20180325
By Liu Chang
Today is the
first day traveling to Myanmar. Ralph-san, Sam-san, Haga-san and me come to Myanmar
for the maintenance of weather station along Bago River. The flight take off at
11.25 am and arrive at Yangon at 16.00 pm.
Although the
weather is really hot (37 °C), I’m still excited about the coming trip in an unacquainted
country. After arriving, we take a taxi to YTU (Yangon Technical University).
Here we make our acquaintance with Okazaki-san, Nakamura-san and Tin Aye from
JICA. After printing the manual and preparing the equipment, we drive to our
hotel.
Interior of SATERAPS office in YTU
Leaving for Aroma Rose Hotel
One more thing to mention is that the food in Myanmar
is really delicious. Thanks to Nakamura-san’s recommendation, we enjoy a great
dinner.
20180326
By Liu Chang
Today is the first day for a real field trip. The
plan is to go to Salu Dam for maintenance. Apart from the four of us, Chit Bo Bo
Win, San Win Maung from YTU and Aung Myat Lin from IWUMD (Irrigation and Water Utility Management Department) also join to learn about the
technique of maintenance.
Our group at the weather station
The weather
is sunny and hot just like yesterday. We have to use umbrella to keep out the ultraviolet
radiation. The maintenance procedure including downloading the data, updating
program and software and changing the antenna.
Instruction of the maintenance by Ralph-san
After two-hours’ hard work, the maintenance is
completed. But we still have to check if the data transfer between weather
station and UTokyo & YTU server is working properly. Because of the data transferring
occurs at the first ten minutes of every hour, we decide to have lunch first.
When we get to the resting place nearby, everyone
is sweating heavily. But it worth the effort when you taste the delicacy. The goat
soup is spicy and sour, the shrimp is sweet, all the cuisine plays a symphony
on your tongue.
Delicacy at Salu Dam
The data transferring seems to be unsuccessful
after checking. This made us really frustrated. But we have to double-check the
updating and setting all over again. Even after that, the server still can’t get
the data. We start to examine every detail setting including junction of
cables. And luckily that’s where we find the problem. It turns out that one red
cable has poor connect to relay. After reconnect that one everything works out
fine~
After that, we went to another weather station
which is at the downstream of Salu dam. This one is constructed with an old
version of logger, so it’s more stable and doesn’t take too much time. We take
this one more like a training course.
Discussion within the group
By the way, the landscape is also very fascinating,
it reminds me of my hometown. And I would like to swim in the river if only I
get my trunks.
20180327
By Liu Chang
Today is still a hard-working day. We went to Shwelaung
Dam for maintenance. Everything seems to be fine except there being some insects
in the sensor box. So, we have to take it out and clean it again.
Sensor Box with Excrement
But when we set the antenna, it turns out at the
top of the steel pipe will the signal stronger. And it takes us a long time to
DIY a holder for the antenna. And we have to go back to Salu Dam to enhance the antenna.
We discover some trouble of transferring data again
in Salu Dam. When we at last tackled the problem, it was already at night.
Ralph working at night
antenna setted successfully
Thanks to the hard work of Ralph-san. All day
hard-work is worth of a great dinner~
20180328
By Liu Chang
Today we go to Zaungdu Dam for maintenance. This is
the last station and I kind of miss the day standing in the sunshine. The maintenance
work turns out to be quite smooth, it takes shorter time than we expected. We
had the lunch together, and I hope we can work together soon.
We by accident witness a beautiful blue bird, and
it shall bring luck to all of us.
Model of the dam
Practice of Maintenance
Group Photo