Friday 29 Jan 2021
After arriving in Canberra in the week I had before starting work at Nova Systems, took to remotely managing a necessary satellite frequency retune for the Diospi Suyana radio network in Peru. As there were no other satellite engineering expertise available. It was a mandatory requirement of the satellite operator Intelsat to shuffle services up in our satellite band, as they make way for 5G in the Americas (the same thing is happening all over the world in all similar satellite bands in fact).
So after 3 midnight to dawn efforts, managing 3 teams of people on the ground in Peru (a combination of Diospi Suyana people and contractors) up to 800km apart by road, we successfully executed this for all 7 of our satellite sites. This was a precarious feat to say the least, as if anything went wrong, the signal outage could be very lengthy and difficult to remediate without engineering hands on access to the right equipment. But due to COVID-19 this trip for me was not an option.
So from the comfort of our new dwelling place at YWAM in Canberra, I was able to remotely log into the needed sites via a secure internet link. This enabled me to directly make the necessary frequency changes to those sites including the main satellite uplink site at the Centro de Medios at the hospital in Curahuasi. I gave instruction by email step by step instructions (in Spanish) and also WhatsApp messages and video real time, to the remote teams.
But clearly God was with us as it went without any serious problems and the Diospi Suyana radio network outage was minimal.
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| Here I am managing the satellite retune from my Canberra bedroom both via WhatsApp and email with the teams and directly via secure internet link into the Diospi Suyana equipment in Peru. |
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| One of my colleagues in Peru – contractor Luis Condori, who was one of our remote site teams helping with the satellite retune. |
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| The Centro de Medios main satellite uplink antenna at the hospital in Curahuasi. |
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| Here is my latest Diospi Suyana FM radio coverage map in Peru, all 8 sites which includes the 2 new sites of Abancay and Sicuani that is soon to commence when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted to allow us to undertake the transmitter installations. |
With the satellite frequency change complete – the next stage for Diospi Suyana radio now is the launch of the next 2 FM radio sites of Abancay and Sicuani. Those sites are now constructed with the towers, buildings and 3m high secure walls completed. We only await the installation of the FM transmission equipment. However COVID-19 in Peru has worsened in these regions and there is a Government curfew in place that prevents any work. This includes the electrical authority, Electro Sur, from making the power connection to these sites with the poles, wires (up to 800 metres) and transformers.
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| Diospi Suyana Abancay FM site with 30m tower ready for power and FM transmission equipment. |
It is hoped that in the next month (April), this curfew will be lifted to enable the final works to be completed. I have arranged the FM transmission and satellite equipment is to be installed by an engineering contractor from Lima who I have given my design documentation packs to having worked with him when I was in Peru and I trust (Luis Condori). As presented previously, I have also had all this FM and satellite transmission equipment prepared (pre-built and wired in the factory including the equipment rack) and delivered to Diospi Suyana hospital, to make the installation as simple and as easy as possible.
So when completed, the Diospi Suyana radio coverage will then exceed 1 million people (24 x 7 x 365) per our original prophecy some 25 years ago. How amazing that will be! (I believe there will be up to 1 million very grateful people in Peru J).
Thank you for those who have contributed to this good work and supported us in so many ways to make it possible!
Chris
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