MK 317 WOCE CTD PROBE

WITH REDUNDANT SENSOR CAPABILITY

NOTE: (This instrument is not longer in production. However, we still support it for repair and calibration).

The Idronaut MK 317 Probe is a multiparameter CTD unit with a very fast Platinum resistance thermometer and a 3cm MK III CTD ceramic, four electrode, conductivity cell manufactured by General Oceanics Inc. This cell installed in more than 1000 Mark III CTD, has an extremely low thermal mass and free flushing capability without any need for a pump. The modular electronic design and probe mounting system facilitates the installation of an additional redundant sensor pair without the need for underwater connectors. The redundant sensors permit the gathering of extremely precise data with a verifiable data quality. The back-up sensor pair is already installed and calibrated to avoid unnecessary in-field operations. Small size and "contained" measurement field allow verification of the calibration of the CT pairs with two ampoules of standard seawater. Although the MK 317 probe does not require pumps, water may be pumped through the whole sensor array if the optional transport flow cell is installed. MK 317 electronic and mechanical design permits in-field substitution of CT sensor pair without opening the probe. CT sensor pairs are calibrated independently of the data acquisition unit. The MK 317 is offered in Stainless Steel or optional Titanium housings.

317 Probe mounted on 1014 500ml Mini Rosette

· Temperature Sensor

Features a very fast platinum resistance thermometer (time constant 50 ms). Negligible self- heating effect. drift within 0.0003·C/year.

· Miniature Flow Conductivity Sensor to Meet WOCE Standards

A 3 cm ceramic four electrode cell featuring extremely low thermal mass and free flushing as used in MK III CTD probes for the last 25 years.

· Optional Redundant Pair of Temperature and Conductivity Sensors

More reliable operation at sea minimizing risk of data loss.

· Optional Salinity Field Calibration Capability

The Idronaut MK 317 has unique, co-located, miniature conductivity and temperature sensors. Once the calibration of the thermometer has been determined, then conductivity may be cross calibrated by using two ampoules of standard seawater. An Idronaut designed field calibration transparent cell supplied with a magnetic stirrer, permits checking of the conductivity calibration at a fixed salinity and several different temperatures. A system with the optional redundant pair may immerse both sensor pairs in the calibration transparent cell simultaneously.

· Oxygen Sensor

Features an innovative pressure-compensated polar graphic sensor, with a replaceable cap for membrane support. Because stirring effects are negligible, no external pump is necessary.

· Data Transmission

Via RS232C interface and FSK (10,000 m cable) telemetry systems.

· Internal Memory

Permits storage of up to 56,000 data sets for each of the CTD acquired parameters together with date & time.

· Battery Operation

Internal or external submersible battery packs permit continuous probe operation, for 20 or 100 hours respectively. Moreover, the internal battery pack can be used as a backup energy system whenever the probe operates in the real-time data acquisition mode. This feature minimizes the micro-interruption of telemetry due to problems with slip rings and/or cable terminations thus avoiding spikes during real-time data acquisition.

· Optional Probes

General Oceanics- Rosettes® mod 1014, 1015, and 1016 ·Idronaut- Oxygen Sensor ·Wet Labs- WetStar Miniature Fluorometer ·Seapoint- Fluorometer and Turbidity Meter ·Seatech- Fluorometer and Blue LED Fluorometer ·Seatech- Transmissometer and dual range Transmissometer ·D&A Instrument Co.- OBS-3B Sensor ·Chelsea- Aquatraka Fluorometer ·Biospherical Instruments- Quantum Scalar Par Sensor QSO-200l ·NE Sensortec- UCM-60 DL Current Meter ·Satlantic- Ocean Color Radiometer System.

All sensors have extremely low time constants: 50ms for physical parameters (CTD) at 100 cm/sec profiling speed. A high precision resistor acts as a reference for the accuracy of the other sensor electronic amplifiers which are temperature-compensated. There are no trimpot adjustments inside the probe.

The Idronaut MK 317 Probe is microprocessor controlled and can measure, store and transmit sensor data by various different methods. The most significant ones are:

Real time data acquisition
Unattended data acquisition as a function of time
Unattended data acquisition as a function of depth increments

Unattended acquisition can be activated by means of a magnetic ON/OFF switch. Acquired data is uploaded at the end of the measuring cycles. Extension of the internal battery life is obtained through an automatic power management procedure that switches the probe off between the data acquisitions. The internal battery pack consists of ten batteries: 1.5V, 1.8 A/h, type AA cells which allow continuous probe operation for about 20 hours. Rechargeable or lithium batteries can also be used. The probe is equipped with an external non volatile SRAM able to store up to a maximum of 56,000 data sets, each data set being composed of date and time measurement of the three (3) standard sensors. The probe can also integrate data from third party sensors and perform data acquisition of up to 16 analog channels in less than 50ms.

The Idronaut MK 317 Probe can be configured to be directly connected to a personal computer by means of the RS232C serial port or by telemetry . The telemetry interface remedies the limitations of the RS232C serial interface (cable length and number of conductors). When using the FSK telemetry interface, the additional deck unit (Portable Deck Unit) is required to convert serial, RS 232C type signals (coming from a PC communication port), into telemetry signals (and vice versa) which must flow superimposed on the probe power supply along the armored single conductor coaxial probe support cable.

Probe communication is achieved through one of the two male connectors installed on the top end cap of the probe. A six- pole connector is used for the RS232C interface and for the auxiliary power input, while a two-pole connector is used for the telemetry interface and probe primary power.

Sensor Specifications

	Range	Accuracy	Resolution	Time Constant
Pressure	0...1500dbar*	0.15% FS	0.03%	50ms
Temperature 1	-3..+33 ºC	0.003 ºC	0.0005 ºC	50ms
Conductivity 1	0.. 70 mS/cm	0.003 mS/cm	0.001 mS/cm	50ms **
Temperature 2	-3..+33 ºC	0.003 ºC	0.0005 ºC	50ms
Conductivity 2	0.. 70 mS/cm	0.003 mS/cm	0.001 mS/cm	50ms **
Oxygen	0.. 50ppm	0.1 ppm	0.01 ppm	3 s in air
Oxygen	0.. 500 %sat.	1% sat.	0.1 %sat.	3 s

*Other standard pressure transducers immediately available have 40, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 7000 dbar ranges.
** At 1 m/second flow rate.

Calculated parameters are:

Salinity, Sound Speed in Seawater Density (Sigma), Pressure to Depth Conversion, Potential Temperature (Theta); according to UNESCO 1983 "algorithms for computation of fundamental properties of sea water.

CT SENSOR PAIR

Electronic Specifications

Sampling frequency: 20 Hz raw data

Real time data output rate:5 samples per second (derived variables).

Communication ports: RS232C, up to 38400bps. FSK telemetry, up to 4800bps. over cables up to 10000 meters long.

Communication protocol:Proprietary byte-oriented message protocol.

Data memory: 1 Mbytes nonvolatile CMOS memory (data retention > 10 years).

Firmware memory: 256 Kbytes 5V flash memory, built-in automatic updating function allows easy, non intrusive, firmware upgrading.

A/D Converter: 16 bit 76 mV/bit successive approximation with built-in auto calibration capabilities.

Analog inputs: 8 of the analogue inputs are available for interfacing with additional sensors.

Telemetry system power supply:10...30V, 95 mA @ 12V, 1.1W power consumption.

Battery power supply: 9...18V, 95 mA, @ 12V. The internal battery pack consists of 10 (ten) batteries: 1.5V, 1.8 A/h, type AA cells which allow continuous probe operation for about 20 hours.

Physical Characteristics

	for	1500dbar	1500dbar	4000 dbar	7000 dbar	7000dbar
Dimensions	housing dia.	100mm	75mm	90mm	100mm	100mm
	total length	710mm	685mm	685mm	710mm	710mm
Weight	in air	6kg	4kg	9kg	15kg	9kg
	in water	3kg	1.8kg	6.5kg	12kg	6kg
Material		Wht POM	AISI 316L	Bk POM/316L	AISI 316L	Titanium

Diameter of protective cage:260 mm, Titanium

Cable connectors: 2-pole connector (Brantner RMG-2-FS) for FSK telemetry output. 6-pole connector (Brantner RMG-6-FS) for RS232C output and auxiliary power input.

Cable characteristics: The Idronaut MK 317 Redundant Probe operates with standard Rochester coaxial armored cables (1/8, 1/4, 1/2 inch) installed in oceanographic vessels and with sea cable having a resistance of up to 250 ohms.

Accessories

Portable Deck Unit -The function of the Portable Deck Unit is to power and interface, by telemetry, the MK 317 Probe with a portable personal computer. This unit contains a rechargeable lead battery (12v - 6.5 Ah) which allows about 32 hours of continuous operation even without external power. The external power input is selectable from 100/230 VAC and 47/63 Hz. The Portable Deck Unit is provided with an adjustable power supply to power the MK 317 Probe, an internal power supply to recharge the 12V internal battery and a transceiver to transform commands coming from the PC and data coming from the probe into RS232C asynchronous transmission format, Half-Duplex Mode. Dimensions: 275 x 250 mm. Weight 4.5 kg.
Manual Portable Winch - Includes slip-ring and up to 180 meters of 7mm cable.
Coaxial Armored Cable - Diameter 2.56 mm Steel non-jacketed coaxial armored cable type Rochester 1-H- 100A, diameter 2.56 mm - breaking strength 450 kg- working load: 180 kg- weight per km 28 kg.
Coaxial armored cable- Diameter 5 mm Polyurethane- A strain relieved 5 mm Polyurethane jacketed armored cable type Idronaut - breaking strength: 200 kg - weight per km: 40kg.
Coaxial Armored Cable- Diameter 7 mm Polyurethane- A strain relieved 7 mm Polyurethane jacketed armored cable type Idronaut- breaking strength: 350 kg - weight per km: 65 kg.
Strain Relief Cable Connecting Kit- Composed of waterproof connector, deck unit connector, quick- connector system for the probe.

Options

Redundant Pair of Temperature and Conductivity Sensors- More reliable operation at sea minimizing risk of data loss. The redundancy principle allows better control of sensor drift during long field operations.
General Oceanics Rosette® Interface- This option enables the user to interface and manage Rosettes® mod. 1014/1015/1016 in order to perform attended and unattended bottle firing in function of time and/or depth variations. The latter is obtained through user's configurable depth profiles or depth steps. Furthermore, bottle firing can be accomplished in real-time whenever the probe operates with the telemetry system.
Idronaut Oxygen Sensor- Features an innovative pressure-compensated polar graphic sensor with a replaceable cap for membrane support. Because stirring effects are negligible, no external pump is necessary.
Field Calibration Transparent Cell- Provided with a magnetic stirrer allows checking of the conductivity calibration at fixed salinities by using ampoules of standard sea water.
Transparent Flow Cell - Easily connectable to a pumped source of seawater. This option converts the MK 317 from a profiling CTD to an on-board Thermosalinograph.
FSK Telemetry Output - In addition to the RS232C output. Real time data transmission to the Portable Deck Unit. Up to 5 sets of data per second can be transferred.
External Submersible battery Pack - An external battery pack containing 10 batteries 1.5V, 10 A/h, type D cell, extends the continuous probe operation to 100 hours. Dimensions are: Diameter 75mm, length 385 mm. The external battery pack is fixed to the probe by means of two plastic flanges. For 1500m max depth operation.
AISI316L or Titanium Housing - for 4000m and 7000m operation.

SOFTWARE

Software for Data Transfer and Management - The Idronaut software allows display, printing and recovering of data received from the probe. It controls manual, linear and timed profiles. Data can be displayed on the PC and exported in ASCII format.
Real-Time Graphic Software - This software is an extension of the above package and allows creation of real-time bi-dimensional plots of up to six parameters versus depth of time.

317 Probe w/AC9 in titanium cage

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