Microwave Performance Monitor Application at the Bonneville Power Administration

This paper describes BPA experience with a BPA - developed automatic performance monitoring system which monitors pertinent operational parameters of seven major BPA microwave systems. The Microwave Monitor (MWM) System provides Operations and Maintenance personnel with continuous measurement of each system´s performance. The MWM detects gradual MW system degradation and impending failures before an outage occurs. This allows maintenance visits to be scheduled in advance. In addition, the MWM isolates problems to specific sections of each microwave system allowing rapid location and repair. The MWM also performs automatic diagnosis, and only requires remote terminals at the ends of each microwave system. Having gained operational experience over several years, BPA can use the MW Monitor to evaluate BPA maintenance approach and procedures.