Rainy Wednesday ☔

It somehow feels like 2018 was the rainiest rainy season to date. Feels like it. 

Repair of the office floor

Business is slow these days. Still, we have to repair our office floor. Our staff worked over the Flag Day weekend to oversee the repairs the carpenter did.

These photographs are by Farman.

Our office got flooded by heavy rains ☔

What caused a more rainy July this year? Climate change? Damaged civil works? Any case our office got badly flooded on 15 JULY.

These photographs were taken by our staff, Farman, who lives above the office in a small studio flat. 

The water entered through the front door and through our back wall, flooding all the office. Our wooden floors, furniture and even files on shelves got damaged. The walls are so damp that the backs of paintings started moulding. 

Even Abi Jaoudi Supermarket, opposite us, was flooded. See this picture below: 

Destruction from yesterday's raging fire. The damage is staggering!

Destruction from yesterday's raging fire. The damage is staggering! 

It's absolutely terrible and nerve racking. These are but a few questions we have:

1) The warehouse was inaccessible. No way to for water trucks to pass from the back. 

2) Are authorities implementing any safety standards/checks for what is stored in these warehouses? 

3) What are the building standards? Can buildings/structures be built so close to each other.

4) Slums/shacks/communities are densely living next to these businesses. 

4) Are there zones for warehousing ?

5) What protocols exist of emergencies?

6) Why was such large crowd of people allowed to virtually choke Randall Street ? Why didn't the Police disperse the crowd? 

7) What building standards exist for construction of warehouses which stock particular, flammable goods? 

8) Who was in charge when this fire was raging?

Massive fire

Massive fire erupted on Randall Street from 8 AM onwards. It apparently started in Power Tech's warehouse/shop and then spread all the way to the Eagle building. Fire fighters, community members, and brave individuals managed to contain the fire. Needless to say, massive damages and losses were sustained. Don't know much damage and losses the shacks/slums/small houses at the back of Randall Street had. The raging fire was at the back of the main buildings but there was no way fire trucks could pass through those small lanes. It appeared like utter chaos at first. Huge crowds amassed in the street to watch the chaos, some of them started looting a small provisions shop. The police arrived much later. Our office was far from the fire but the apartment where NATC's managers/owners live, was only 3 buildings away. It was extremely close, as we stood in the street, watching the massive smoke billowing in the sky. For a good hour it felt like the fire would continue spreading. It was only at about 1030 AM when we could see the fire has been contained. Shops were closed. Mainly Lebanese owners stood and watched. Some of them opened their shops to bring out fire extinguishers. Some Lebanese young men could be seen on top of neighbouring buildings and even the fire trucks, working in a team, extending the fire hoses to reach the back of the building where the fire was raging from. Would the fire be stopped? Is our building next? We stood and watched in stress, grief, and anxiety. Hundreds and hundreds of people were on the street, screaming, shouting, gesturing. "There is only 1 nozzle." "The fire is coming oh" "They can't stop it." Folks living behind these buildings came out with their few belongings. No one knew exactly what is going on. The police came much later. Our housekeeper said she saw them take pictures. Why weren't the crowds dispersed for safety and to clear the street? Eventually we saw a huge canon shooting water. One of our neighbours, was smiling the whole time and told us that it will not reach our side. So many faces we know and come across because we've been living and working on Randall Street, were out and about, watching with grim, tight faces. What a stressful morning. For sure, we witnessed today how disorganised, unequipped the authorities are. For sure, we witnessed the death traps we are living in with unclear zoning areas (residential and business); no building standards; don't know who is storing what in their warehouses and whether safety precautions are used; no safety standards; no city protocols for such a situation; and, no sense of security. But at least we are safe and thankful.

Konah Gray: V-SAT Expert 📡

Konah Gray, an independent V-SAT technician, is often outsourced NATC's V-SAT installation jobs. He's been all over the counties and, always gets the job done. Sometimes, we have asked our staff to accompany him.

See a blog post from Daniel when he went to Zwedru along with Konah: V-SAT INSTALLATION, ZWEDRU CITY. 
He was at our office and I decided to have a little chat with him about where he received his training. He told me a medical doctor at Firestone with passion for satellite technology gave him the first exposure to satellites. This was Dr. Benedict Saab, a Lebanese-born Liberian doctor who passed away in 2008. 
Thanks to Dr Saab, Konah was able to learn about this technology on V-SAT dishes for satellite television. In those days, he learned about the MESH dish, a C-Band dish.
V-SAT technology came to Liberian in 2004/2005. For the television satellite services, one has to track the signal from east to west, 68 degrees east and 55 degrees west for Liberia.
For V-SAT technology for Internet, you only point to one satellite.
What equipment do you need to set up a V-SAT? You need the dish, LNB (receives the signal, down), BUC (sends the signal up), co-axiable cable, RG 11or RG6 and modem. 
Technicians use a SAT Finder or spectrum analyser to link the dish to the satellite. Konah prefers a SAT Finder. It connects between the modem and LNB. 
How long does it take to align a dish? After the V-SAT and other hardware has been mounted and installed, it typically takes 6 hours to do the alignment. 
What can go wrong? For example, the option file sent by the service provider can have the wrong GPS coordinates or incorrect frequency values.

by Farzana Rasheed

Secret Santa 2017

Every year, the NATC team exchanges gifts. We finally managed to open ours today as everyone was finally together! 

Compliments of the season

Season's Greetings from New Africa Technology Company! Wishing all our friends, clients, followers and technology lovers compliments of the season and a happy new year! May 2017 end on a good note for everyone in Liberia, for business, for politics, peace and stability and, we greatly look forward to 2018. We wish you all peace and joy! 🖳📡🇱🇷✌️🙌🏿🍾

This artwork has been made by Frank Dwuye.