I work for a large construction company in California which also owns a number of aggregate (rock) mines. So sometimes, the phrase “onsite” can have very interesting meanings…

Working up high at an aggregate mine

This week I had to do some troubleshooting of a microwave link from one of our plants out to a nearby mining pit (about 4 miles away). The view was spectacular! And a bit nervous at the same time…it is a steep and long climb to the top of this tower. When I took this picture, it was late in the afternoon and the plant had stopped production for the day…it was nice and quiet up here. However, I was up here several times the day before during production, and it was incredibly noisy, with lots of vibration, and a muddy mist showering down through the structure. Not a pleasant environment at all. I had my laptop wrapped up in a large plastic bag to keep it clean.

The problem ended up being related to an old switch (installed years ago by an outside vendor). I put a temp switch in place for now, but I’m going to install a proper switch, one designed for this kind of environment…such as the Cisco Industrial Ethernet 2000 series…

Industrial grade switches…much needed in my environment

Have a great weekend!!