BLUF: Account for clock drift and monitor battery life for the KG-175D TACLANE-Micro Inline Network Encryptor,
Courtesy photo
This article initially appeared in PS 800, p.45 (Jul 19).
Dear Editor,
When observing signal maintenance, I noticed a lot of operators were unfamiliar with the KG-175D TACLANE-Micro Inline Network Encryptor, NSN 5810-01-547-4520, Human-Machine Interface in the AN/TTC-64 Battalion Command Post Node.
Specifically, the operators aren’t validating clock drift and battery life for their KG-175D TACLANE. TM 11-5810-422-13 (Nov 08) recommends that operators check clock drift for accuracy once every six months, and make adjustments if needed to prevent communication blackouts.
The TM also recommends a battery change every 12 months or when the BATTERY LOW status LED is lit. This prevents the TACLANE from losing data or going into tamper mode when there is power loss. The instructions for clock drift are found in Para 3.1, Section II, Chap 3 in TM 11-5810-422-13. Battery replacement is covered in Para 3.9, Section II, Chap 3.
CW3 Kelshall Williams
Korea
Editor’s note: You’ve communicated some mighty good points here, Chief!
Important! The Communications Security experts also want to stress that you should make sure the KG-175D is powered ON when changing the battery. If you change out the battery without powering on the device first, you’ll trigger the tamper mode and a host of headaches. If that happens, follow the troubleshooting guidance in Section III of the TM. Also, the KG-175D TACLANE doesn’t take a standard AA battery. Order battery NSN 6135-01-358-7471 when it’s time to replace it.