Designing an Automated Oceanographic Buoy Interrogation System Using HF Radio

Automatic interrogation and readout of a worldwide system of over 300 meteorological/oceanographic buoys requires careful attention to system control and communication interfaces. This paper describes the design of a system in which operation is executed by a medium-size digital computer which serves to control interrogation of the buoys, format the received digital transmissions, and put them on line for transmission over cable to a separate central data-processing center for analysis. To exercise system control, a number of functions must be performed. These are interrogation of buoys, data checking, data conversion, retransmission, control, and housekeeping.