Our experiences with the old system included zero-point drifts or jumps
that occurred either at random or as the result of a change of direction of
motion of the antenna. This combination led to the adoption of data-taking
strategies (sequences) that tried to counter such effects. These became
increasingly convoluted, and time-consuming.
Our hopes were that the new inclinometers would perform more reliably and suffer
less from zero-point drifts and jumps and thus allow for more rapid acquisition
of data, mainly by reducing the number of reference measures required. Perhaps
it would be possible to take the entire dataset in a single sweep, maybe even
with the antenna in continuous motion !? If this were possible the savings
in time would be enormous, and the track profile may be checked fairly
frequently with little effort.
The September tests would reveal the possibilities, but the initial data
acquisition software was written with the expectation of fairly simple
data-taking sequences.