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General Issues > Power Supply

What Is the Problem ?

Let´s begin with an electronic engineer´s usual situation: A power supply unit for a modern electronic sensor is just a simple black box. Such "low-tech," typically made in Mexico or Taiwan, should be available from any technical warehouse for just a few dollars. Power supply issues can be put on low priority whenever the instrument under dicussion is intended for indoor use only.

However, with the RED System, the situation is different. In densely-populated areas, a lot of stations will be connected to a line power jack nearby. But as explained under design goals, the technical platform must include early warning capabilities right from the start.

In order to catch an event as early as possible, seismologists would ideally like to place their early warning sensors at high density all along major fault systems. The result is that a large number of stations must be installed outdoors.