UPS Makes the Save!

Earlier this month, I was on site at a baseball facility where, during the 2nd inning, the lights and the building’s power flickered. Action on the field did not pause since it was late in the afternoon and the sun was still the primary light source. The control room crew breathed a sigh of relief as their monitors continued to glow. All monitors, except for the all-important official stat keeping computer, which was not connected to an uninterruptable power supply (UPS). The stat operator’s (who is responsible for entering both DakStats and the official league stats) heart sank for a few moments as he waited for the PC to reboot. Two batters later, his machine was back online, but there was catch-up to be done in the recordkeeping. The software hadn’t saved since the bottom of the 1st inning and pitches were continuing to be thrown on the field. Thanks to the UPS, he was able to continue scoring the game on DakStats; keeping the video board and line score information current and, with the help of the DakStats play-by-play window, get the official stats caught up by the bottom of the 3rd inning.

This is a prime example of why Daktronics installs uninterruptable power supplies with all of our control system components. Maybe this happens often at your facility or maybe it’s something you cross your fingers and hope you never encounter. In either case, it’s a quality safety net that ensures the rack equipment remains functional for a few minutes, giving you time to save your work, and properly shut the system down. Be sure to check your UPS as you perform your pre-event checks to ensure its functionality. Our Knowledge Base

The UPS sits in the bottom of the rack and protects the above equipment.

Article on this subject lists steps to test the UPS as well as some hints on managing a power failure in the control room.

If you have any questions about the functionality of your UPS, contact our technical support team.

This post was written by Adam- Daktronics Field Customer Trainer