AM
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#2
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Rivet Master
1995 30' Excella
Bowie
, Maryland
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 2,345
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Please post pictures of the destroyed wifi parts!
__________________
1995 Airstream Classic 30' Excella 1000
2014 Ram 2500 Crew Cab with Cummins 6.7L Diesel
Sold but not forgotten: 1991 Airstream B190
Sold: 2006 F-250 6.0L Powerstroke Supercab
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08-17-2012, 07:07 AM
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#3
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Rivet Master
1971 25' Tradewind
1993 34' Excella
Currently Looking...
Estancia
, New Mexico
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,742
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Sounds like the Tempest scene out of King Lear, except with electronics. Blow ye winds and hurricanos! Glad no people or critters got fried. Ditto on pics.
__________________
Sail on silver girl. Sail on by. Your time has come to shine.
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08-17-2012, 07:37 AM
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#4
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Rivet Master
1956 22' Flying Cloud
1953 32' Liner
1955 22' Safari
Valley View
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,971
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Hail?
__________________
"If it can't be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled or composted
then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production."
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08-17-2012, 07:42 AM
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#5
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Rivet Master
2008 22' Safari
Oracle
, Arizona
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,174
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Wow! Sorry to hear about it. Glad no one was hurt.
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08-17-2012, 09:01 AM
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#6
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Rivet Master
Airstream - Other
2016 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Bosque Farms
, New Mexico
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 7,017
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When I get up there later today, I'll assess the damage. Of course, I'm hoping just for simple blown-out power supplies (got a whole box full of extras), but it doesn't sound that simple from Maria's description.
Of course, there's the ultimate catch 22: The wifi is dead, so can't get online. And I order all the parts online. Maybe have to make a list and wait until I'm back in Santa Fe on Sunday to order parts, as needed.
Lynn
__________________
ACI Big Red Number 21043
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08-17-2012, 09:22 AM
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#7
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Site Team
2002 25' Safari
Dewey
, Arizona
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 15,606
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Sorry to hear about the problem. That must have been a traumatic event at the park last night. I think there are a couple of WIFI hot spots in town. The library should have one and I believe that Angle Fired Pizza is another.
__________________
Richard
Wally Byam Airstream Club 7513
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08-17-2012, 09:29 AM
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#8
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Rivet Master
Airstream - Other
2016 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Bosque Farms
, New Mexico
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 7,017
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Yes, there are a couple of other hotspots in town that people can use (including me if I need to order parts right away). A couple of the realtors have them, too. Unsecured. Duh. How about doing a property transaction at those places!
Lynn
__________________
ACI Big Red Number 21043
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08-17-2012, 09:38 AM
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#9
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Site Team
2002 25' Safari
Dewey
, Arizona
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 15,606
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Excellent point, send me your Credit card info and I'll help you out
__________________
Richard
Wally Byam Airstream Club 7513
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08-17-2012, 09:46 AM
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#10
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Rivet Master
Airstream - Other
2016 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Bosque Farms
, New Mexico
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 7,017
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Sitting here waiting until I can leave (usually around 10:30), I've been piecing together what Maria was talking about last night on the phone. She kept asking me about a green board up on the large shelf where the wifi equipment is kept. Green board, green board. I kept on telling her that there wasn't a green board up there. Then she explained that the green board was made of plastic; it got burned and wound up on her keyboard across the room. I wrote it off to confusion and changed the subject.
And it finally dawned on me a few minutes ago. The board was green, but it wasn't a board made of wood. (Like I explained, there were no boards up there, green or otherwise, plastic or wood.) It was a green circuit board, burned and blasted out of one of the pieces of equipment up there.
In hindsight, I'm glad that I spent the time on the phone last night talking her through turning everything off and unplugging all of it from the wall.
Lynn
__________________
ACI Big Red Number 21043
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08-17-2012, 03:12 PM
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#11
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Rivet Master
2006 19' Safari SE
Tucson
, Arizona
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,627
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Sorry to hear about this, Lynn...and you're right, best to get it all disconnected from power sources before something worse happens... Good luck with getting it up and running again before the natives get restless! You know how crazy folks get when they can't get online! (Oh wait...that's maybe just me.)
__________________
TB & Greg and Abbey Schnauzer
AirForums #21900
PastPrez, 4CU/WBCCI
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08-17-2012, 03:41 PM
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#12
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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Bummer! We were in SF last year when a bad thunderstorm came through at the same campground. TV reception went loony and power was fluctuating. I turned off the TV and unplugged the laptop. That's when I decided to get a surge protector for the trailer rather than rely on cheap individual ones for each receptacle.
I hope it is simple and you have a closet full of circuit boards. At least you can fix this yourself. A lot of campground owners have no idea what to do with wifi.
Gene
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08-18-2012, 06:37 PM
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#13
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Rivet Master
Airstream - Other
2016 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Bosque Farms
, New Mexico
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 7,017
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Oh, it was pretty destructive! Final tally:
All but one of the power supplies dead
DSL modem dead
Router dead
Power injection unit for booster dead
Two-watt booster dead
UPS dead
The most major loss was the booster. Those things don't come cheap. Amazingly, the antenna itself survived, albeit with some war scars.
I did find out that the strike was right onto the main antenna itself. When I arrived from Santa Fe, I found a cap-like thing in the driveway. Thought maybe some RV had lost it, maybe a cap on a strut for an awning or somesuch. When I took the antenna down this morning, I discovered that the cap was blown off. That's what I'd picked up in the driveway yesterday about 20 feet away.
The green board that I mentioned earlier was a power supply. It had taken a hard hit, and the plastic housing had blown apart, exposing the blackened innards. The pieces of the housing were what Maria found across the room on her computer keyboard.
Anyway, I've got it all replaced now and a whole pile of equipment to throw away is still waiting in the office.
Lynn
__________________
ACI Big Red Number 21043
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08-18-2012, 07:30 PM
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#14
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Rivet Master
Currently Looking...
1984 31' Airstream310
Ajo
, Arizona
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 7,649
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It may sound stupid, but was the wi-fi pole installed with a lightning-to-ground arrestor, or is all that moot?
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08-18-2012, 09:57 PM
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#15
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Rivet Master
Airstream - Other
2016 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Bosque Farms
, New Mexico
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 7,017
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Nope, it wasn't, but I had intentionally installed the antenna so that it did not exceed the height of the building it's attached to. Just our sorry luck that the lightning hit it instead of, e.g., the metal chimney for the wood stove, which sticks up a good deal higher.
Lynn
__________________
ACI Big Red Number 21043
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08-19-2012, 12:18 PM
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#16
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Master of Universe
2008 25' Safari FB SE
Grand Junction
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 12,694
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You just can't trust lightning. Perhaps a lightning arrester would be a good idea since lightning does strike twice.
Gene
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