Stay on target with these ITAS tips
Dear Editor,
These Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) tips will help ITAS stay on target:
- Don’t forget the battery charger. PS has pointed out repeatedly the importance of charging the lithium battery boxes (LBB) every month. If they sit for months without being charged, LBBs develop imbalanced battery cells. It takes longer and longer (sometimes days) to charge them and eventually they can’t be charged at all. Then you have to pay more than $30K for a new LBB.
The easiest way to track charging is to put a sticker on each LBB showing when the next charge is due.
This sticker makes it easier for me to stay on a charging schedule
When you deploy,
remember to take the charger. It won’t do you much good sitting in the motor pool. Without it, you end up with dead batteries.
Never deploy or go to the field without the charger.
- Don’t pick up the traversing unit (TU) by the hand grips. That can snap off the hand grips’ shaft. We always tell our people to grab green, not black. Put your right hand under the elevation brake and your left hand under the TU equilibrator.
Make sure the TU’s hand grips are in the stowed position any time you’re not firing. Otherwise, even a bump could damage the shaft.
Stow the TU grips when you're not firing
Put one hand under automatic elevation brake…and the other under the TU equilibrator.
Lifting the TU properly
- Don’t force the TU into its case. It’s a tight fit and you may need help maneuvering the TU. If you try to shove the TU in the case, you can damage the handles. Take your time!
TU in the case
- Before operations, clean the connectors with a toothbrush. It takes just a few minutes and can save you wasted time trying to figure out why you’re getting system faults.
Cleaning the ITAS battery
WO1 Salvadore Mora
Ft Bragg, NC
Editor's Note:
Thanks, Mr. Mora. Excellent tips for ITAS units to target!
