MVA2 Upgrades and Prep for RIMS trip!

Any free time last week and this week are dedicated to
preparing for the last week of October to RIMS. My week at RIMS comes after a
two-year hiatus! I am very much looking forward to visiting RIMS and seeing the
dolphins again. To see how much the calves have grown and see who’s hanging out
with whom.

Last week was filled with re-formatting the MVA2 for a
tape-camera that John and I found on eBay. I was having issues with a tape-less
camera. We found an HDR camera and it just barely fit into MVA2. John spent a
bit of time and set a new control into the back plate that will turn the camera
on and off and connect with the record/standby button. So, we are set with
camera control. The hydrophones needed to be replaced as the older pair (15
years old) had grounding problems that added quite a bit of noise to the recordings.
We had a past-pair that work well, even though they require power. And, John
found a neat option for the hydrophone arms – “locline” links. These replace
the aluminum set arms that I love but are extremely difficult to travel with …
if the locline arms work, then they will shift from a temporary fix to a
permanent fix for the hydrophone displacement. I.e., to keep the hydrophone
boxes at their minimum scaled distance apart (4.5 times the distance between my
ears!).

I include a few photos so you can see some of these upgrades
to MVA2.

MVA2 near done MVA2 new wiring MVA2 arms

This week includes review of the data sheets to make sure I
have enough copies. I’ll also print out some of the papers we’ve had published
since my last trip. And, the gear is being laid out in my library so I can make
sure I do not forget anything. I’m shooting for two checked bags … I’ll let you
know on Thursday if I meet my goal!

Thank you to our Fund-A-Geek sponsors for helping to make
this trip possible!

Cheers

Kathleen