Code 5401- BEO/ bah 

 23 July 1958 



MEMORANDUM 



Subj: Second progress report of the Committee on Instrumentation 



7. Recommendations for exhaustive reliability tests of equipment 

 currently in use will be a continuing matter during the existence 

 of the Committee; however, some recommendations can be made 

 at this time. These include: 



a. All Roberts Current Meters should be calibrated prior to use. 

 Tests should be designed and carried out for determining the variance 

 in measurements of these instruments and the causes of this variance. 



b. An exhaustive comparison of bucket thermometer temperatures, 

 BT temperatures, and temperatures read from some accepted standard 

 should be made as a check on the value of the BT and the present method 

 of processing BT slides. It is also recommended that an accurately 

 calibrated thermometer be taken on each cruise for checking BT's 

 and bucket thermometers. This thermometer should be checked before 

 and after each cruise. 



c. A group, either within or outside the Committee, should be 

 assigned the task of determining the best means of obtaining accurate 

 ranges between two ships. 



8. Study of the advantages of metal- coated BT slides over smoked slides 

 currently used has been made, and recommendations have been forwarded 

 via the Oceanography Division to the Bureau of Ships. It is recommended 

 that the Hydrographic Office begin immediately to use metal-coated 

 slides exclusively. Some preliminary tests of the BT and bucket 

 thermometer readings have been made by the Instrumentation Division. 

 Some comparisons have been carried out within the Division of Oceano- 

 graphy. In addition, largely as a result of the interest of the Committee, 

 a third and more exhaustive test of the airborne radiation thermometer 

 has been carried out. The results of this test are still under evaluation. 

 In general, it is believed that the Committee has aroused a greater 

 awareness on the part of the operating people of the need for such 

 evaluation tests. 



9. No personal contact with civilian oceanographic institutions or other 

 laboratories has as yet been made by this Committee (other than through 

 correspondence). It is, however, expected that such contacts will be 



B-3 



