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uttons on the onboard unit so that optimum visibility of the deep-sea floor
can be achieved on line. An underwater TV camera operating at low light
levels transmits the black and white video signals via coaxial deep-sea
cable to the laboratory onboard the ship, where all events are logged.
Simultaneously, the video signals plus additional information (e. g. station
number, date and time) can be inserted on a monitor and recorded on a
VHS videotape recorder.
1.5.1.1.4. Navigation system
Horizontal distance and angle between ship and instrument housing
are calculated by means of the Honeywell RS904 system so that the ship's
track and the track of the towed underwater unit can be plotted on a chart.
The ship's position is computed from satellite navigation (SatNav and/or
Global Positioning System [GPS]) or from transponder navigation.
1.5.1.1.5. Data log
For each of the OFOS stations a separate data sheet was filled in.
These sheets contain all essential data on the corresponding stations, e. g.
cruise number, station number, date, names of the responsible operators,
start and end of operation, functioning of lamps and flashes, number of
photographs, time of videotape recording, time of visual seafloor
observation, start of lowering and end of hoisting, and a summary of
specific aims and/or noteworthy remarks.
1.5.1.2. Freefall Benthos Observation System (FBOS)
The Freefall Benthos Observation System is a stainless steel 2-m
high tetrapod with 35-mm Benthos survey camera, strobe, battery pack,
data chamber encoder, tandem-release transponders and glass vacuum
spheres for buoyancy. The ballast weight (a railroad wheel) was placed
below the tetrapod frame (figure 3). The camera was equipped with 30 to
90 m film length for 800-2400 pictures.
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