Challenging contract

Sunday 8th February 2009

Challenging Contract!

There can be few more challenging or demanding maintenance jobs than one of the contracts currently being managed by Scottish Communications.

It is for the maintenance of a Vertex Standard VXR-9000 VHF talkthrough repeater station to ensure the efficient operation of hand-held radios by RSPB staff on the Glenmore Estate. While this may sound run-of-the-mill, it is in fact a tricky job because the repeater station is based on top of Cairngorm – which at over 4,000 ft is one of Scotland’s highest mountains.

The only way to reach the station is to don a pair of boots and walk to the top with a backpack carrying the necessary maintenance equipment. This often has to be done in freezing weather. Only recently a member of a ski patrol on Cairngorm noted a recording on the anemometer on Cairngorm of a gust of wind that reached 194mph! Donnie Macleod, Sales Engineer for Scottish Communications, said: “We have a diverse range of customers and this certainly ranks as one of our more demanding maintenance contracts.”