Recovery; Maintenance - Ocean Sonics Processing Buoy User Manual

Recovery

Note
The recovery requires 2-3 individuals. It is best to have 1-2 people retrieving the
equipment from the water while another person is laying the equipment out on the deck
as it is retrieved taking care of fragile hydrophones and minimizing tangling of the array.
1. Transit to buoy.
2. Use gaff hook to secure buoy.
3. Tie a rope around the top ring to secure buoy.
4. Retrieve the buoy from the water.
a. Place the buoy on deck while holding onto the rope attached to the cabled
array below.
A winch can be used to allow easier retrieval of buoy on deck.
b. Slowly pull out the heave plate and recover the remaining array by hand, with
special care handling hydrophones.
5. Turn off Ocean Sonics Buoy (OFF Position: 0).
6. Turn off recording on all hydrophones using a test cable and a PC.
7. Hydrophones can be Powered Down to retain battery at 100%.
For each hydrophone:
a. Attach test cable.
b. Insert reset tool to power down.
8. Rinse the Buoy, hydrophones and equipment with fresh water.

Maintenance

• The buoy should be thoroughly rinsed with fresh water after each deployment to
remove saltwater and debris.
• The buoy should only be opened when it is safe to do so in a clean environment
without chance of water entering the inside.
• The buoy should be recharged after each deployment.
• Batteries should be charged every 6 months or when open circuit battery voltage
drops to 12.0 VDC.
Ocean Sonics Processing Buoy User Guide April 2020 P.7