Issue 3, April 5, 2001
Contents
1. SeaNet HEADLINES, Subscribing, Unsubscribing
2. Science Uses of SeaNet -- Dive and Discover
3. SeaNet Tips -- When a Ship Can't Get a Connection
5. SeaNet Contact Phone Numbers
7. SeaNet HEADLINES -- Submitting Information
1. SEANET HEADLINES
Welcome to the third issue of SEANET HEADLINES. This newsletter will provide the latest information about SeaNet operations, provide tips on how to use SeaNet most efficiently, and answer any SeaNet questions you might have about SeaNet. To subscribe (or unsubscribe), please send a message to seanet-editor@seanet.int.
The Dive and Discover project will be using SeaNet to transfer data and web content between the ship and shore during an upcoming cruise to the Central Indian Ridge. Cindy van Dover (Williams and Mary) is the Chief Scientist. The cruise will take place from March 27 - May 5. Watch http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/ for updates during the cruise.
If you need help setting up this service, please contact the science liaison at the ship's home operator's office or send an email to seanet-ops@seanet.int to find out who the contact is.
3. SEANET TIPS - WHEN A SHIP CAN'T GET A CONNECTION...
We've seen an increase in difficulty of accessing the high-speed data channels of Inmarsat-B (BSHD). In one recent case, a ship was unable to make a connection, with sporadic attempts, over the duration of an entire "business" day. This can be a frustrating time for a shipboard SeaNet operator, especially if there's pressure from an onboard science party or from ship's business. To ease this frustration, we offer the following suggestions.
PLEASE GO TO END OF NEWSLETTER FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS IMPORTANT TIP...
The SeaNet group would like to find a connectivity solution that would support 64k bits per second links suitable for smaller ships and/or that has less installation impact on large ships. Inmarsat highspeed data (HSD) at 64 kbps is now supported on land-portable (Inmarsat) M4 systems such as the unit that we saw demonstrated during the RVTEC meeting at Lamont. This unit will be a substantial step forward when it becomes available.
At that time, it seemed like a marine antenna (sometimes refered to as an 'F3' antenna) which would enable such a system was only a few months away.The F3 antenna contains it's own position and heading sensors in addition to the transceiver, antenna and pointing system found in the bigger Inmarsat-B systems.
Such a system would be ideal for ships which have space and weight issues for a high quality antenna location using a big antenna such as the Nera Bm that we have deployed on the Melville, Knorr, Atlantis, Seward Johnson and the Ewing. Unfortunately, we hear that the Inmarsat marine M4 for highspeed data is not likely to be avaiable until the end of 2001.
5. SEANET CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS
Below are the current phone numbers and email addresses for contacting SeaNet staff:
Who
Email
Phone
SeaNet Operations
seanet-ops@seanet.int
508/289-3700 (Scott McCue)
SeaNet Installations
seanet-install@seanet.int
914/365-8744 (Richard Perry)
SeaNet Operations fax number: 508/457-2600
Normal operations hours are 9-5 EST Monday through Friday. SeaNet does its best to keep track of operations during off hours, but a response is not guaranteed.
Currently, six UNOLS ships have SeaNet units on them. They are: R/V Atlantis, R/V Melville, R/V Ewing, R/V Knorr, R/V Pelican and R/V Seward Johnson.
If you have an upcoming cruise on one of these ships and are interested in possibly using SeaNet for high-speed data transfers, please contact the science liaison at the ship's home operator's office or send an email to seanet-ops@seanet.int to find out who the contact is.
7. SEANET HEADLINES -- Submitting Information
The regular deadline for contributions or questions to SEANET HEADLINES is the first Tuesday of each month. Submit information or questions by sending a short e-mail message to: seanet-editor@seanet.int. The editor of HEADLINES is Ellen Kappel.
SEANET TIPS - WHEN A SHIP CAN'T GET A CONNECTION...CONTINUED FROM 3 ABOVE
Indications of the problem can be observed on the Nera handset if it gets to the point of "Busy with call" but hangs up shortly thereafter. To help pinpoint the problem as inability to access a BHSD channel, use the Nera unit's Clear Cause Log. This log saves the last ten call failure events and provides the events times and a failure codes. It can be accessed via the Nera handset or through the SeaNet control interface. Most failure codes are given in the Saturn Bm Marine Mk2 Technical manual, which is a part of the printed documentation set that accompanies a SeaNet system. This manual can also be obtained at www.seanet.int under the Operations/Documentation links.
To look at the Clear Cause Log on the handset, handset access level has to be set to Operator level two or higher (Function 12). The Clear Cause Log is accessed via Function 32. The keystroke sequence would be [FUNC]32[ENTER], then [MORE] to get further information about a particular event, and the up(^) and down arrows to scroll through the list of ten events.
To use the SeaNet interface to examine the Clear Cause Log, click on the Diagnostics link in the upper left frame, then on the Nera Info Queries link in the lower left frame. Check the Clear Cause Log(wneralog32) box then click Submit in the upper right. After a few moments the log will be presented in the lower right frame.
Once it's apparent that BHSD channel access is the difficulty, then there's an option of contacting the COMSAT or Station 12 land stations (LES). These companies seem to be most responsive to problem calls when they're made from the vessel that's having the problem. Checking with them can be done to see if there's some problem with the satellite to which the Nera unit is trying to connect, or simply to learn that the HSD channel is extremely busy. Since BHSD calls are carried on different channels than voice or fax calls, these voice calls may still be made even when there's an HSD channel problem. The call to COMSAT or Station 12 won't cost any money.
To call customer support at the default LES (function 5) as defined in the Nera handset, dial 31# . To select a particular LES, prepend the LES's code, e.g., Comsat, 1*31# , and Station12, 12*31# .