Magnetic frequencer device

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_finger_protein_772

The magnetic frequencer device was a small at first, but later massive machination used to detect subtle magnetic discrepancies in the Southern Ocean. The machine was designed by Richard Birmingham, John Ughan and Samson Thomes, and was transported to the Southern Ocean Observatory Base in 1993. Additional parts were added to the device over the years, and its processing power was increased using external servers. The device helped Birmingham precisely pinpoint the location of the Wumpa Archipelago after returning from his voyage to the islands in 1995.

History
Richard Birmingham was forced to rely on black market devices and parts to create his prototype when he was denied funding by the state. Once the Southern Ocean Observatory Base began construction, Birmingham was able to negotiate more funding under the collaboration clause in the Tasmania Stream Relief Fund. The device was highly futile in its early chapters, as it was not powerful enough to reveal substantial data, even though it was expanded upon over the years.

After Birmingham returned to the base in 1995, he privately consulted with a handful of his former associates regarding his time on the Wumpa Archipelago. He was almost universally lauded as mad by all of his former friends, and Birmingham was forced to illegally sneak into the base and discreetly alter the frequencer himself. Birmingham implanted electronic software that had a self initiated end signal after a week, and a week later, Birmingham presented once more the new data that this week provided. The data ultimately proved sufficient, and a private meeting was quickly convened with the Australian military. From this point onwards, the device was used as the main navigator for military planes charting course to the archipelago.

Destruction
The device was destroyed when the The Mantid detonated an explosive device within the Southern Ocean Observatory Base, as a means to paralyze the base's ambitions to colonize the Wumpa Archipelago.

Mechanics
The red and steel device was designed to balance the plethora of unintelligble magnetic data into concise and readable forms of observable readings precise enough to reveal even the most subtle of discrepancies over macro periods of time.