Announcements

SBE 55 ECO Water Sampler | Release Version of SEASAVE V7 | Software compatibility with Vista | SBE 43 | Field Service Bulletins | ShallowCAT | New Staff

• New SBE 55 ECO Water Sampler (April 2007)
  The ECO Sampler is the ideal small-boat water sampler for coastal, estuarine, and large lake ecological monitoring. The ECO Sampler is light and economical and can be integrated with an SBE 19, 19plus, or 25 CTD. It is available in a three-bottle or six-bottle configuration with 4-liter ECO sample bottles, uniquely designed for the ECO Sampler. The ECO Sampler can operate autonomously on internal batteries and be programmed to close bottles at selected depths, allowing deployment using non-electrical wire or line. It also can be used with an SBE 33 Carousel Deck Unit and an an electro-mechanical cable and slip-ring equipped winch for real-time CTD data acquisition and water sampling operation.

• New Official Release of SEASAVE V7 (March 2007)
  After 1 year of Beta testing, a Release version of SEASAVE V7 is now available to download from our FTP Site! SEASAVE V7 provides more robust data acquisition / increased stability, easier-to-use and more intuitive user interface, support for transmission of data over TCP/IP, and better graphics than the previous Windows version of SEASAVE (SEASAVE-Win32). And, you can try out the new software without overwriting the existing version of SEASAVE on your computer. Go to the SEASAVE V7 page for more details and download instructions.
  Note: Sea-Bird will continue to provide SEASAVE-Win32 on our FTP Site and on the CD-ROMs we send out with instruments, and we will continue to provide customer support. However, new features and compatibility with new instruments will not be added to SEASAVE-Win32. We highly recommend that customers switch to SEASAVE V7.

• Sea-Bird Software Compatibility with Microsoft Vista Operating System (March 2007)
  Current indications are that Sea-Bird software is compatible with Vista, but testing is still on-going. However, we have discovered that the Help files included with the software are not compatible.
  
  To open Sea-Bird's software Help files, a Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) must also be installed on your computer. WinHlp32.exe was automatically installed with the installation of Windows for all previous Windows releases. However, Microsoft has announced that it is no longer including WinHlp32.exe with Windows operating systems, starting with Windows Vista. To view the Sea-Bird software Help files on a computer with the Vista operating system, users must first download WinHlp32.exe from Microsoft's web site (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6EBCFAD9-D3F5-4365-8070-334CD175D4BB&displaylang=en provides the download and detailed instructions), and install it on their computer.
  
  Note: Sea-Bird will update all of the software Help files to provide full compatibility with Vista (without the need for the WinHlp32.exe file installation) within the next few months. This announcement will be updated to keep you informed of the transition.
  - April 9, 2007 -- Help files for SEASAVE V7 and SBE Data Processing version 7.12 and later are compatible with Vista as well as older operating systems. Download the latest software from our ftp site.

• New SBE 43 Dissolved Oxygen Sensor with Plastic Housing Option (February 2007)
  SBE 43 is now available with a 600-meter plastic housing in place of the standard 7000-meter titanium housing, saving money and weight. Contact Sea-Bird for pricing information.

• Field Service Bulletins (December 2006)
  - Retrofit for MicroCATs with Integral Pumps (37-IMP, 37-SMP, 37-SIP): When deployed in very turbid waters, pumped MicroCATs oriented with the intake/exhaust plumbing in an upright U-shape can become clogged with sediment; this results in poor flushing, causing poor quality data. Sea-Bird now recommends that the MicroCAT be oriented with its intake / exhaust in an inverted U-shape. A minor design modification allows trapped air to escape; a retrofit kit allows the customer to easily implement the change.
  - Retrofit for Support of SBE 39 Battery: Retrofit kit provides better battery support (strong repetitive motions can cause the battery to vibrate; battery movement can crack PCB).
  - Link to all Field Service Bulletins

• New SBE 37 MicroCATs with ShallowCAT Plastic Housing Option (November 2006)
  SBE 37 MicroCAT CTDs are now available with the ShallowCAT housing. ShallowCAT substitutes a 250-meter plastic housing for the standard 7000-meter titanium housing, saving money and weight. Titanium offers the best durability with the least amount of care, and is always a wise investment. But when budgets demand it, the ShallowCAT option lets you put more MicroCATs in the water for less money. See the MicroCAT data sheets (37-SM, SMP, IM, IMP, SI, SIP) for details; contact Sea-Bird for pricing information.

• Sea-Bird adds another Oceanographer to Staff (September 2006)
  We are pleased to welcome Dr. Carol Janzen to our Scientific staff. Carol earned her PhD in physical oceanography from the University of Delaware, and has over 20 years experience working on interdisciplinary observational studies in coastal and estuarine environments. She completed a Post-Doc position at the University of Wales, Bangor (U.K.), and most recently held a position as Assistant Research Scientist with the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine. Carol’s knowledge and use of Sea-Bird instruments began in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, when she was an oceanographer at the Washington State Department of Ecology.
  Carol is applying much of her efforts in our Research and Development group, working on performance assessment for new sensors. Additionally, Carol is assisting our Customer Service group with analysis of customer data, and will bring her scientific experience to the support of our sales and marketing efforts.

For old announcements, see our Announcement Archive page!

Last modified: 09-Apr-2007

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