Abstract: This invention is an apparatus and method created around a specialized micomputer attachable to and addressable to each thermister in an array of thermisters used to measure temperature in the sea. The invention provides a number of options so that the same model of microcomputer can be adapted to several different modes of operation and used to monitor a variety of other sensors that have electrical resistance, voltage or current as outputs. Alternate modes of operation for resistive sensors are presented where a number that fixes the measurement as a fraction of the dynamic range of the variable being measured is determined. The system includes the circuits and memory needed to adapt it to any of a variety of sensors measuring physical quantities.