Following servicing and repair by YSI (much appreciated), the sonde was received in Trinidad and Tobago in December 2015.Over the period 7-8 December ARTO1 will undergo annual maintenance, which would involve bringing the unit to shore for a thorough inspection of all instruments and the re-installation of the sonde.
7th Dec 2015 (day 1)
No obvious damage was noted to any of the above water instruments. Fisher folk and other boaters continue not to moor on the unit.(....for now!!!). As expected the base and anchor ropes were laden with large colonies of barnacle, especially as the unit has not been visited since the EXO2 was removed for repair. The buoy base, ropes and sub surface floats did not seem to be compromised as a result of the fouling.
The unit was brought to shore, cleaned and inspected. Interface with the ARTO1 could only be established by serial connection. The RF and modem methods were unsuccessful. This seems to be a recurrent problem in interfacing with the units, especially for the purposes of data back-up, as logistically it is not always feasible to serial connect to the main data logger. (Ideas??)
The WXT was adjusted to align more with the RM Young anemometers, as recommended by Mike, This will be looked at again later tonight and before re-deployment tomorrow. The current disparity between the two units seems to be between 5-7 deg.
Some pooled water was noted within the main bulkhead. The O-ring was replaced for good measure, and desiccant is currently drying, to be put into the buoy tonight. RH levels will be checked in the morning.
No pictures for now, maybe tomorrow.
8th Dec 2015 (day 2)
We ran into some problems with the oven (not a drying oven, just a regular one), so I was not able to let the dessicant dry for as long as required prior to redeployment. I'll keep an eye on this as it is currently ~45% RH in the Main Buoy. If needed, in the near future I'll have to dry out the dessicant again and re-install into the buoy, however I will not bring the buoy in for this (it will be tricky).
The depressurization valve seems to be slowly corroding and may have to be changed at the next annual maintenance trip if not sooner. Again, I'll keep an eye on this.
Cell and RF connections were still unsuccessful, and serial connection was working fine. All data was downloaded and backed up.
All connections and ports were clean and unbroken.
The met data logger humidity was not checked due to an oversight. This will be monitored over the next few months.
The EXO2 was installed and all seemed functional. A new umbilical cord should be acquired to reduce the strain on the connector cable to the sonde. Also, some sacrificial anodes should be acquired. A dummy plug currently fills a vacant slot and the anode on the outside of the buoy are near fully dissolved.
9th Dec 2015
Cellular connections were established after re-setting the Loggernet pathway.