Jon Campbell of the Ocean Technology & Engineering Group at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, said; “We have worked with Newbury Electronics for over 20 years and their skills and engineering expertise has grown and developed alongside our own expanding research, a desire for more and more data and other developments in scientific technology. This newly refurbished buoy will allow near real-time data collection and will provide our scientists with a wealth of information about the temperature of the sea, oxygen and CO₂ concentrations, nitrate levels and acidity to name but a few.”
“It is great to be involved with research projects of this nature and we relish the opportunity to produce the highest calibre of PCBs; you don’t get a second chance when the completed unit is suspended under the Atlantic ocean!”; said Philip King, Managing Director at Newbury Electronics.
The Data Concentrator Hub will operate from within a pressurised housing and is connected to the buoy via an armoured cable which provides a 30v power supply and RS-232 communications. Up to 12 sensors can be connected to the hub which has a Persistor CF2 micro computer. The PCB will have a diameter of 178mm with a central hole to allow the necessary wires to reach the onboard connectors. There will also be an interface to an external compass module and there is a 3-axis accelerometer mounted on the board.