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The picture is Beth (Harzer) Zeidler and me (Tom Weiss), Beth being in the foreground. Both of us from Code 5042 Passive Sensors Branch / Acoustic Development Division. This picture was taken during a TSS (Tactical Surveillance Sonobuoy) sea test around 1990. We had a shipping container refurbished and outfitted with racks and the necessary electronics to monitor the sonobuoys while at sea. The ‘van’ was bolted to 3’ tall risers on the deck of a research vessel (most times the NADC 38 boat out of Key West, FL) TSS was a 5-day VLAD sonobuoy with in-buoy signal processing and memory. As opposed to other passive sonobuoys which continuously transmitted data, it stored specific acoustic signatures only when detected, and transmitted that data in compressed form, upon command. Each TSS buoy had a 3 digit ID and responded/transmitted data upon receipt of 3 consecutive DICASS commands corresponding to each ID digit (e.g. TSS 342 only responded to three consecutive commands for DICASS buoys number 3, 4, and 2.) It was being developed by two contractors: Magnavox and a joint venture of Hazeltine and Sippican.
Tom Weiss - Feb. 21, 2025

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