Question for Operators regarding Rounds

[capper]

Greetings to all:

I am wondering what type of device operators use for taking and uploading shiftly rounds?  Specifically what are the non-licn. operators using?

At Palisades we use Compaq Ipaqs (pocket PCs) running SOMS.  I have nothing good to say about these units.  They lock up, loose data, and fail in many ways.     As the shift expert on the handhelds, I spend hours each week trying to keep these units running.  About a year ago, we swapped from using Huskies to running the Ipaqs.  The huskies had all kinds of problems also.   

The Ipaqs also do not handle the industrial environment very well.   

Please inform me what devices operators at you plant use and any issues that they might have.

I just feel there has to be something better out there.    As always, I turn to nukeworker.com for answers.  Thanks in advance. 

Later,
Mike

[Marco]

Mike,
this is a very interesting issue. We try to establish a reliable and compact handheld system that meets our expectations since several years. Unfortunately were the German products not as good as expected, so our Field Operators still take paper sheets on their rounds. 
We would prefer a handheld system in size of a pocket computer or game boy. Furthermore the system should be able to transfer data's to the plant computer network via plug or infrared interface. What do you mean with Huskies ?
Recently we got some new devices from another German company, as far as I know we are going to start a new test series. If you are interested I can send you more infos about our testings.

Talk to you later,

[Roll Tide]

Capper,
We used the same devices (Huskies followed by Pocket PC's) at Turkey Point when I was in OPS. I didn't see anything worth recommending to you.

I would get with SOMS and get their recommendation, surely they use something better than this somewhere!

[capper]

Roll tide, do you know if the operators were fustrated with the pocket PC or do they like them?  Did you guys have problems with them?

Marco, keep us informed about what you guys decide to do.

Thanks,
Mike

[Roll Tide]

I used the Husky as a field operator and my first two years as a licensed operator. The Husky was more forgiving and more durable than a pocket PC, but you could replace a pocket PC cheaper than fixing a Husky. (FP&L had a huge contract for the Husky, I heard it's because that's what their meter readers use.)

The pocket PC was pretty fickle. If there were errors in the program on the Husky, eventually (over days or weeks) the backlog of glitches would cause you to need to reboot and reinstallation of the program. If there was a problem with the pocket PC, you wouldn't finish the shift before it crashed. Since the deployment of upgrades was usually on Friday afternoon, the weekends were ugly.

On the bright side, you could play solitaire on the pocket PC.

[JassenB]

Coming from the nuclear Navy, I soon found that paper logs weren't all the rave on the outside.

While working as a Plant Utility Operator at Amgen, the largest biotech drug company in the world, we used what I thought was a pretty slick system. Every piece of equipment had a barcode sticker on it, which we scanned with a portable barcode reader on it. Then, we had to type in the readings for parameters on that particular skid or system. All the gauge numbers, etc. would display on the screen, so basically a newbie could do the logs learn the process systems at the same time by walking down all the measurements.

After typing things in, and going through the entire plant, we would stick the thing in a cradle in the control room and download the data into a database application.

I can't for the life of me remember the name of the manufacturer, but the scanning system was rock solid, never with any problems. The unit was a generic barcode reader, not something built for a plant environment. It was the same brand as the popular inventory barcode/data entry unit you might see a stocker at a department or grocery store using.

The database system was developed in-house, and it was what we had problems with. System parameters that fed into our SCADA and BMS systems were logged electronically straight from the SCADA/BMS. Only a small number of readings from the plant were duplicated between the manual rounds and the SCADA recordings.

-Jassen

[HydroDave63]

I think the Husky is pretty much the way to go, if you arent using paper logs. They are a bit more water resistant and somewhat durable. Then again, I am old-fashioned and prefer paper logsheets anyhow. I don' think the choices for cheap, durable and great computing will ever converge sufficiently to make operators AND management happy. Clipboards decon a lot more easily as well!

[plain_vanilla]

email bruce_phaup@dom.com for north anna info

[bheinz]

At VY we use the Dell X50 and X51 handhelds. They aren't too bad. With the exception that if you drop them the battery compartment opens up and you might need to restart. They have some flaws, but we get used to them. They also don't work anymore if you drop them in your discharge structure, but that has only happened a few times.