Sounds like a job for... coat hanger man!

Yes, that was me, about 10 years ago at a certain climatological station where
I was deputy observer. I just managed to recover the errant thermometer - and
tube - and hence am *still* the deputy observer!

That was the nearest I have come to damaging an instrument - and it was a close
run thing. I remember that quite a bit of force was need to prise the tube out
the hole. Many, many bits of wire unwound hopelessly. I always think that the
readings from that depth are more interesting than the quickly varying shallow
depth temps, though the latter are obviously more relevant to plant roots etc.

Julian

Julian Mayes, West Molesey, Surrey