COMPS Station--Homossassa--Instrumentation 
Tide Gage: Aquatrak Acoustic water level gage

R.M.Young Precipitation gage model 50202 

R.M.Young Barometric pressure sensor

R.M Young Relative Hum/Air Temp

 GOES transmitter SN#PA97101400 USF#495000208272 installed 1/29/99

Vitel logger VX1100 SN#VN9709140 USF#495000208268 installed 1/29/99
(replaced VX1004 SN#VX9301279)

Anemometer:  R.M. Young Wind Bird, Model 05106 
Anemometer height: 22.84 ft above NGVD, approx. 20 ft above MHHW 
Anemometer exposure: good in all directions, see photos.


GOES Name CITRUSCO
GOES ID 14041740
GOES Channel 61E
GOES time 00:25:00/hourly

GOES antenna el 55 deg Az 163 deg True
(set at 60 and 167 mag, getting power levels from NESDIS in the 50s)
The tide gage is an Aquatrak in a 6" pvc well with standard NOS-type bronze end plates, it is plumbed to vertical and held in place by 4 sets of standoffs through bolted to 4X4 wooden stringers run wild off the NE leg of the 5 pile structure, and through bolted to that leg and the central pile. It has two well temp probes one at ~1foot from the Aquatrak sensor and one at ~5 feet from the Aquatrak. The solar panels were mounted at the end of two more 4X4s run wild off the SE leg of the platform and through bolted to that leg and the NW leg, these two 4X4s are in the same horizontal plane and also hold the battery box with two, 105 Amp-hour liquid acid golf cart batteries lagged to some 2X4s that run across the 4X4s and locked with a padlock and galvanized chain. The 4X4s also provide the bottom support for two 1 1/4" galvanized 10-foot poles that are through bolted to the 4X4s near the platform and u-bolted to a 2"X1/4" piece of fiberglass angle that is lagged to the platform top. These galvanized pipes hold the met sensors, the lightning air terminal and the GOES antenna and the directional antenna for the Gena spread spectrum radio. The platform holds a battery box and a red light/radar reflector mounted together on a galvanized steel mount the light is a 4 sec flasher the charted height for the light is 16 feet, we elevated the light and radar reflector 3 feet by mounting the light/radar reflector on top of the 2" by 1/4" stainless steel angle iron cage that houses the electronics enclosure, Mark Luther got verbal permission from the USCG to raise the light, it should be at 19 feet above MHHW now. *Subsequently lowered to near original position on 99/02/23.
Recent service history:

10/10/01: C.R. Merz visited the site and swapped the Vitel Data Logger VX100G-SA S/N VN9710163 with S/N 9902176. Checked system and instrument readings. Unable to get logger communication established withWater Temperature/Conductivity sensor. Investigating cause. Added additional grounding wire and grounding plate.

1999/01/28-1999/01/29 CRM and DCB replaced the existing 1004 logger and enclosure with a Vitel 1100 logger and a new enclosure, new solar panels, new batteries, and batt box, new windbird and added GOES transmitter and antenna, relative. hum, air temp, rain, and barometric pressure to the site. The Rain gage was not working when we left (reading full all the time) it is working now (?). The Aquatrak was working and continued to work for about 6 hours then started reading 0 for both water level and std and outliers. DCB phoned into the gage this morning 2/1/99 and it gave 199 errors - ?. 1999/02/23 DCB and CRM replaced Aquatrak head and cal tube. Note approx 5023mm from survey point on Aquatrak to MLLW. Lowered nav light to original 16 ft above MHHW. Back