LO – ALO Handover notes (MERGED)

Heather Barnes and William Mills

Summary

• Expedition 352T departed Keelung, Taiwan on the 28th of September with a minimal technical staff for the transit to Subic Bay, Philippines. The JR arrived on October 5th starting the 353P tie-up period.
• On the September 24th, the vessel left Subic Bay after a one day delay due to repair work on the ship's propulsion gear box. As normal, Philippine Immigration was able to squeeze a few more dollars out of us before departing. We are currently scheduled to arrive November 29th (on time) at Loyang, Singapore.
• In order to rotate staff for the holidays, the tie up period was divided into two one month periods. For the first half Brad Julson was onboard until Oct 10th (transit) at which time Heather Barnes took over the responsibilities as Lab Officer. On October 29th Heather was relieved by Bill Mills starting the second half of tie-up.
• The Applications Developers came to the ship mid-tie-up in order to rebuild the software to comply with the security requirements of TAMU CIS; internal passwords, for example, were required to be complex instead of simple.
• KTT activates where conducted on the transit to Singapore: David Houpt will provide a full report.

Logistics

• Keelung port call: Expedition 353 airfreight and World Carrier shipments were offloaded;
• Subic Bay:
  • Off going
    • World Courier and Regular Air freight departed in Keelung
    • 353P_SURF 40ft truck left subic bay
    • 353P_Flat subic Bay
    • 353P_Pipe 7 flats of pipe subic bay
    • 353P_ Core
    • 353P_SCHLM
  • Oncoming
    • T35310a Airfreight with draw works encoder
    • T35311s 40ft Container: Misc IODP
    • T35312s: Hazmat
    • T353P01s 40ft Container: Misc IODP
    • T353P02s 40ft Container: Misc IODP
    • T353P03s 40ft Flat: Core Liner and misc. iron
    • T353P09s 40 ft Container: 20 ST bags Sepiolite
    • T353P10a air freight: TNA Electronics & Misc. SS
    • T353P11s air freight: Misc. supplies W/Haz/Mat
    • T353P12s air freight: Misc. supplies W/Haz/Mat
    • T353P14a air freight: Misc. supplies
    • T353P15a air freight: Misc. supplies
    • T353P16a: Hazmat
    • T353P17a air freight: Misc. supplies
  • Because of congestion in Manila container facilities, the following freight was re-routed to Singapore:
    • T353P04s
    • T353P05s
    • T353P06s
    • T353P07s
    • T353P08s
    • T353P13s
• Items to be added to a future off going surface:
  • Empty Helium rack
  • Portagas H2S calibration bottle
  • Epson 4600 printer and supplies (if the 4900 printer arrives)

AMS/Inventory

• Spot physical counts were performed on high-usage items
• Saravanan came onboard to go over AMS with the Core Tech and Drillers
• All shipments arriving in Subic Bay were received

Safety

• 9 BA cylinders where sent to PB MATA (Philippines) for hydro testing. All 9 cylinders were condemned because of age (greater than 15 years) and were not hydro tested. We believe this finding is incorrect as "All Aluminum" cylinders have a life-time use provided they pass hydrostatic testing (per DOT). Because of this outstanding report, the bottles cannot be used. In addition, four more cylinders are pass due for hydro testing leaving only two cylinders (out of 15) for use. And we have one BA with a leaky purge valve. This leaves us with only two functional BA sets which are stored in the conference room spill control locker. All other BAs and cylinders are stored in the MBio van awaiting management's decision to re-test or toss.
• In order to protect the ship and staff from the threat of piracy, a less than affective water spray system has been installed around the ship's perimeter providing convenient handholds so that pirates can board the ship safely. Until the water pressure issue is resolved, the pirates will at least smell better. In addition, SEIM has installed razor wire along the main deck (without a loss-time injury) with plans to encircle the entire ship. Not only will this help repel boarders but may help IODP with staff retention.

AREA-BY-AREA SUMMARY

Bridge Deck

Offices:

• Still no joy as work continues on the fan coils for the office spaces.

BHAZ:

• A new shelf was constructed and installed in the BHAZ. There was a minor chemical spill in the BHAZ and the wooden shelf had to be replaced. Future chemical storage on the shelf need to be placed in plastic bins.

Core Deck

Core Entry:

• Laser engraver casing box was modified to prevent any possible laser beam or toxic gases from escaping. The low level air alarm was adjusted to accommodate the reduction in air flow which is still more than necessary to evacuate the enclosure within a few seconds.

Splitting Room:

• Cases for the parallel saw and mini saw were modified to allow easier cleaning.
• Damaged floor was repaired

Core Description Lab:

• The forward, port countertop was refinished.

Microscope Lab:

• Installed UPS for SEM

Magnetics Lab:

• Installed UPS for DTECH

Physical properties Lab:

• The starboard countertop was refinished.
• Non Physical Property/Description library books were relocated to the conference room

Fo'c'sle Deck

Chemistry Lab:

• Install new furnace, ran a test for four hours at 721C. All seem to be working. The 240V transformer was left in place as some lab equipment runs on 240 Volt.
• New RO water filter installed

Conference Room:

• Carpets were cleaned in the conference room, the Open Office (Curator's Office), and Publication's Office.
• Conference room amplifier was installed with six ceiling mounted speakers. One set of HDMI connections to the each projector was re-routed thru the audio amplifier and a stereo jack added to the wall connection plate for VGA presentation.

X-ray Lab:

• XRD balance table was sanded and varnished

LOWER TWEEN DECK

Movie Rm:

• Changed setup on the projector controller, the input was set to HDMI 3 instead of HDMI 1.
• Optima projector failed and was replaced by a projector on loan from the IT department.

Poop Deck

Underway Geophysics:

• Level wind on fantail was being adjusted by Gus. The final state of the level wind is not confirmed.
• Dirt removed from level wind and re-greased.
• WinFrog and the Bathy were tested on the transit to Singapore

MISC

• SIEM gearbox overhaul
• Door replaced in various location – New master key added to red key chain in drawer.
• Stairwell handrail painted
• RFI installation was completed for 54 outlets throughout the laboratories.

Developer Activities

LabVIEW upgrade from version 2011/2013 to 2014 – Completed.

• All systems in core and chemistry labs upgraded to LabVIEW 2014. Only significant code change was the MADMAX system for which the C#/.NET software required modification to match the PYC LabVIEW module.
• All development environments upgraded to 2014.
• LabVIEW upgraded on RigWatch Master (Krakatoa).
• As planned, LabVIEW was not upgraded on bridge deck or in underway.

ORACLE password change – Completed. All domain passwords upgraded to meet TAMU password requirements and appropriate security profiles assigned.

• Application rebuild – Completed.
• All applications rebuilt to current environment standards for their deployment operating systems.
• All web services rebuilt to use new Oracle passwords.

All applications rebranded to have International Ocean Drilling titles.

• Current Java security settings established in all Java applications. Tested on ship using newly upgraded instrument and work stations with current versions of Java and Windows / MAC-OS installed.
• Both Java and Tomcat on the Linux servers was upgraded to same versions used on shore.
• Applications no longer in use were retired and removed from the servers.
• Most applications required no code changes and are functioning as well as they have on previous expeditions.

Correlation project

• Planned implementation and deployment work completed
• Removal of old correlation infrastructure was completed.

Development work still in progress

• SCORS uploader is functional and ready for testing.
• SCORS downloader is functional, though all planned features are not yet implemented, and ready for testing.
• LORE implementation
• Planned implementation, development, and deployment completed. Lore is fully functional with the new correlation deployment.
• Development of additional reports continues as per the project plan.

Database cleanup

• Many minor database cleanups completed.
• EOX procedures modified to support new correlation structures, thin section report builder information and other recent database changes
• Major step in depth conversion was completed with final removal of all result based depth records and conversion of all existing code to use the new result depth computations.

MAGNETICS LAB

HEATHER BARNES AND BETH NOVAK
First Half

• None of the instruments were run during the transit or Part 1 of the Tie up. Labview and LORE updates need to be tested.
• Daily checks of the boil off temperature and Dewer Pressure were taken. Weekly checks of He-levels and T1-T2 Voltages were made and recorded in the log sheet.
• We became concerned about the boil off temperatures reaching values in mid to high 20 cc/min range. However, according to Beth these values are affected by weather / room temperature and we were taking them in the early morning when it was cool. Values taken later in the afternoon approached ~ 40 – 60 cc/min.
• SRM has not been tested post programming updates as of Oct 26.

Second Half

• New UPS unit (installed during 352) was properly secured.  Dtech and JR6 now run through large UPS unit.  The Kappabridge computer now runs through smaller UPS unit.
• SRMUturn2 program placed on the SRM computer (C drive:Data:SRMUTURN) and in IODP Share:Pmag_documents.  
• New Icefield MI-5 orientation tools tested.  Core techs filed down all three of the new adapter pieces in order to get them to fit into the adapter on the rig floor.  Inclin software was installed on the Dtech computer and the Downhole computer.  We may need to investigate getting Inclin onto a PC with 64 bit in the future.  The createinclinfile4.exe utility was placed in the IODP share:Pmag_documents folder.  The program will only run on computers with labview runtime.

CORE LABORATORY

HEATHER BARNES

Summary and SPECIAL PROJECTS

• Rock saws
  • A large portion of the bottom parts of the containers holding the rock saws were removed. The bottoms of the containers served mainly as traps for material that would eventually be washed onto the countertop. Removing the bottoms essentially removed the middle step and should make cleaning easier and more efficient.
  • In addition, Jurie installed new sets of LED lights that now swivel when adjusted. You can adjust their angle by loosening one of the screws holding the LED lights in place.
• Laser Engraver
  • A new set of LED lights were installed on the laser engraver on Expedition 352. This new addition made several openings where light escapes apparent. In particular were several openings around the door of the engraver.
  • An adhesive type of padding was placed around the door and around any locales where light was escaping. The engraver should be monitored occasionally to ensure that the adhesive padding or tape is still in place, especially around the door.
  • No adjustments were made to the bottom of the engraver which has an opening large enough for fingers to fit through. In order for the exhaust system to work the system needs an air intake and therefore could not be blocked off.
  • The low level air alarm was adjusted to accommodate the reduction in air flow which is still more than necessary to evacuate the enclosure within a few seconds.

PHYSICAL PROPERTY LAB

KEVIN WERTZ (part1) and ZENON MATEO(part 2)

SUmmary

First Half: The physical properties instruments were exercised periodically to ensure they are running properly. A number of software and program updates were completed by the developers and we are currently in the process of retesting each machine to see how they were affected by the changes. These instruments will require much more testing before EXP353 to ensure all upgrades are bug free.
During this second half of the tie-up, the loggers and tracks were thoroughly tested after several software and hardware upgrades were performed. Results of the testing are detailed in the individual KTT reports. Below is a summary and some additional information.

SYSTEMS

Whole Round andspecial task Multi Sensor Logger (WRMSL and stmsl):

First Half
We experienced issues calibrating the GRA with the stepped aluminum standard. We were consistently getting values of 0.86 – 0.89 on the WRMSL (and values of 0.99 – 1.00 on the STMSL). A dog leg appeared in the first two data points that were being received, leading Jurie to believe that a transducer may have failed in the unit. We approached solving the issue by performing the following steps.

• We first tested the unit with a spare digibase though we were unable to reach any meaningful calibrations regardless of how the voltage was adjusted in the configuration file.
• We then installed the PMT & Digibase pair from the STMSL which was operating at 650 volts. We received the same energy channel and peak patterns as observed on the STMSL, however, calibration values were still < 0.9.
• At this point we realized that two of the aluminum blocks were being analyzed near their edges. Adjusting the points at which they were being measured resolved the problem and the PMT – Digibase units were returned to their respective tracks.
• A thorough check of the locations of measurement for the two blocks that were being measured on the edges was not performed initially for two reasons:
  • The aluminum standard worked perfectly on the STMSL on multiple runs.
  • The dog legs in the data were showing up from blocks that were being measured in the correct locations.
  • The standards position in the WRMSL did not change due to a malfunction in the motor, rather the aluminum blocks probably shifted a quarter inch while removing one of the nylon plugs that had broken inside it when replacing the water.

• The distilled water from each of the standards was replaced. A new supply of nylon plugs were ordered to replace one that had broken. We could not locate any replacements on board.
• WRMSL is functioning after programming updates as of Oct 26.
• Occasionally cores running through the STMSL would encounter the lip of the magnetic susceptibility machine, causing the core to abruptly stop and requiring the measurement to be aborted. The height of the MS instrument was adjusted to allow cores to easily pass through the loop.
• A replacement MS loop should arrive at some point during the tie up.
• Post software changes from the developers the STMSL program has locked up a few times. Each time it has locked up it occurred immediately after using the bar code scanner and prior to hitting "Scan Now".
• This may have been a result of having the uploader working on several samples combined with a Chronas back up of the machine running at the same time. It has not happened again since the machine completed its routine backup.
• STMSL is functioning after programming updates as of Oct 26. However the motor frequently goes past the soft stop and errors. Approx 1 out of 5 runs.

Second Half
Issues and suggestions
Several related issues were discovered about the motion control and logic implemented by these loggers.

1. 1. 1. 1. The forward limit switch for both tracks is ignored during motion, resulting in the pusher to collide with the GRA plastic shielding. A revision of the Galil config file gave the proper acceleration to the pusher so that the flag will trigger the limit switch.
         2. The above issue appeared to happen only when large measurement intervals are conducted (i.e., 10, 15 and 30 cm). This is especially critical to the STMSL which is intended for high recovery expeditions and immediate measurement of cores, and therefore expected to scan at these intervals. These two loggers go through the limit switch, collide with the GRA housing and therefore stop before reaching the next data point, but still acquire data, which would now be in the wrong position.
         3. Therefore, the application needs to aware that the next measurement point is beyond the limit switch.
         4. However, a new logic loop should also enable the application to determine if the bottom of section is still before the laser used in finding the top of the next section. If the bottom of section has not cleared this laser, the logger should perform a partial move in order to clear this laser.

(At the time of writing of this report, the WRMSL and STMSL application is being revised and tested in preparation for X353.)

Natural Gamma Ray Logger (NGRL)

First Half

• The calibration peaks for detectors 5 and 6 were off by values of ~ 30 – 40 keV on each of the three peaks. We adjusted the voltage accordingly to bring the peaks back into alignment. It may be useful to check for this type of drift more regularly during expeditions. A spreadsheet log was setup under IODP_Share/PhysProps/NGR_CalibrationLog to track the frequency of these changes.

Second Half

• Software components for the NGR were upgraded by the developers (D. Fackler). Initially, a licensing issue was encountered, but was immediately resolved (see developer's report for more details)
• During the KTT exercise, several runs were made on the NGR to test several conditions and parameters. The logger performed well without any problems.
• Just prior to the transit from Subic to Singapore, a new set of calibration files were collected at 120 sec . A 12 hour (6 hours per pos UploaderTron5100
• A new version of uploader was installed. When this new version of uploader encounters an error "X" or "?" it tends to crash. Just restart the program and it will resolve. The developers are aware of this and are looking into it.

Thermal Conductivity (Therm-Con):

• The ThermCon performed as expected during the KTT exercise. The needle probe can only gather data under strict conditions (i.e. avoid cracks, semi-dry sediments, too much water and others).
• Because of the above case, it may be worth looking into using the half-space needles or pucks in measuring the working section halves instead of drilling a hole through the whole-round.
• As a reminder to users, when setting up the configuration prior to measurement, make sure that the Datafile root name, which is the prefix for a series of the replicates, should be in the form: core number+core type+section number (e.g., 6H1). The ThermCon uploader expects these entries and will attempt to rename the first file replicate, but then will error out as it will not be able to find the filename for the succeeding replicates.

Moisture and Density (MADMAX)

First Half
MAD is not functioning properly after programming updates as of Oct 26. Issues are being addressed by programmers. Also note that the option to select a calibration sphere (OTHER419031 example) to test a cell is no longer apart of the main interface. Jr developer has been notified to re-add this feature.
Second Half
The countertop for this section was refinished by E. Fisher. We then took the opportunity to re-arrange the area to make is more compact and ergonomic. The desiccators were moved to a new shelf under the Velocity Ganttry railing, more accessible as it is just in front of the oven. The rest of the system was then moved forward, including the pycnometer box and electronics. This leaves the aft portion of the countertop free for other use or for the second set of pycnometers.
Issues

1. Display issues identified during expedition 352 have been flagged and are being assessed by the developers (D. Hornbacker): for sphere standards, the most recent values are not displayed and the replicate count is not updated due to the way MADMAX sorts values, which cannot account for the new series of ResultID that have been implemented around June 2014.
2. Replicate mass or volume measurements are not reflected in the LIME list of test results that can be cancelled. Instead, the old result is still shown (based on timestamp). However, the latest replicate value is shown in the LIME list of test results that can be uncancelled.
3. Canceled mass data in the MADMAX spreadsheet cannot be uncancelled in LIME. However, after such an attempt to uncancel the data, re-running the MADCALC function returns the same values as before the cancellation. In contrast, cancelled volume data can be un-cancelled in LIME. In both cases of data cancellation, the mass and volume data is not displayed back in the MADMAX spreadsheet.

Gantry (V_p)

First Half

• Gantry is not functioning as desired after programming updates as of Oct 26. Issues are being looked at by programmers. Y bayonet is not responding

Second Half

• The y-bayonet continued to display erratic behavior so a USB-485 connection box was installed for the caliper and two bayonets.
• During the testing process, the following bugs were detected and corrected
• The system delay for the Z-bayonet did not update properly because it was overwritten by the time stamp value. After placing the correcting the configuration value name, the value was properly registered as a real number in the gantry.ini file.
• Awareness of the actual values of the system delay or velocity of the material measured during the calibration process can reveal possible issues with critical parameters. The last test revealed that the system delay is too big for the Z-bayonet and slightly off for the Y-bayonet. These were traced to (1) the transducer offset for the Z-bayonet is 1 cm more than actual, and (2) the Y bayonets are not parallel, despite the lock screw and flat face of the transducers. The physical and software settings for the instruments should therefore be checked regularly.
• The following additional software issues where fixed during the transit:
  • The "disappearing" JOG window issue (going straight to acquisition) was resolved by changing the mechanical action of the "continue" and "cancel" buttons which were leaving "value change" events in the UI loop.
  • The issue of the "Results" window not closing when the "Exit and Save" button was clicked was fixed. In addition, the consumer/producer loop was cleaned up and the snake pit of wires sorted out. It code is a bit easier to follow.
  • The "Exit Application" on error now works.
  • Unused VI's removed form libraries.
  • Folders reorganized.
  • A clean executable made and the version changed to 2.1.0
  • Chieh is updating the quick start guide

Section Half Image Logger (SHIL)

• The SHIL was upgraded to IMS 8.5. This is a minor upgrade that place the SHIL and SHMSL at the same IMS deployment level.
• The "Restore Crop" button has been removed from the "Crop and Save" window for whole round images. Has no meaning (whole round images are not cropped) and caused the "Save Image" button to be disabled.
• The new MDrive motor system was tested on the SHIL and is ready for deployment on X354 if management approves.

Section Half Multi Sensor Logger (SHMSL)

• The software was upgraded from 7.0 to 8.5 and is now at the same deployment level as the SHIL. This was a major upgrade and the system has been fully tested.

In addition, a number of other hardware and software issues were discovered and resolved:

• AR200 laser communication issues and system lock-up: During the LV 2014 deployment, the developer's experienced numerous problems with the AR200 laser ranger locking up and stopping the application. Similar issues have been reported on previous expeditions but where relatively rare but after the LV2014 upgrade, we were experiencing problems only after a few runs. The issue was resolved by changing from a free-running mode (constant data stream) to an "on-demand" mode. Both serial framing errors and lock-up issues have been absent since the code change.
• AR200 laser section length determination. The "out-of-range" condition now returns 50mm (max range) instead of nothing and prevents the smoothing algorithm from obscuring edges of rocks and end caps.
• USB4000 Spectrophotometer communication issues: Like the AR200, the USB4000 experienced numerous communication related issues that were rare prior to the LV2014 and like the AR200 changing from a continuous acquisition mode to an "on-demand" mode, appears to have resolved the problem.
• USB4000 Spectrophotometer acquisition mode impact: Understanding that the spectrophotometer acquires one spectrum after another, means that it was possible that the data transmitted to the PC was partially acquired while the sensors was lifted. The latest code release now waits for the sensor to land, turns on the "free run mode", acquires a spectrum, and then turns off the "free run" mode. Note, we are currently forced to use the free run mode because we do not supply an external trigger. This change has no discernable impact on speed.
• UploaderTron5100: A new version of uploader was installed. When this new version of uploader encounters an error "X" or "?" it tends to crash. Just restart the program and it will resolve. The developers are aware of this and are looking into it.

Chemistry Lab

Heather Barnes, Kevin Werts AND RachAel GRAY

Summary

The instruments in the chemistry lab were not used during this tie up. Preventative maintenance and monitoring was done on a few of the instruments. A manual for preventative maintenance is found in IODP Share/IODP Official/ Preventative Maintenance. All computers were updated (Office, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, JAVA, Labview, LIMS/LORE). Thorough testing will be needed by oncoming GLS.

Balances

• Not used

Furnace

• New muffle furnace was installed and tested by Garrick

Carver Presses

• Not used. Some oil leaking, very minor.

Cary Spectrophotometer

• Not used. Monitored the probe solutions to prevent the probes from drying out.

CHNS

• Not used. Monitored no problems encountered.

Coulometer

• Not used.

Freeze-drier

• Not used.

Gas Lines/manifold

• The bottle company mislabeled 2 argon bottles – they were mislabeled as helium. These two argon bottles (labeled helium) were hooked to the argon manifold. Luckily they were argon so it was ok – but be sure to double check the bottle label before hooking to manifold. All bottles on one rack should be the same gas, but double check.

GC3/NGA

• NGA gas chromatograph was tested - we are out of needles for the autosampler (which wasn't working well anyway) and the needles were clogging on manual injections.  Erik rigged up a workaround to do manual injections more easily.  New needles have been ordered, and a more permanent manual injection solution may be installed in the future.

Hydrogen generators

• Only one hydrogen generator was left on. Water level was monitored and topped up when needed.

IC

• Hardware on the IC was run for 2 hours once per week to keep the tubing from drying out. No problems.
• Some issues with the IC cations.  Performance was improved by increasing the start-up equilibration time (2 hours or more) and "rinsing" the column, as detailed in the Metrohm manual.

ICP

• Not used.

salinity

• Not used.

Chlorinity

• New Cl- autotitrator is here, with cables.  It powers on but was not tested with the software yet due to limited developer time

SRA

• Not used.

Water system

• New Barnstead Nanopure system was installed.  We fixed a leak by scavenging fittings from the old system.  The old system is boxed up in the cold room.

TOC

• Not used.

Misc

• The ships air was turned off for a 4 hour period. The nitrogen generator was turned off and Brad Julson turned off the GCs. No problems encountered. Liquid Nitrogen generator was also shut off. MBIO fridge defrosted
• David Fackler fixed issues with Gas Monitoring software, and some other software problems.
• Routine maintenance and testing were performed on all other instruments and equipment, with generally no issues to report. 

Underway geophysics

KEVIN WERTS

SUMMARY

• Navigational and bathymetric data were collected during our transit from Keelung, Taiwan to Subic Bay, Philippines. The magnetometer was deployed for ~ 24 hours during the transit.
• The Bathy 2010 and Winfrog where tested on the transit to Singapore. No data was collected.

Winfrog

• No issues observed
• Navigational data (L1T) was collected while transiting from Keelung, Taiwan to Subic Bay, Philippines.

BATHY

No issues observed

• Bathymetirc data (L1T) was collected while transiting from Keelung, Taiwan to Subic Bay, Philippines.

Magnetometer

• The magnetometer initially would not communicate with the Sealink software.
• The tow cable was producing an open signal when ET Jurie tested it with a multimeter (from either side). The problem was a cracked connector on the cable. See ET report. Cable was repaired and communication was restored between the magnetometer and software.
• In addition, the COM ports on Sealink were not setup. We adjusted the COM port on Winfrog to match that going into the magnetometer and set output information to position "$GPGGA" & Time "$GPZDA". After this the magnetometer began receiving GPS data from Winfrog.
• After the hardware and software issues were resolved the magnetometer ran well for ~ 24 hours.

Google Earth NAV

• The Google_Earth_Nav program worked well during our transit. We did notice that sometimes google earth would not refresh the ships new location (i.e. the new KML file) when accessing it through the weblink. (http://bering.iodp.tamu.edu/_assets/geo/jr_POSITION.KMZ). There did not appear to be any issues with uploading the file to the internet and we tried adjusting the frequency with which Google Earth refreshes the new KML file. Closing and reopening Google Earth sometimes fixed the issue and other times it did not (over time it just began to work again).

DATA BACKUPS

• Data files were copied to the following folders and will be added together with Exp353 to be sent back to shore on Data1 upon the completion of Exp353.
• \\JR1\IODP_Share\IODP_Official\UW\Exp352T\Naviagation
• \\JR1\ IODP_Share\IODP_Official\UW\Exp352T\Bathymetry
• \\JR1\ IODP_Share\IODP_Official\UW\Exp352T\Magnetics

ET REPORT

JURIE KOTZE and GARRICK Van Rensburg

General

• This was a transit from Keelung, Taiwan to tie up period in Subic, Philippines. We have a list of projects that is currently in process and a good portion are done already. There is still a month with the oncoming crew to do their planned projects. We have not yet received the new lab light panels and the two new type UPS's that is still in transit to Subic and will be handled as they arrive. On arrival in Subic an ADSL internet landline data cable was wired into the ship from the local telecom companies' connection box on the pier through the LO Office MCT to the conference table at the coffee bar on the bridge deck and fed into the ships network from there.
• Conference room amplifier was installed with six ceiling mounted speakers. HDMI and VGA connections were connected with added sound capabilities for the VGA options. The secondary VGA cable to the center projector is faulty and was reported to the MCS, picture is present but one color channel is missing. Conference room Bluetooth mouse had battery problems, this was repaired.

Lab UPS's

• With a spreadsheet of UPS's that we have on board as a guide I started to do a piece by piece inspection and load & performance test on each individual UPS. This entails a period of running the UPS under load but still connected to the mains grid and a period of carrying the load without mains connection till the batteries run dead/exhausted. All of our UPS's are in good working working order and in varied levels of battery capacity left. They still have the known parasitic noise embedded but that is a known fact that will be decided on once we tested the new UPS concept units that will arrive shortly. We might in future replace our aging UPS's with the new Amplon series UPS's. We inherited two old 1,5 Kva X-LDEO APC units but I don't think that they are worth being used on our equipment, both their batteries sets are more or less depleted and not worth the money to buy new batteries for. We will decide on their future along the line.
• All the logged performance captures on the mains analyzer were converted and saved on record with the spreadsheet in our ET documents folder.

Chem lab

• Install new furnace, ran a test for four hours at 721C. All seem to be working. The 240V transformer was left in place as some lab equipment runs on 240 Volt.

Pallet Store

• The -80 Forma freezer that failed during the previous expedition was crated and loaded on the outgoing freight for repairs. It was loaded on the 10th Oct for shipment together with the rigwatch VIT floatation cubicles for C/S.
• -86 Freezer was not secured, I reinstalled the u-channel system.

Logging Office

• The remains in the LDEO office and drawers that was left after Lamont scientists departed were sorted and useful items were added to our normal useable lab/shop tools. Rubbish was cleared out and a couple of equipment pieces of PC stations are still there and will be sorted out by the MCS/IT's. The space is currently being used by Dean F. and Bob O. as office working on the VIT cable tension controller.
• Help remove some old logging equipment.

Core Splitting Room

• Removed the two sample saws (towards the left side) in the splitter room that needed the cabinet inside "floorboard" modification to help getting a "free flow wash down" after use, was removed and dismantled and the bottoms were cut out and braced with aluminum supports and angle brackets where necessary to keep the sides rigid.
• The previous LED lights that was fitted inside the saw cabinets was removed and replaced with a higher intensity LED strips and a new temporary 48V power supply was assembled to power them. The right unit is on order. The 3rd saw with the Plexiglas shield has still to get his new lights to be installed. I'm making up some arrangement with left over LED strips that I have but will rather install the removed LED lights that will get freed up once the new light panels arrive for fitment in the labs.
• Repair water damaged floor with redhand.

Rigwatch

• The digital draw works encoder on the draw works winch drum's center was removed and stashed away while mechanical work are being done to the drum brake system and we will refit a new encoder once they are ready for re-assembly. The one currently in use gave problems earlier during the previous expedition but seemed to clear itself. I will install a new encoder that we received (1 of 2 received) from shore to prevent unnecessary delays with upcoming expedition and the outgoing one will be kept as spare with the new spare encoder.
• Dean F. and Bob O. arrived to do development work the VIT cable tension problems. They will be here on board for approx. a week.
• Make test leads for Dean, Rs232 crossover.

Core Lab

• Gantry Track: Upgrade Rs232 converter connections with lugs and cable ties. But later replaced the individual RS232/4285 converters with a NI 4 port RS485 unit.
• Construct a muffler for the furnace in the gantry area.

Tcon:

• The Tcon ups supply was moved from ships power (white plug) to regulated power (blue plug) as the Tcon ups kept on tripping the GFI plug.

SEM:

• Installed the new Minuteman ups at the request of the technician for testing purposes.

Portable electrical equipment surplus

• IODP106Black dome spot light
• IODP021Black & Decker drill
• IODP112Power strip with extension cord and foot pedal
• IODP080Craftsman drill

Fantail

• After problems getting the magnetometer to talk to Winfrog during our transit we traced the tow line/cable's electrical properties after confirmation that the rest of the equipment was in good working order it was found that a cable splice between the yellow tow line and the interconnecting black cable inside the cable drum hub had a break inside the splice itself. The splice itself is cast in resin and not possible to inspect inside. A new cable splice was made to do the connection and the magnetometer could talk freely again and all was back to normal.
• The slip ring and connector on the shaft output assembly that was exposed after line work were resealed with Linoleum Denso tape again. Gus did a major amount of mechanical maintenance on the mechanical drive train on the drum assembly and mechanical cable guide supporting system and as usual he did a perfect job. The Magnetometer as a unit is a "ship shape" condition again.
• Cleaned all the old grease from the reel wind and applied new grease to the moving parts, I wrapped the new grease with plastic and covered the unit.

Movie Room

• Changed setup on the projector controller, the input was set to HDMI 3 instead of HDMI 1. But later in the leg the Optima projector failed and was replaced by a projector on loan from the IT department.

M-drive motor upgrade

• Populated two of the new M-drive board designs. They tested ok with some minor design changes and we are now ready to have the final design manufactured.

Ground Fault Isolators (GFI's) In Labs

• We received 60 GFI units that was ordered for an ABS electricity earth fault protection project. Siem electricians started with the installation and re-organizing the current power outlets throughout the labs to comply with the ABS requirements as per previous ABS inspection. Work together with them to assure no unwanted power interruptions will occur on running PC's and equipment in use while the developers were busy working on network PC's and lab equipment software upgrades.
• All the selected mains outputs within 6 ft from any water installation was shifted where possible and fitted with GFI outlets. A lot of the present normal outlets were replaced as well seeing that we had a lot spare and it's a safer way of using them instead.
• The "Rad-Van" was included with the safety fitment of GFI's. One 220V mains output point is situated right behind the faucet and we do not have 220V GFI's on board. The outlet was disconnected and blanked off for the period while waiting for one to arrive that was ordered and will be put back into operation but refitted somewhere else. We might decide to leave blank as there are two 220V outlets in the Rad-Van that should be sufficient. The 220V GFI will be installed into the distribution board to give protection to the ones already fitted.

Core Whole round track

• Worked with Kevin and Heather on GRA calibration issues. The instrument presented with a curved calibration inclined line as if the Scintillating counter went nonlinear as we do get with multiple types of transducers in the electronics world. We changed the "Digibase" Scintillating counter with a new spare we found and the curve stayed the same. Heather found that the calibration core with the differential thickness rings shifted inside the core liner upsetting the expected parking/measurement stations on the core liner. She fixed that and the problem cleared. The instrument is back to normal operation.

Core Laser engraver

• A rubber foam seal was installed around the mouth opening rim of the engraver and all the holes in the panels and metal parts were tapped and screws we screwed into it to close up all possible light exits. The machine should now be safe after all the electro & mechanical and safety systems are put in place.

Gym

• Made a short "soft cable" link for the second big screen in the Gym to keep it constantly breaking in the past if screen is moved on its hinge

Application Development

Paul Foster, David Fackler, Dwight Hornbacker, James Zhao, Rui Wang

Summary

• Interim Report as part Expedition Report for the first half of 353P.

LABVIEW

• LabVIEW upgrade from version 2011/2013 to 2014 – Almost completed. All targeted systems are now running LabVIEW 2014 except for the MADMAX application and NGR. The LabVIEW code for both applications is upgraded, however they are having issues with their related C#/.NET code. Testing cannot complete until the full system is functioning.

ORACLE

• ORACLE password change – Completed.
  • All domain passwords changed. New profiles assigned. Complete
  • Old application versions removed from tomcat and web servers. Old applications removed from workstations. Complete.

Application rebuild

• Application rebuild – in progress. The planned JAVA security implementation and the application rebranding development work is being done as part of the application rebuild process.
  • Web services rebuilt and deployed. Complete
  • HTML based applications rebuilt and deployed. Complete.
  • GWT based applications rebuilt and deployed. Complete.
  • Java applications rebuilt and deployed. Complete
  • .NET applications rebuilt and deployed. About 80% complete.
  • Several applications identified and archived as no longer in use nor necessary to current ship processes.

Correlation Project

• Correlation project – new tables created and environment setup for use. Testing pending application development progress.

LORE

• LORE implementation – data from ORACLE copied over from shore. Applications built and deployed. Testing completed.
  • Continuing updates / development to correct issues identified by shore test team.
  • Continuing updates / development in support of the Correlation project.

Other

• Database cleanup – many minor cleanups completed. Others to be done as identified during application rebuild. Major step in depth conversion was completed with final removal of all result based depth records and conversion of all existing code to use the new result depth computations.
• The development team started creating a plan for solving issues on ship with creating and managing standards. Draft of current thoughts was circulated. We will engage in this work if time permits. This work was derived from the original planned effort to clean up the standards' records in the database.

system manager's report (First Half)

Steven Thomas

Summary

• Departed Keelung, Taiwan on October 2, 2014 for tie up in Subic Bay, Philippines with all systems in working order including all PCs, servers and scientific instrument hosts. Projects included upgrades to Acronis Management Server and Vault Server, and OES Servers from SLES 11 SP2 to SP3 as well as OES 11 SP1 to SP2. Also instrument host upgraded Firefox, Flash, Java, Anti-Virus, Novell Clients, Microsoft Office (from 2010 to 2013) as well as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop (from CS5 to CS6). Sharp Printer service.
• While in transit to Subic Bay, there were minor issues, including jobs getting hung on the printer in CT shop, which was cleared easily, as well as assisting staff in getting their laptops and devices configured for the ships networks. While in transit performed software upgrades on our Acronis Management Server and Vault Server, and began preparations for a planned upgrade of our OES Servers from SLES 11 SP2 to SP3 as well as OES 11 SP1 to SP2. Also starting working on preparation for workstation and instrument host walkaround or refresh, where we upgraded Firefox, Flash, Java, Anti-Virus, Novell Clients, Microsoft Office (from 2010 to 2013) as well as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop (from CS5 to CS6).

DSL line Subic Bay

• On October 5, 2014, we arrived in port in Subic Bay and, as expected, lost data connectivity through our VSAT due to radio interference in Subic Bay. Upon arrival worked with PLDT SubicTel and IODP staff to get the DSL line ran to the Bridge Planning Area via a CAT6 ethernet cable that we ran from the demarcation point on the dock up through a MCT on the Bridge deck to the Bridge Planning Area. Changed the configuration of the necessary BDE in F18 and worked with PLDT and Rignet to complete the routing changes necessary to configure our network to run through the DSL line instead of the VSAT. It took a couple of days for Rignet to complete the routing, and in the meantime I assigned static IP address to the management staff operating on Bridge Deck so that they could get Internet access through the wireless access of the DSL modem until Rignet completed their routing.

datacenter

• On October 6, 2014 we experienced another belt failure on our AUX AC System in the datacenter, and I came down to the office at the beginning of my shift to a very warm MCS Office and Datacenter. I immediately initiated shutdown procedures to all the servers and equipment in the datacenter to reduce the risk of damage and contacted Engineering about the AUX AC failure, which they were able to resolve fairly quickly. I then waited for the Datacenter for finish cooling down to a satisfactory level and proceeded to bring all servers and equipment online again. All servers and equipment for the most part came up successfully, except our Novell NSS VOL1 pool, which was a known previous problem and the reason for the planned SLES and OES upgrade. VOL1 came up comatose, and several attempts were made to revive the volume with no luck, including moving the pool to other cluster nodes. Because our DSL network configuration had not been completed yet and we had no way of communicating with our ships systems to the outside world, and telephone calls were limited to personal cell phones at the time, I made the decision to try and move forward with patching the OES cluster in an attempt to resolve the comatose volume issue. I upgraded all 3 cluster nodes to OES 11 SP2 and upon applying those updates and restarting the serves, VOL1 mounted successfully the very first time.

Sharp Printer

• Cooridinated and worked with eCopy a Sharp dealer out of Manila who came out to service our Sharp MFP printer / copier on Focsle deck. They serviced and rebuilt all OPC Drum units with new drums, new charging wires, and replaced the developer in the developer units as well as cleaned and serviced those units, and also replaced the belt transfer unit. This service interval should be good for at least another 60,000 pages. Started work on workstation and instrument host refresh on PC's and Instrument Hosts, and Macs and as of the writing of this report, all PCs and Instrument hosts are competed in the stack and most of the Macs have been completed. I still have a small amount of PC's and Host back aft to address. PC's and Instrument Hosts have all been updated to the latest updates and patches from Microsoft.

Servers (Microsoft)

• Spurr reported a failed power supply and was replaced with a spare. Failed unit being hand carried back to IODP to be sent back to HP.
• Updates and patches applied to all Windows servers.

Servers (OES)

• After bringing the cluster online after the AC failure, VOL1 came up comatose, several attempts were made to revive the pool but with no success.
• Updated all 3 cluster nodes to OES 11 SP2 and all pools then mounted successfully.

Servers (Solaris)

• Pico was reporting low available disk space on root after being brought up again after our AC failure. I was able to clear some core dump files from when the server went down, but there was still as significant amount of space being taken up. Worked with the developers (Fackler) who was able located the source of the rest of the excess disk space being used. The Oracle server was running on Pico and when it went down it created a large amount of core dump files of its own that we were able to located and clear.

SERVERS (VMware esxi)

• The BBWC (Battery Backup Write Cache) module that we got a replacement for what was thought a bad unit still doesn't work in Fuji's raid controller. Same symptoms as before, server would report the extra cache memory on POST but would then fail to recognize the drives and fail to boot

EVA4000 Storage

• One 300GB SAN drive failed. Bay 1 Slot 3. Replaced with spare and re-stabilized the array. Created ticket with HP to get replacement for spare. Hand carrying failed unit back to IODP for replacement.

NETWork

• Worked with IODP Staff, PLDT SubicTel, and Rignet to configure the DSL line for the ship.

PC Workstations

• One of the drives of the mirrored pair of a workstation in Microscopy (PC 52520) fail, was able to replace failed drive with a spare.
• Updated PC workstations and Instrument hosts to latest approved versions of Firefox, Acrobat, Flash, Java, Acrobat Reader, McAfee Ant-Virus, Novell Client, Office 2013 and Adobe CS6. Updated instrument hosts to include all of the above, minus Adobe CS6 and Acrobat Creator, but including also the latest Acronis client Backup and Restore software.

MAC Workstations

• Updated Mac workstations to latest Firefox, Java, and Flash, also applied MS Office 14.4.4 patch as well as an update to OSX as well as installed Adobe CS6 on all Macs but the VDUs.

Printers

• Sharp MFP Copier and Printer was serviced by eCopy out of Manilla. OPC Drum Kits, Developer, and belt transfer unit.

SATELLite/internet/phones

• Lost internet connectivity on Oct 23 in the evening. It first manifested itself as an intermittent short lived problem that happened 2-3 times then later it failed completely. Worked with Rignet support on the issue since our DSL line out was confirmed to be good by attaching directly to the DSL modem and getting to the outside world. Problem was therefore either in BDE or Rignet's routing or equipment. On Rignet's recommendation, I reset the Cisco switches for TAMU and Transocean and the problem cleared up. I suspect there is a potential issue with those switches and one of them may be on the verge of failing.

other equipment/projects

• Replaced failed flat panel RF51823 in User Room. Was powered off and would not power on.
• Aux AC unit for LTDAT broke a belt on Oct 6th. Contacted ECR who promptly replaced belt, the failure happened earlier in the night before our shifts began and so the data center got rather heated before the belt was replaced. Had to shut down data center and wait for the temperature to return to normal before being able to restart the datacenter.

Second Half Weekly Notes (mike Cannon)

• VMware: Located servers to main server rack in preparation for Oracle Database Appliance installation;
• Assisted Dean Ferrell with his VIT projects, establishing communications with the new D2 switch in the DP office and the SubC DVR;
• Commvault: Commserve and agents upgraded to service pack 14 on all relevant servers. Confirmed functional.
• Extreme Networks Netsight: Upgraded suite to version 6.1.0.159.
• NAC Appliance: Installed virtual NAC appliance 6.1.0.159. Updated switch firmware to latest revisions. Deploying new NAC assessment agent to ship systems.
• 50KVA UPS Service: Schneider Electrical service technicians recalibrated system. During the service call, they caused a hard crash of the Data Center when one of their test took the UPS offline. All Data Center system where brought back on line without issues.
• LDEO upload server: Started configuration
• SubC DVR: Wrote script to copy video files to data
• Microsoft Office: Fixing issues with previous installation on workstation. Core deck completed working on Fo'c'sel deck
• Cumulus: Worked with vendor to resolve issues;
• .NET: Additional workstations with .NET runtime issues were discovered and repaired;
• Microsoft Office: Clean-up of previous installation continues;
• NGA Instrument: Converted ship network IP address.
• Internet / VSAT: Fire in dock culvert takes out local DSL service for a few days. After ship departed Subic, internet service and phones were transitioned back to the VSAT with only minor difficulties;