Page 60: of Marine Technology Magazine (March 2011)

products 60 MTR March 2011

Sonar in Search for Missing Persons

Stanislaus County

Sheriff’s Department dive team slowly motored their boat along the concrete lined drainage canal, peri- odically stopping and low- ering their scanning sonar to see what was beneath the muddy water. They were searching for a 2003

Toyota Corolla belonging to alleged kidnapping suspect

Jose Esteban Rodriguez.

They were using a variety of high tech equipment including ROVs and sonar systems. Teams spent 10 days searching the 75 foot wide canal that was as deep as 50 feet in spots. They located and removed 16 vehicles, including a pickup truck and a motorcycle. Rodriguez’s car was among those found, but the windows were down and no one was inside.

Mark Cardoza, a sheriff’s department diver, reported their JW Fishers SCAN-650 scanning sonar was instru- mental in locating a number of the vehicles. The sonar operates in water similar to the way radar operates in air.

It sweeps a circle up to 250 feet in diameter with a sound wave. The wave reflects off any object on the bottom and is received by the sonar transducer. The data is transmit- ted topside where a detailed image of any underwater object is displayed on a laptop computer. Cardoza remarked, “This sonar will now be the go-to technology to help us better utilize our limited bottom time.” www.jwfishers.com

BlueView Receives Large Volume

Imaging Sonar Order From VideoRay

BlueView Technologies received an order for one hun- dred (100) high-resolution P Series Imaging Sonar sys- tems. In the coming months BlueView will deliver the compact, low-power 900 kHz imaging sonar systems to

VideoRay for integration onto its microROV systems pro- viding their customers with unparalleled real-time under- water search and navigation capabilities. BlueView’s P

Series Imaging Sonar are available with 3 field-of-view options – 45º, 90º, and 130º (the widest available), and operate in low or zero visibility conditions minimizing downtime due to water clarity conditions. Engineered to operate while in motion or from a stationary position,

BlueView 2D Imaging Sonar enhance detection, tracking, monitoring, and inspection operations for a wide variety of underwater applications, including: Search & Rescue;

Offshore Oil & Gas; Structure & Hull Inspections; Dive

Operations; Equipment & Material Placement. Together,

BlueView and VideoRay form one of the most compact, portable, easy-to-use, and effective underwater support systems available – proven time and again by some of the world’s best military, law enforcement, and offshore organizations. www.blueview.com

GSE Rentals Hires Out Ranger 2 Tech

GSE Rentals of

Aberdeen, UK has made an investment in Sonardyne’s advanced 6G technology by adding a Ranger 2

USBL (Ultra-Short

BaseLine) acoustic posi- tioning system to its equip- ment inventory. This is the first purchase of a Ranger 2 system by a rental company and it is anticipated by GSE that the system will be in high demand for survey opera- tions in the North Sea and elsewhere.

Ranger 2 is designed for deep water, long range tracking of underwater targets such as ROVs and also position ref- erencing for dynamically positioned (DP) vessels. The new system builds on the simplicity and performance of

Sonardyne’s popular Ranger 1 system but adds support for the company’s latest sixth generation (6G ) acoustic instruments and Wideband 2 signal architecture. These technologies offer precise acoustic ranging, fast data telemetry and hardware that is easier to set up and operate even in the most challenging subsea operating environ- ments.

The equipment purchased by GSE Rentals includes a complete Ranger 2 topside, high performance omni-direc- tional HPT transceiver and four directional Wideband

Mini Transponders (WMT). This equipment package can be easily and quickly installed on vessels-of-opportunity to position multiple subsea targets over a wide area and range of water depths with the highest levels of accuracy.

Car being removed from canal; Inset photo – scan- ning sonar image of car on river bottoM.

Training at Sonardyne’s offices in Aberdeen.