kinda looked like the tape we use to run thru conduit to pull wire but thats not it. maybe some kind of flukemeter that measures voltage/frequency.
So it has a crank for raising and lowering the remote probe (don't get turned on, Steve), so the question centers around the probe. I'm going to guess that it is used to measure water quality either in a sub surface marine environment or in a well.
the remote part is not a probe but an I/O device for retrieving some sort of information from the base?
i dont understand because the base appears to be just a spool, but that would be stupid because it is realy large and unweildy and you could just unplug the cable and it would be simple and easy to store. so the base has to be ore than just a spool, and located somwhere that needs some sort of remote sensing. why would it need to be remote? i dunno. where is tirgintally or whoever the really smart guy.