The Seam
Drum
also: strobe · drums
The local physical ranging and authentication equipment that establishes and holds a mark.
In full
The machine at the mark. A drum sits in its cradle at the head of a collar and turns, giving an arriving boat something to range on; a strobe does the same job by another means. Between them they are what makes a mark readable and therefore what makes a road a road. Drums are heavy, expensive, individually accountable, and endlessly worth stealing.
Key facts
- Local ranging and authentication plant.
- Establishes or maintains a mark; without it the mark is not readable.
- Sits in a cradle at the head of a collar and turns.
- Individually accountable — a missing drum is a recorded fact.