Procedures & Polices

These are the current Policies and Procedures on the farm

Click on any to see the current version used on farm. these are reviews in an annual cycle at Staff Meetings

A faulty charging circuit needs fixed by QTech at their workshop in Christchurch and that's when you would use this procedure. However, it's worth trying a battery change first in case the problem was the battery or low solar because then you can fix it yourself in ten minutes and it doesn't need sent away for expensive repairs. This means we need to keep a record of work done on each pole to see if someone else already tried replacing the battery on that radio and therefore it needs sent away. 

The link to this record is below and you can search it with Ctrl+F to find the history of the pole you are working on, and then record the work you have done on it.

Brookstead Record of Work

Procedure

1. Look up the pole on the Record of Work to determine whether it needs replaced because someone already replaced the battery within the last year, or whether you will try a battery change first. 

   • If the battery needs changed you can access it by unscrewing the radio from the base and carefully pulling the connectors apart using your thumbnail, not by pulling the wires. Then record the battery change on the Record of Work. Send that pole a schedule so it turns green on IMS over the next day or two.

   • If the battery has been changed previously then proceed with the change procedure.

2. Locate and click on the pole on IMS.

3. Click 'Open Card'

4. Click on the cog in the top right corner and then 'Replace'

5. Select the new radio from the drop down box labelled 'Select from Spare'

6. Click 'Replace'.

7. The system will then switch the old radio for the new one and the old one will go in the spare pool.

8. Click the cog again and then 'Send Schedule' so the base station will send the schedule for that pole to the new radio.

9. Go to the pole and physically swap the radio. Do not leave wires hanging down for animals to chew! 

10. The radio should turn orange for a day or so and then green by the end of the week after a timeset and schedule have both automatically updated.

11. Leave the old radio at the collection point and when five or more radios have been collected text Sven Thelning on 021 027 86087 for collection. Do not send radios away directly to QTech as we need to keep track of them.

Notes

Poles with ongoing issues should be discussed with Sven.

Poles that are not watering are not always due to a failed radio. You should also test the solenoid valve while the water is on. This is done by touching a 9V battery to the solenoid wires and then reversing polarity. If the water turns on and off then the solenoid is good. A bad solenoid will have a weak 'click' compared to a good one, and will usually have a ring of rust around the neck. 

This procedure assumes the radio has been programmed for channel and farm ID. Sometimes they lose this programming

Unexpected issues occur frequently. If the procedure doesn't work contact Sven for remote assistance before calling out.

Many unexpected issues require interrogating the radio using an EP3 or EP4 handheld.