Technology
SonarBell® Technology
Outwardly the SonarBell® looks like a very simple device, dig a little deeper and it soon becomes clear that particular material choice, tight manufacturing tolerance and specific design criteria play a significant part in creating a device that delivers a performance way beyond that which initial impressions might have led you to expect.
Conceived in the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (Dstl), the potential of the SonarBell® technology to contribute to underwater activity outside the military arena was recognised early on. For that reason Subsea Asset Location Technologies Limited (SALT Ltd) was formed to turn concept into reality.
SALT Ltd has taken the development of the SonarBell® to the next level solving the practical issues such as manufacturing, environmental interaction and deployment amongst many others, whilst creating a wide ranging product family capable of defence and industrial application.
SALT Ltd has also spent a considerable amount of time learning how to get the best from the device in a significant series of trials and demonstrations.
SonarBell® Performance
There are many factors which may affect the performance of the SonarBell® in your application; these can be split into the following categories:
Getting the best from new technology often requires the user to think in new ways, SonarBell® is no exception.
SALT Ltd has encapsulated the lessons learnt into a series of short videos in the videos section of the website .
SonarBell® Performance Keypoints
- General rule; the larger the SonarBell® the longer the operating range,
- The lower the frequency the longer the range,
- The typical performance is dependant on water conditions;
- Temperature,
- Salinity,
- Noise levels,
- Flow noise,
- Dependant on sonar:
- Source level,
- Beam configuration,
- Receive signal to noise and
- Sonar self noise.
