War is declared in the Persian Gulf. Preparations have begun, and the United
States has sent ships to the Middle East. More are on the way.
The navy decides to send an elite warship with a new radar system. It leaves
the U.S., and makes a port of call further south en route to the gulf. Suddenly,
disaster strikes. The top-notch radar system fails.
"The mixer went," recalls electronics technologist Bruce Bonneau. "It was
a major problem. We weren't getting any of the right indications or signals
onboard the ship."
This isn't like the radar detector some people use in their cars to elude
police. This radar system is vital to the operation of an entire ship, its
weapons and the tracking of other boats on the water.
In one week, this ship is due to hit the high seas. But it's not going
anywhere until its radar is repaired.
Bonneau is responsible for maintaining the radar system. He and his team
are ordered to work as quickly as possible to find the problem and repair
it.
But finding the glitch in a radar system isn't like ripping apart a hand-held
radio. This system spans the entire boat. The antenna is at the top of the
ship, above the helicopter hangar. Mechanisms for the lower frequency radar
are mid-ship, and down in the lower levels are enormous consoles with TV screens,
buttons, cords and joysticks. "It looks a bit like playing a giant video game,"
says Bonneau.
But it's not a lot of fun right now. Bonneau and his team have to find
the electronics equivalent of a needle in a haystack, with an entire ship's
crew waiting to set sail.
"Some problems aren't too difficult to find," says Bonneau. "If a data
line is broken or a megatron [a high-power amplifier] burns out, we can fix
it. Some things, like design problems, can be really tough."
For example, last month, deep inside the console, a wire was installed
a fraction too close to the system's chassis. The wire was causing it to arc
and short the system.
The radar glitch is also a hard-to-find problem.
Sorting out the radar system is even more difficult because it's new to
the technologists. "Before we had sailed, none of us had any experience with
[the] system, and I was working with a brand new team," says Bonneau.
The electronics technologists fanned out across the system and began their
work. After two days of intensive searching, they found a broken part. But
it couldn't be repaired onboard. "We had a Canadian ship bring the part out
to us, we installed it and by the end of the week, we were ready to go."
Once the radar system is repaired, Bonneau can't simply step off the ship.
He and 17 other electronics technologists are stationed aboard the vessel.
Their job is to maintain and repair the electronic equipment housed in the
operations room.
"The ship is full of electronics," he says. "We have to do things like
test equipment, make sure filters are clean and that wires aren't frayed.
It's a full-time job."
Because Bonneau is on the ship, his life is like that of other military
personnel. He spends an average of six to eight months away from home. "The
work itself isn't hard, but it's really tough to be away from your family
for so long," he says. On the other hand, traveling and seeing new sights
is one of the most rewarding parts of his job.
Lindsay Martin is technologist for a computer company. "I mainly work on
site, meaning I go out and fix networks, or I go out and repair computers."
Martin spends about two-thirds of her time on repairs. The rest is spent setting
up new equipment.
When Martin was in the 12th grade, she got involved in a computer recycling
program -- taking old, slow computers and fixing them up with new, faster
processors. "I was young when I got started. I just clicked with computers.
I really enjoyed working with them." The experience led her to pursue Microsoft's
systems engineer certification, instead of a university degree, after high
school.
Sean Craig is an electronics technologist who stays closer
to home. He maintains and troubleshoots a hospital computer network system
and data center.
Craig cleans tape drives, reloads paper, cleans air filters and maintains
correct temperature and humidity for the machines. He also makes sure the
systems are running smoothly, and writes and modifies guidelines for computer
users to follow.
"The most important part of my job is problem solving," he says. If users
have trouble, they call Craig for help. As much as technical ability, this
job requires good communication skills.
"You have to be able to speak to the user in a language they can understand,
which is a different language than technical personnel are accustomed to speaking."
Craig has to be able to assist people without aggravating them. "In many
cases, users are frustrated and sometimes even irate because of their attempts
to solve their problems prior to phoning for help."
But whether out on the high seas or digging in the back of a computer,
Craig and Bonneau both agree it's satisfying to be able to help others get
a system up and running.
"There's no greater feeling when you hear the sound of someone's voice
when you have solved one of their problems or when you fix something that's
not working," says Craig.