Our staff spend much of their time each summer working in the field on the seismic sensor stations that make up our network, but the work of maintaining these stations is not limited to the summer or even to the field. Much of the important work is done ahead of time, in the comfort of the lab, when we review our diagnostics for clues that can tell us what is wrong at a station before we get there. This diagnostic "state-of-health" data is acquired alongside the seismic waveforms over the same communication links.

The state-of-health information consists of a dozen or more data channels that describe voltage, current, temperature, and a variety of other parameters reported by radios, dataloggers, charge controllers, and other equipment. A knowledgeable technician can use this information to tell a story about what is happening at the station, without ever leaving the lab.