Spare / Backup
Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:34 am
I know there have been some discussions on Disaster Recover / Plan B types of ideas...but I wanted to get a better feel for what others have seen with regards to the timer...I think we have a good disaster plan for our laptop, the GPRM software, the data file, even video projectors, etc.
But we are still left with a single failure point of the timer. We have an first generation Microwizard P1 kit...circa 2001 or so.
It has the blinking light indicators, so if just the laptop communications were to fail, we could still manually record finish order. But if the whole unit dies, we are left with eye-ball'n it.
I don't worry much about the circuit board, all straightforward solid state stuff. But the various wires and cables and LEDs...any one could suffer a short over years of storing/trading/transporting.
Regardless of your timer backup plan - have you ever had to USE it? Maybe the odds of the electronics failing, are too small to worry with in terms of the scale of a pack level PWD. Full redundancy is perhaps a luxury to consider at district/council levels.
But we are still left with a single failure point of the timer. We have an first generation Microwizard P1 kit...circa 2001 or so.
It has the blinking light indicators, so if just the laptop communications were to fail, we could still manually record finish order. But if the whole unit dies, we are left with eye-ball'n it.
I don't worry much about the circuit board, all straightforward solid state stuff. But the various wires and cables and LEDs...any one could suffer a short over years of storing/trading/transporting.
Regardless of your timer backup plan - have you ever had to USE it? Maybe the odds of the electronics failing, are too small to worry with in terms of the scale of a pack level PWD. Full redundancy is perhaps a luxury to consider at district/council levels.