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Hi Libor,
While us here at NIWA haven’t actually sent any of our old “instruments” to developing countries in the Pacific, we have certainly sent old IT gear which has been gratefully received. NIWA has extensive experience working all across the Pacific Islands and I am actively working on a project in Fiji where they have just ordered the first ADCPs (RiverPro’s) into the entire Pacific! Currently ~90-95% of all gaugings in the Pacific are wading gaugings completed via old current meters and ~5-10% via FlowTrackers, so these ADCPs will revolutionise their gauging abilities.
NIWA would be happy to liase with you and some other funding agency (UNESCO, UNEP, UNDP etc), to work towards re-homing old hydrology equipment and providing adequate training on how to use and maintain it.
Contact me at alec.dempster@niwa.co.nz if you think this is something you’d be open too.
Cheers!
In NZ we have experienced a lot of failures, although the issues have generally been very similar and known issues with the early models. I have verified 24 FT2s through our tow tank and have sent back approximately 7 or 8 for repairs. Xylem Brisbane have been amazing to work with over the years and as Claudine mentioned, lots were done under goodwill other than when a genuine user caused failure!
-The most common failure was the handheld unit appearing to “Freeze”/stop responding. Even after pulling out the battery cartridge it wouldn’t always respond/reboot. Generally this was caused by a loose keypad ribbon in the unit, requiring it to be opened up and replaced. Another fix to aid the freezing issue was upgrading firmware to v1.7 for a couple of our units.
– We have had about 3 or 4 probes fail with the low SNR problem. Essentially the early versions of the probe heads had screws that were a bit short and once they started to work loose, this caused the probe head to vibrate. A closed loop system of vibrations and loosening screws continues until a wire in the head is damaged – causing the Low SNR/erratic velocities to be recorded.
NZ use these devices a lot and I too think they are a big improvement over the FT1 in almost all areas!
