The SonarMite Echo Sounder is the result of nearly two years research and development to further extend the boundaries of shallow water hydrographic surveying equipment. The introduction by Ohmex in 1997 of the SonarLite, the worlds first truly portable echo sounder system, has been a hard act to follow and it remains the portable instrument of choice in many survey companies around the world. The release of the SonarMite instrument marks the next stage introducing a series of equipment designed around the WinSTRUMENT concept making use of the latest portable computers integrated with new measurement technologies.
Throughout the Hydrographic world the term ‘Black Box’ has become a euphemism for a device that has a minimal user interface and normally requires connection to a PC to be of any use ! In most cases these boxes are a cut down version of a more conventional instrument without all the features of the full system. The SonarMite extends this idea of a rugged design and minimalist interface to produce a ‘Blue Box’ system where the user interface is provided by integrated software running on a portable computer connected via a Bluetooth link. The use of wireless technology enables the instrument to be waterproof and used in a hostile environment while the more sensitive computer features can be located in a more user friendly environment up to 50m away from the instrument.
SonarMite Measurements
The SonarMite instrument uses the same ‘Smart’ integrated transducer technology used in the SonarLite system, in addition to highly reliable bottom tracking algorithms using DSP techniques the system also outputs a quality value associated with every depth measurement made. The popular SonarXP software has been updated to SonarVista, in addition to the standard post-processing and editing features found in the SonarLite software the program now includes extended features to implement the additional measurements produced by the SonarMite. Software for the ‘front end’ of the SonarMite is available to run on a wide range of devices from Pocket PCs through to the full range of desktop systems running the Windows operating system
Active Transducer Technology
The SonarLite uses active transducer technology manufactured exclusively for use with the Ohmex Instruments range of survey quality equipment. All the signal generation, data processing and filtering is performed digitally within the transducer element, thus overcoming problems associated with old analogue technology …