This station (which channels the signal on its journey to most of us) is powered by a bank of large batteries. These are charged by a combination of Solar and Wind Power, however prolonged periods of still/foggy weather can mean that they are not being recharged. If they go flat completely then someone has to replace them - a surprsingly complicated task, but this can usually be done fairly quickly.
This caused the problems 22-25th November and again on the morning of 22nd December - though up and running again by the afternoon.
Why did it take so long to fix in November?
The power failure
on the 22nd - 25th of November was compounded by the fact
that one of the batteries turned out to be faulty and unfortunately our
engineer was unavailable to rectify the problem straight away due to other
commitments
What is being done to prevent these problems recurring?
Ultimately mains power supplied to Mountain Buildings would be the goal, but this is very expensive so is not feasible at the moment.
In the meantime a better wind generator is being fitted and the solar panels are being regularly checked to ensure they are not being occluded by plants or debris. Also whenever possible the charge on the batteries is being checked so problems can hopefully be offset before they happen.
It is worth noting though that whilst every effort is made to maintain continuous service, shorter and cloudier days in Winter will always slightly compromise this method of power generation, so as always your continued patience and understanding is hugely appreciated should such an interruption occur again.
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