SONIC 2024/2022

BROADBAND MULTIBEAM ECHOSOUNDERS

Operation Manual V4.1

Part No. 96000001
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Part No. 96000001
 COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Copyright © 2008, R2Sonic LLC. All rights reserved

Ownership of copyright

The copyright in this manual and the material in this manual (including without limitation the text, artwork, photographs,
images, or any other material in this manual) is owned by R2Sonic LLC. The copyright includes both the print and
electronic version of this manual.

Copyright license

R2Sonic LLC is solely responsible for the content of this manual. Neither this manual, nor any part of this manual, may be
copied, translated, distributed or modified in any manner without the express written approval of R2Sonic LLC.

Permissions

You may request permission to use the copyright materials in this manual by writing to [email protected]

Authorship

This manual (Sonic 2024/2022 Operation Manual), and all of the content therein, written by:

R2Sonic LLC

1503-A Cook Place

Santa Barbara, California 93117

USA

Telephone: +1 (805) 967 9192

Facsimile: +1 (805) 967 8611

Version Printing History

• June 2008 Version 1.1/1.2

• July 2008 Version 1.3
• Aug/Sep 2008 Version 1.4
• December 2008 Version 1.5
• June 2009 Version 1.6
• April 2010 Version 2.0
• August 2010 Version 3.0
• April 2011 Version 3.1
• January 2012 Version 4.0
• April 2012 Version 4.1

R2Sonic LLC reserves the right to amend or edit this manual at any time. R2Sonic LLC offers no implied warranty
concerning the information in this manual. R2Sonic LLC shall not be held liable for any errors within the manual.

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 Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................17
1.1 Outline of Equipment ............................................................................................................ 17
1.2 How to use this Manual ........................................................................................................ 18
1.2.1 Standard of Measurement ........................................................................................... 18
2 SONIC SPECIFICATIONS ..........................................................................................................19
2.1 Sonic 2024 System Specification ........................................................................................... 19
2.2 Sonic 2022 System Specification ........................................................................................... 19
2.3 Sonic 2024 Dimensions and Weights .................................................................................... 19
2.4 Sonic 2022 Dimensions and Weights .................................................................................... 20
2.5 Sonic 2024/Sonic 2022 Electrical Interface........................................................................... 20
2.6 Sonic 2024/2022 Ping Rates ................................................................................................. 20
2.7 Acoustic Centre ..................................................................................................................... 21
3 SONIC 2024/2022 SONAR HEAD INSTALLATION – Surface Vessel ...........................................23
3.1 Sonic 2024/2022 Receive Module Installation ..................................................................... 23
3.1.1 Mounting the Sonic 2024/2022 Receive Module ......................................................... 24
3.1.2 Receive Module ............................................................................................................ 24
3.1.3 Mounting the Projector ................................................................................................ 25
3.1.4 Correct Orientation of the Sonic 2024 and Sonic 2022 ................................................ 27
3.2 Sonar Head Installation Guidelines ...................................................................................... 28
3.2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 28
3.2.2 Over-the-Side mount .................................................................................................... 28
3.2.3 Moon Pool Mount ........................................................................................................ 29
3.2.4 Hull Mount .................................................................................................................... 29
3.2.5 ROV Mounting .............................................................................................................. 29
4 SONIC 2024/2022 SONAR INTERFACE MODULE (SIM) INSTALLATION and INTERFACING ........ 31
4.1 Sonar Interface Module (SIM) .............................................................................................. 31
4.1.1 Physical installation ...................................................................................................... 31
4.1.2 Electrical and Interfacing .............................................................................................. 32
4.1.3 Serial Communication .................................................................................................. 35
4.1.4 Time and PPS input ....................................................................................................... 35
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 4.1.5 Motion Input ................................................................................................................. 36
4.1.6 SVP input ....................................................................................................................... 36
5 OPERATION OF THE SONIC 2024/2022 VIA SONIC CONTROL ..................................................37
5.1 Installing Sonic Control Graphical User Interface ................................................................. 37
5.2 Hot Keys ................................................................................................................................ 37
5.3 Network Setup....................................................................................................................... 38
5.3.1 Initial Computer setup for Communication .................................................................. 38
5.3.2 Discover Function.......................................................................................................... 39
5.3.3 Configuring Network Communication .......................................................................... 40
5.4 Sensor Setup (Serial Interfacing) ........................................................................................... 42
5.4.1 GPS ................................................................................................................................ 42
5.4.2 Motion........................................................................................................................... 42
5.4.3 Heading ......................................................................................................................... 42
5.4.4 SVP ................................................................................................................................ 43
5.4.5 Message displays .......................................................................................................... 43
5.4.6 Synch In / Synch out ...................................................................................................... 43
5.5 Sonar Settings (Hotkey: F2) ................................................................................................... 44
5.5.1 Frequency...................................................................................................................... 45
5.5.2 Ping Rate Limit .............................................................................................................. 45
5.5.3 Sector Coverage ............................................................................................................ 46
5.5.4 Sector Rotate ................................................................................................................ 46
5.5.5 Bottom Sampling........................................................................................................... 47
5.5.6 Minimum Range Gate (m) ............................................................................................. 47
5.5.7 Mission Mode ............................................................................................................... 47
5.5.8 IMAGERY ....................................................................................................................... 48
5.5.9 Roll Stabilize .................................................................................................................. 49
5.5.10 Dual Head Mode (Also see Appendix VI, Section 12.7) ................................................ 50
5.5.11 TruePix™, Snippets, Water Column Enable .................................................................. 52
5.6 Ocean Setting ........................................................................................................................ 52
5.6.1 Absorption: 0 – 200 dB/km ........................................................................................... 52
5.6.2 Spreading Loss: 0 – 60 dB.............................................................................................. 52

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 5.6.3 Time Variable Gain ....................................................................................................... 53
5.7 Installation Settings .............................................................................................................. 55
5.7.1 Projector Orientation ................................................................................................... 55
5.7.2 Projector Z Offset (m) ................................................................................................... 56
5.7.3 Head Tilt........................................................................................................................ 56
5.8 Status .................................................................................................................................... 56
5.9 Tools | Firmware Update...................................................................................................... 57
5.9.1 Firewall and Virus Checker Issues................................................................................. 59
5.10 Display settings ..................................................................................................................... 59
5.11 Imagery ................................................................................................................................. 60
5.11.1 TruePix™ and Water Column........................................................................................ 60
5.12 Main Operation Parameters ................................................................................................. 61
5.12.1 Range: 0 – 500 metres .................................................................................................. 61
5.12.2 RangeTrac™ – Sonic Control automatically sets correct range .................................... 63
5.12.3 Power: 0 – 221 dB......................................................................................................... 63
5.12.4 Pulse Length: 15µsec – 1000µsec ................................................................................. 63
5.12.5 Gain: 1 – 45 ................................................................................................................... 64
5.12.6 Depth Gates: GateTrac™ .............................................................................................. 64
5.13 Ruler...................................................................................................................................... 67
5.14 Save Settings......................................................................................................................... 68
5.15 Operating Sonic Control on a second computer ................................................................... 68
5.15.1 Two computer setup .................................................................................................... 68
5.15.2 Changing back to one computer .................................................................................. 69
6 SONIC 2024/2022 THEORY OF OPERATION ............................................................................71
6.1 Sonic 2024/2022 Sonar Head Block Diagram ....................................................................... 71
6.2 Sonic 2024/2022 Transmit (Normal Operation Mode) ......................................................... 72
6.3 Sonic 2024/2022 Receive (Normal Operation Mode) ........................................................... 73
6.4 Sonic 2024/2022 Sonar Interface Module (SIM) Block Diagram .......................................... 75
6.4.1 Sonar Interface Module (SIM) Block Diagram .............................................................. 75

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 Appendices
Appendix I: Multibeam Survey Suite Components

7 Auxiliary Sensors and Components ........................................................................................77

7.1 Differential Global Positioning System .................................................................................. 77
7.1.1 Installation .................................................................................................................... 77
7.1.2 GPS Calibration.............................................................................................................. 78
7.2 Gyrocompass ......................................................................................................................... 79
7.2.1 Gyrocompass Calibration Methods............................................................................... 79
7.3 The Motion Sensor ................................................................................................................ 84
7.4 Sound Velocity Probes ........................................................................................................... 85
7.4.1 CTD Probes .................................................................................................................... 86
7.4.2 Time of Flight Probe ...................................................................................................... 87
7.4.3 XBT Probes .................................................................................................................... 87
7.5 The sound velocity cast ......................................................................................................... 88
7.5.1 Time of Day ................................................................................................................... 88
7.5.2 Fresh water influx ......................................................................................................... 88
7.5.3 Water Depth ................................................................................................................. 88
7.5.4 Distance......................................................................................................................... 88
7.5.5 Deploying and recovering the Sound Velocity Probe ................................................... 88
Appendix II: Multibeam Surveying

8 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................91
8.1 Survey Design ........................................................................................................................ 91
8.1.1 Line Spacing................................................................................................................... 91
8.1.2 Line Direction ................................................................................................................ 91
8.1.3 Line Run-in .................................................................................................................... 92
8.2 Record Keeping ..................................................................................................................... 92
8.2.1 Vessel Record ................................................................................................................ 92
8.2.2 Daily Survey Log ............................................................................................................ 93

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Appendix III: Offset Measurement

9 Lever Arm Measurement – Offsets ........................................................................................97

9.1 Vessel Reference System ...................................................................................................... 97
9.2 Measuring Offsets ................................................................................................................ 98
9.2.1 Sonic 2024 Acoustic Centre .......................................................................................... 98
9.2.2 Horizontal Measurement ............................................................................................. 98
9.2.3 Vertical Measurement .................................................................................................. 99
Appendix IV: The Patch Test

10 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 101

10.1 Orientation of the Sonic 2024/2022 Sonar Head ............................................................... 101
10.2 Patch Test Criteria .............................................................................................................. 102
10.2.1 Latency Test ................................................................................................................ 102
10.2.2 Roll Test ...................................................................................................................... 103
10.2.3 Pitch Test .................................................................................................................... 104
10.2.4 Yaw Test...................................................................................................................... 105
10.3 Solving for the Patch Test ................................................................................................... 106
Appendix V: Sound in Water

11 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 107

11.1 Sound Velocity .................................................................................................................... 107
11.1.1 Salinity ........................................................................................................................ 109
11.1.2 Temperature ............................................................................................................... 109
11.1.3 Refraction Errors......................................................................................................... 109
11.2 Transmission Losses ............................................................................................................ 110
11.2.1 Spreading Loss ............................................................................................................ 110
11.2.2 Absorption .................................................................................................................. 111
11.2.3 Reverberation and Scattering..................................................................................... 115

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Appendix VI: ROV/AUV Installation

12 Sonic 2024/2022 Mounting: Sub-Surface (ROV/AUV)...........................................................117

12.1 Installation Considerations ................................................................................................. 117
12.1.1 Ethernet wiring considerations ................................................................................... 118
12.2 Data Rates ........................................................................................................................... 118
12.3 ROV Installation Examples .................................................................................................. 119
12.4 Power Requirements ........................................................................................................... 121
12.4.1 Common mode noise rejection................................................................................... 123
12.4.2 SIM Power connections .............................................................................................. 124
12.5 SIM Installation – ROV ........................................................................................................ 125
12.6 SIM Installation – AUV ........................................................................................................ 126
12.7 SIM Board Physical Installation ........................................................................................... 127
12.7.1 SIM Board Dimensional Information .......................................................................... 127
12.7.2 SIM Board Images ....................................................................................................... 128
12.8 Dual Sonar Head ................................................................................................................. 129
12.8.1 Dual Head Installation ................................................................................................. 129
12.8.2 Operation .................................................................................................................... 129
Appendix VII: Sonic Control Commands

13 R2Sonic Control Commands.................................................................................................131

13.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 131
13.2 General Notes ..................................................................................................................... 131
13.2.1 Ethernet Port Numbers ............................................................................................... 131
13.2.2 Type Definitions .......................................................................................................... 131
13.2.3 Command Packet Format ........................................................................................... 131
13.3 Head Commands, Binary Format ........................................................................................ 132
13.4 SIM Commands, Binary Format .......................................................................................... 136
13.5 Command Examples Sent to the Sonar Head and SIM ....................................................... 138

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Appendix VIII: R2Sonic Data Formats

14 R2Sonic Uplink Data Formats .............................................................................................. 142

14.1 General Notes ..................................................................................................................... 142
14.2 Port Numbers...................................................................................................................... 142
14.3 Type Definitions .................................................................................................................. 142
14.4 Ethernet Data Rates ........................................................................................................... 143
14.5 Bathymetry Packet Format ................................................................................................. 145
14.6 Snippet Format ................................................................................................................... 148
14.7 Water Column (WC) Data Format ...................................................................................... 150
14.8 Acoustic Image (AI) Data Format ....................................................................................... 153
14.9 TruePix™ Data Format ........................................................................................................ 155
14.10 Head Status Format ............................................................................................................ 157
14.11 SIM Status Data Format ..................................................................................................... 159
14.12 Device Status Format .......................................................................................................... 161
14.13 Data Playback Using Bit-Twist ............................................................................................ 162
14.13.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 162
14.13.2 Capturing Data ............................................................................................................ 162
14.13.3 Editing Data ................................................................................................................ 163
14.13.4 Data Playback ............................................................................................................. 164
Appendix IX
Drawings …………………………………….……………………………………………………..……….….……………166

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 List of Figures

Figure 1: Sonic 2024/2022 Block Diagram ........................................................................................... 17

Figure 2: Sonic 2024 Acoustic Centre .................................................................................................. 21
Figure 3: Sonic 2024 Acoustic Centre as Mounted .............................................................................. 21
Figure 4: Sonic 2022 Acoustic Centre .................................................................................................. 22
Figure 5: Sonic 2022 Acoustic Centre as Mounted .............................................................................. 22
Figure 6: Sonic 2024 and Sonic 2022 on the mounting frame ............................................................. 23
Figure 7: Top side of Receive Module .................................................................................................. 24
Figure 8: Receive Module Face ............................................................................................................ 24
Figure 9: Seated connectors (Sonic 2024 on left and Sonic 2022 on right) ........................................ 24
Figure 10: Receive Module with cables connected ............................................................................. 25
Figure 11: Position the insulating bushing, then wrap threads with Teflon tape, then secure with flat
washer, locking washer and then nut. ................................................................................................. 25
Figure 12: Sonic 2024 Projector ........................................................................................................... 25
Figure 13: Projector Stand-off.............................................................................................................. 26
Figure 14: Mounting the projector ...................................................................................................... 26
Figure 15: View of the mounted Projector; NB. Connector is facing protective fin ............................ 26
Figure 16: SV Probe mounted in block................................................................................................. 26
Figure 17: Correct Orientation of the Sonic 2024 and the Sonic 2022 ................................................ 27
Figure 18: Typical over-the-side mount ............................................................................................... 28
Figure 19: Sonar Interface Module (SIM)............................................................................................. 31
Figure 20: Removal of trim to expose securing holes .......................................................................... 32
Figure 21: SIM Interfacing Physical Connections ................................................................................. 33
Figure 22: SIM Interfacing Guide (from label on top of the SIM) ........................................................ 33
Figure 23: SIM IEC mains connection and deck lead Amphenol connector ........................................ 34
Figure 24: Impulse connector .............................................................................................................. 34
Figure 25: Sonic Control Icon on desktop ............................................................................................ 37
Figure 26: Sonic Control 2000 .............................................................................................................. 37
Figure 27: Windows XP Internet Properties ........................................................................................ 38
Figure 28: IP and Subnet mask setup ................................................................................................... 39
Figure 29: Sonic Control Network setup .............................................................................................. 40
Figure 30: Command prompt-ipconfig/all ........................................................................................... 41
Figure 31: Sensor communication settings .......................................................................................... 42
Figure 32: Sync In/Out Options ............................................................................................................ 43
Figure 33: Sonar Operation Settings window ...................................................................................... 44
Figure 34: Operating Frequency Selection........................................................................................... 45
Figure 35: Ping Rate Limit .................................................................................................................... 45
Figure 36: Sector Coverage .................................................................................................................. 46
Figure 37: Sector Rotate ...................................................................................................................... 47
Figure 38: Mission Mode ..................................................................................................................... 47

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Figure 39: Enable Acoustic Image in the wedge display ...................................................................... 48
Figure 40: FLS Wide mode .................................................................................................................... 48
Figure 41: Imagery palette selection in Display Options ...................................................................... 49
Figure 42: Roll Stabilize ........................................................................................................................ 49
Figure 43: Dual Head Mode .................................................................................................................. 50
Figure 44: Dual Head Mode active ....................................................................................................... 50
Figure 45: Load Settings menu selection.............................................................................................. 51
Figure 46: Loading an .ini file................................................................................................................ 51
Figure 47: Default dual head network settings .................................................................................... 51
Figure 48: Ocean Characteristics .......................................................................................................... 52
Figure 49: TVG Curve Concept.............................................................................................................. 54
Figure 50: The angular acoustic wave front will strike each receive element at a different time ....... 55
Figure 51: Installation Settings ............................................................................................................. 55
Figure 52: Status Message .................................................................................................................... 56
Figure 53: Select Tools; Firmware Update ........................................................................................... 57
Figure 54: The Browse button will open the current GUI's directory .................................................. 57
Figure 55: Select correct update .bin file ............................................................................................. 58
Figure 56: A batch file will automatically load the upgrade file ........................................................... 58
Figure 57: The start of a firmware update. A series of dots represents the update progress. ........... 58
Figure 58: Firmware update completed, the window will close automatically and the Update window
will show successful completion .......................................................................................................... 58
Figure 59: Display Settings ................................................................................................................... 59
Figure 60: Imagery Settings .................................................................................................................. 60
Figure 61: Operating parameter buttons ............................................................................................. 61
Figure 62: Range setting represented in the wedge display ................................................................ 62
Figure 63: Graphical concept of the Wedge Display ............................................................................ 62
Figure 64: RangeTrac enabled .............................................................................................................. 63
Figure 65: Transmit Pulse ..................................................................................................................... 64
Figure 66: Enable Gates ........................................................................................................................ 64
Figure 67: Manual and GateTrac selections ......................................................................................... 64
Figure 68: Manually adjust the gate slope ........................................................................................... 65
Figure 69: Gate width tolerance toggle ................................................................................................ 65
Figure 70: GateTrac enabled; Gate min and max control is disabled .................................................. 65
Figure 71: GateTrac: Depth + Slope enabled, manual gate controls are disabled. .............................. 66
Figure 72: GateTrac: Depth + Slope enabled and tracking a steep slope ............................................ 66
Figure 73: Graphical representation of depth gate .............................................................................. 67
Figure 74: Ruler Function ..................................................................................................................... 67
Figure 75: Change in GUI IP .................................................................................................................. 69
Figure 76: SONIC 2024 Sonar Head Block Diagram .............................................................................. 71
Figure 77: Transmit pattern.................................................................................................................. 72
Figure 78: Receive pattern with Transmit pattern ............................................................................... 73
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Figure 79: Sonar Interface Module Block Diagram .............................................................................. 75
Figure 80: Gyrocompass Calibration method 1 ................................................................................... 81
Figure 81: Gyro Calibration Method 2 ................................................................................................. 82
Figure 82: Gyro Calibration Method 2 example .................................................................................. 83
Figure 83: Idealised concept of Gyro Calibration Method 2 ................................................................ 83
Figure 84: CTD Probe ........................................................................................................................... 86
Figure 85: Time of Flight SV probe ....................................................................................................... 87
Figure 86: Deploying a sound velocity probe via a winch or A - Frame ............................................... 90
Figure 87: Rough log, kept during survey operations...does not need to be neat, but must contain all
pertinent information .......................................................................................................................... 95
Figure 88: Smooth log; information copied from real-time survey log ............................................... 96
Figure 89: Vessel Horizontal and Vertical reference system ............................................................... 97
Figure 90: Sonic 2024/2022 Acoustic Centre ....................................................................................... 98
Figure 91: Sonic 2024/2022 axes of rotation ..................................................................................... 101
Figure 92: Latency Data collection ..................................................................................................... 102
Figure 93: Roll data collection............................................................................................................ 103
Figure 94: Roll data collections .......................................................................................................... 103
Figure 95: Pitch data collections ........................................................................................................ 104
Figure 96: Yaw data collection ........................................................................................................... 105
Figure 97: In 1822 Daniel Colloden used an underwater bell to calculate the speed of sound under
water in Lake Geneva, Switzerland at 1435 m/Sec, which is very close to recent measurements. .. 107
Figure 98: Concept of refraction due to different sound velocities in the water column ................. 108
Figure 99: Sound velocity profile ....................................................................................................... 108
Figure 100: Refraction Error indication.............................................................................................. 109
Figure 101: Concept of Spherical Spreading ...................................................................................... 110
Figure 102: Concept of Cylindrical Spreading .................................................................................... 111
Figure 103: Single Head ROV Installation scheme A .......................................................................... 119
Figure 104: Single Head ROV Installation scheme B (Preferred) ....................................................... 119
Figure 105: Dual Head ROV Installation scheme A ............................................................................ 120
Figure 106: Dual Head ROV Installation scheme B (Preferred) ......................................................... 120
Figure 107: Sonic 2024 power supply current waveform. Peak current is 1.770A at 48V. Sonar
settings: pulse width = 100us, Tx Power = 221dB, Freq = 400 kHz. ................................................... 122
Figure 108: Sonic 2022 power supply current waveform. Peak current is 1.340A at 48V. Sonar
setting: pulse width = 100us, Tx Power = 221dB, Freq = 400 kHz. .................................................... 122
Figure 109: Inrush current to 2024 head during power up, 20 ms window. ..................................... 122
Figure 110: Inrush current to the 2024 head during power up, 1 second window. .......................... 123
Figure 111: Power supply choke installation on 48VDC power ......................................................... 123
Figure 112: SIM Controller Power Connections ................................................................................. 124
Figure 113: J6 Connector on SIM Controller board ........................................................................... 124
Figure 114: ROV installation block diagram with the SIM top-side ................................................... 125

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Figure 115: ROV installation block diagram with the SIM controller board mounted in the vehicle
electronics bottle and GPS (ZDA or UTC formats) and PPS signals are supplied by top-side equipment
............................................................................................................................................................ 125
Figure 116: ROV installation block diagram with the SIM controller board mounted in the vehicle
electronics bottle. GPS (ZDA or UTC formats) and PPS signals are supplied by the vehicle time
system. ............................................................................................................................................... 125
Figure 117: Typical wiring. GPS (ZDA or UTC formats) and PPS signals are supplied by the vehicle
time system ........................................................................................................................................ 126
Figure 118: SIM Board Stacks ............................................................................................................. 126
Figure 119: SIM Controller Board installation dimensions................................................................. 127
Figure 120: Assembled SIM Boards .................................................................................................... 128
Figure 121: SIM Boards height ........................................................................................................... 128
Figure 122: Default .ini settings file .................................................................................................... 129
Figure 123: Dual head IP and UDP defaults........................................................................................ 129
Figure 124: Dual-sonar head ping modes........................................................................................... 130
Figure 125: Wireshark Capture Options ............................................................................................. 163
Figure 126: Sonic 2024/2022 Projector .............................................................................................. 167
Figure 127: Sonic 2024 Receive Module ............................................................................................ 168
Figure 128: Sonic 2022 Receive Module ............................................................................................ 169
Figure 129: Sonic 2024 Mounting Bracket Drawing 1 ........................................................................ 170
Figure 130: Sonic 2024 Mounting Bracket Drawing 2 ........................................................................ 171
Figure 131: Sonic 2022 Mounting Bracket Drawing 1 ........................................................................ 172
Figure 132: Sonic 2022 Mounting Bracket Drawing 2 ........................................................................ 173
Figure 133: Sonic 2024/2022 Mounting Bracket Flange .................................................................... 174
Figure 134: SIM Box Drawing ............................................................................................................. 175
Figure 135: R2Sonic Deck lead minimum connector passage dimensions ........................................ 176

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 List of Tables

Table 1: Metric to Imperial conversion table....................................................................................... 18

Table 2: System Specification .............................................................................................................. 19
Table 3: Component Dimensions and Mass......................................................................................... 19
Table 4: Electrical Interface................................................................................................................. 20
Table 5: Ping Rate table ....................................................................................................................... 20
Table 6: Deck Lead Pin Assignment (Gigabit Ethernet and Power) ..................................................... 34
Table 7: DB-9M RS-232 Standard Protocol .......................................................................................... 35
Table 8: SIM DB-9M Serial pin assignment .......................................................................................... 35
Table 9: Gyro Calibration Method 2 computation ............................................................................... 83
Table 10: Absorption Values for Seawater and Freshwater at 400 kHz and 200 kHz........................ 112
Table 11: Operating Frequency - water temperature - absorption ................................................... 114
Table 12: Systems Power Requirements ........................................................................................... 121

List of Graphs

Graph 1: Depth errors due to incorrect roll alignment ..................................................................... 103

Graph 2: Position errors as a result of pitch misalignment; error can be either negative or positive
........................................................................................................................................................... 104
Graph 3: Along track position error caused by 0.5° error in yaw patch test ..................................... 105
Graph 4: Along-track position error caused by 1.0° error in yaw patch test error ............................ 106
Graph 5: Seawater Absorption (Salinity 35ppt) ................................................................................. 113
Graph 6: Freshwater Absorption ....................................................................................................... 113

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Part No. 96000001
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Outline of Equipment
The R2Sonic Sonic 2024 and Sonic 2022 Multibeam Echosounder (MBES) is based on fifth generation
Sonar Architecture that networks all of the modules and embeds the processor and controller in the
sonar head’s Receive Module to make for a very simple installation. The Sonic Control Graphical
User Interface (GUI) is a simple program that can be installed on any Windows based computer and
allows the surveyor to control the operating parameters of the Sonic 2024/2022. Sonic Control
communicates with the Sonar Interface Module (SIM) via Ethernet. The SIM supplies power to the
sonar head, synchronises multiple heads, time tags sensor data, relays commands to the sonar head,
and routes the raw multibeam data to the customer’s Data Collection Computer (DCC).

The Sonic 2024 and Sonic 2022 work on a user selectable frequency range of 200 kHz to 400 kHz so
it is adaptable to a wide range of survey depths and conditions. The user can adjust the operating
frequency, via the Sonic Control GUI, on the fly, without having to shut down the sonar system or
change hardware or halt recording data. The Sonic 2024/2022 has a user selectable opening angle,
from 10° to 160°, using all 256 beams; the desired opening angle can be selected on the fly without
a halt to data recording. The selected swath angle can also be rotated port or starboard, whilst
recording, to direct the highly concentrated beams towards the desired target. Both the opening
angle and swath rotation can be controlled via the mouse cursor.

Figure 1: Sonic 2024/2022 Block Diagram

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1.2 How to use this Manual
This manual is designed to cover all aspects of the installation and operation of the Sonic 2024 and
Sonic 2022. It is, therefore, recommended that the user read through the entire Operation Manual
before commencing the installation or use of the equipment.

1.2.1 Standard of Measurement

The Metric system of measurement is utilised throughout this manual; this includes temperature in
degrees Celsius.

METRIC IMPERIAL

10mm (0.010m) 0.39 inches

100mm (0.100m) 3.9 inches

1000mm (1.0 metre) 39.4 inches

100 grams (0.100kg) 3.5 oz

1000 grams (1.0 kilogram) 2.2 pounds

10° C 50°F

Table 1: Metric to Imperial conversion table

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2 SONIC SPECIFICATIONS

2.1 Sonic 2024 System Specification

System Feature Specification
Frequency 400kHz / 200kHz
Beamwidth – Across Track 0.5°@ 400kHz / 1.0° @ 200kHz
Beamwidth – Along Track 1.0° @ 400kHz / 2.0° @ 200kHz
Number of Beams 256
Swath Sector 10° to 160° (user selectable)
Maximum Slant Range 500 metres
Pulse Length 15µSec – 1000µSec
Pulse Type Shaped Continuous Wave (CW)
Depth Rating 100 metres (3000 metres optional)
Operating Temperature -10° C to 40° C
Storage Temperature -30° C to 55° C
Table 2: System Specification

2.2 Sonic 2022 System Specification

System Feature Specification
Frequency 400kHz / 200kHz
Beamwidth – Across Track 1.0°@ 400kHz / 2.0° @ 200kHz
Beamwidth – Along Track 1.0° @ 400kHz / 2.0° @ 200kHz
Number of Beams 256
Swath Sector 10° to 160° (user selectable)
Maximum Slant Range 500 metres
Pulse Length 15µSec – 1000µSec
Pulse Type Shaped Continuous Wave (CW)
Depth Rating 100 metres (3000 metres optional)
Operating Temperature -10° C to 40° C
Storage Temperature -30° C to 55° C

2.3 Sonic 2024 Dimensions and Weights

Component Dimensions (L x W x D) / Dry Weight
Receiver Module 480mm x 109mm x 190mm / 12.9kg
Projector 273mm x 108mm x 86mm / 3.3kg
Sonar Interface Module (SIM) 280mm x 170mm x 60mm / 2.4kg
Receive module and Projector mass in water 5.9kg (Fresh)
Table 3: Component Dimensions and Mass

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2.4 Sonic 2022 Dimensions and Weights
Component Dimensions (L x W x D) / Dry Weight
Receiver Module 276mm x 109mm x 190mm / 7.7kg
Projector 273mm x 108mm x 86mm / 3.3kg
Sonar Interface Module (SIM) 280mm x 170mm x 60mm / 2.4kg
Receive module and Projector mass in water 4.0kg (Fresh)

2.5 Sonic 2024/Sonic 2022 Electrical Interface

Item Specification
Mains Power 90 – 260 VAC; 45 – 65 Hz
Power Consumption (SIM and Sonar Head) 75 Watt (Sonic 2022: 54 Watt)
Power Consumption (Sonar Head Only) 50W avg.; 90W Peak (Sonic 2022: 35W avg.;
70W Peak)
Uplink/Downlink 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet
Data Interface 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet
Sync IN/OUT TTL
GPS Timing 1PPS; RS232 NMEA
Auxiliary Sensors RS232
Deck Cable Length 15 metre (optional to 50 metres)
Table 4: Electrical Interface

2.6 Sonic 2024/2022 Ping Rates

RANGE PING RATE
2-7 60.0
10 48.4
15 34.3
20 26.6
25
30
21.7
18.3
WARNING
35 15.9 THE RECEIVE MODULE IS FILLED WITH
40 14.0 OIL THAT WILL FREEZE TO A SOLID AT
50 11.3 -10°C. STORAGE BELOW THIS
70 8.2 TEMPERATURE (TO -30°C) IS POSSIBLE IF
100 5.8
THE HEAD IS SLOWLY THAWED OUT
150 3.9
PRIOR TO OPERATION.
200 2.9
250 2.3
300 1.9
400 1.7
450 1.3
500 1.2
Table 5: Ping Rate table
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2.7 Acoustic Centre

Figure 2: Sonic 2024 Acoustic Centre

Figure 3: Sonic 2024 Acoustic Centre as Mounted

Centre of Flange to Alongship offset = 0.182m (0.597ft)

Top of Flange to Z reference = 0.327m (1.073ft)

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 Figure 4: Sonic 2022 Acoustic Centre

Figure 5: Sonic 2022 Acoustic Centre as Mounted

Centre of Flange to Alongship offset = 0.182m (0.597ft)

Top of Flange to Z reference = 0.327m (1.073ft)

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3 SONIC 2024/2022 SONAR HEAD INSTALLATION – Surface Vessel
The Sonic 2024/2022 can be installed on an over-the-side pole, through a moon pool, or as a
permanent hull mount. The light weight, small size, and low power consumption makes the Sonic
2024/2022 ideal for underwater vehicle (ROV and AUV) installations.

WARNING
DECK LEAD MINIMUM BEND RADIUS =
150MM
3.1 Sonic 2024/2022 Receive Module Installation
The Sonic 2024/2022 sonar head is mounted on the standard R2Sonic mounting frame as shown
below.

Figure 6: Sonic 2024 and Sonic 2022 on the mounting frame

If the Sonic 2024/2022 sonar head is not pre-mounted, the following guidelines must be followed
for proper operation of the system.

• The Receive Module is orientated with the narrow part of the face towards the projector
(see above).
• The projector is orientated with the connector towards the end with the protective fin.
• The Projector must be mounted with the correct 35mm standoffs in place.

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3.1.1 Mounting the Sonic 2024/2022 Receive Module

Sonic 2024 Sonic 2022

Figure 7: Top side of Receive Module

Sonic 2024 Sonic 2022

Figure 8: Receive Module Face

3.1.2 Receive Module

The Receive Module has two connectors; the female connector is for the Projector cable, the male
connector is for the deck lead that goes to the SIM. There is a securing ‘ear’ on top of the Receive
Module to secure the cables with a cable tie or other similar securing methods. Seat the 0.439m
projector cable first. A light spray of silicon lube (3M Silicon Lubricant, 3M ID: 62-4678-4930-3) will
aid in seating the connectors. The deck lead passes through the hydrophone pole and then through
the flange opening. Seat the deck lead after seating the projector cable. ENSURE that all
connections are tight with no visible gaps.

Figure 9: Seated connectors (Sonic 2024 on left and Sonic 2022 on right)

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 Sonic 2024 Sonic 2022

Figure 10: Receive Module with cables connected

SV Probe block is secured, via screws, though the underside of the mounting frame

Prior to mounting the Receive Module, the block that holds the sound velocity probe must be
secured through the underside of the mounting bracket. Next, mount the Receive Module in the
mounting frame. This can be most easily done by putting the receive module face on a piece of
cardboard or other material and then lowing the mounting frame down with the threaded bolts
passing through the mounting frame. The threads, of the securing bolts, after passing through the
frame, must be wrapped with 2 wraps of Teflon™ tape. This is to prevent galling where the nut will
freeze on the bolt. Do not tighten beyond 17Newton metre (150 pound-inch or 12.5 pound-foot).

Figure 12: Position the insulating bushing, then wrap threads with Teflon tape, then secure with flat washer, locking
washer and then nut.
Figure 11: Sonic 2024 Projector
3.1.3 Mounting the Projector
The projector is secured to the frame with two, 35mm stand offs.
The stand-offs allow room for the Projector to Receive Module
cable to be run. A 6mm drive hex screw secures the projector
through the stand-off. The Projector’s connector faces towards
the protection fin. Connect the 0.439m interconnect cable’s
female end to the Projector’s male bulk head connector. When
the connectors are mated, there should be no visible gap between
them. A very light spray of silicon lubricant will aid seating the
connector.

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 Figure 13: Projector Stand-off

Sonic 2024 Figure 14: Mounting the projector

Sonic 2022

Figure 15: View of the mounted Projector; NB. Connector is facing protective fin

Figure 16: SV Probe mounted in block

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3.1.4 Correct Orientation of the Sonic 2024 and Sonic 2022
The Sonic 2024/2022 is designed to be installed with the projector facing forward, or towards the
bow. However, if the installation requires the projector to face aft, in Sonic Control, the user can
select the orientation to projector aft and this will re-orientate the data output to reflect the
projector orientation.

Figure 17: Correct Orientation of the Sonic 2024 and the Sonic 2022

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3.2 Sonar Head Installation Guidelines
3.2.1 Introduction
The proper installation of the Sonic 2024/2022 sonar head is critical to the quality of data that will
be realised from the system. No matter the type of installation (hull mount, moon pool, or over-the-
side pole), the head must be in an area of laminar flow over the array. Any vibration or movement
of the sonar head, independent of vessel motion, will result in reduced swath coverage and noise in
the data. To this end, the head must be installed on as sturdy a mounting arrangement as possible;
fore and aft guys are NOT recommended as a means to obtain this stability.

The initial investigation of where to mount the sonar head should take into account any engines,
pumps, or other mechanical equipment that may not be operating at the time, but may be a cause
of vibration or noise when operating under normal survey conditions.

The structural stability of any decks, bulkheads, or superstructure, which will be employed when
mounting the sonar head, must be taken into account and strengthened if necessary.

3.2.2 Over-the-Side mount

The over-the-side mount is normally employed for shallow water survey vessels and/or temporary
survey requirements. The over-the-side mount consists of a frame structure that is attached to the
vessel’s hull or superstructure. A pole will be attached to the frame, normally through the use of
swivel flanges, flanges, or other means by which the head can be swung up when not in use and
deployed when needed. A similar mounting arrangement is the bow – mount, which is specialised
form of an over-the-side mount.

In order to ensure stability of the pole, it should have a securing arrangement as close to the water
line as possible. As stated above, the use of fore or aft guy wires
is strongly discouraged.

When the pole is in the ‘up’ position it should be secured so that

there is no or little movement that would be a strain on the
flanges or mount. The head should be washed with fresh water
as soon as possible and inspected for any damage or marine
growth. If the head is to remain in the ‘up’ position; a covering
should be put over the head that will protect it from the sun.

Figure 18: Typical over-the-side mount

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3.2.3 Moon Pool Mount
Deploying the sonar head through a moon pool is usually a more stable mounting arrangement than
an over-the-side pole. A moon pool is an area, within a vessel, that is open to the water. The sonar
head is normally mounted in such a way that it can be deployed and recovered through the moon
pool. The pole or structure that the sonar head is mounted on is normally shorter and sturdier than
an over-the-side mount; this can allow for higher survey speeds.

3.2.4 Hull Mount

The hull mount is the sturdiest of all possible ways to mount a sonar head. With a hull mount, the
sonar head is physically attached to the vessel’s hull. With this way of securing the sonar head,
there is no possibility of movement, outside that of the movement of the vessel.

There are disadvantages to the hull mount: the head cannot be inspected easily for marine growth
or damage; the vessel may be restricted in the depth of waters that can be surveyed, due to the
head being permanently attached to the hull.

A normal hull mount will also involve the fabrication of a fairing, on the hull, to ensure correct flow
patterns over the sonar head.

3.2.5 ROV Mounting

The Sonic 2024/2022 is ideal for undersea operations due to its compact size and low power
consumption. With all processing being done in the Receive Module, all that is required is to
provide Ethernet over single mode fibre optic communication, between the SIM and the Receive
Module. The 48VDC is supplied via the ROV’s own power distribution.

Please refer to Appendix VI for full details on ROV and AUV installation, interfacing and operation.

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4 SONIC 2024/2022 SONAR INTERFACE MODULE (SIM)
INSTALLATION and INTERFACING
4.1 Sonar Interface Module (SIM)

Figure 19: Sonar Interface Module (SIM)

The Sonar Interface Module is the communication centre for the Sonic 2024/2022 multibeam
system. The SIM receives commands from Sonic Control 2000 and passes the commands to the
sonar head. The SIM also receives the PPS and timing information, which is transferred to the sonar
head to accurately time stamp all bathymetry data in the sonar head. The data, from the sonar
head, passes through the SIM’s Gigabit switch and onto the data collection computer. Sound
velocity, from the probe located near the sonar head, and motion data are also interfaced to the
SIM to be passed onto the sonar head.

4.1.1 Physical installation

The 15 metre cable, from the Sonic 2024/2022 Receive Module, connects directly to the SIM via an
Amphenol ™ style connector. Therefore, the SIM must be located within 15 metres of the sonar
head (a 50 metre cable is an option). The SIM is not water or splash proof, so it must be installed in
a dry, temperature- controlled environment.

The SIM is small and light enough so as to be unobtrusive, but care needs to be taken that it is
secured in such a manner so that it will not fall or move whilst the vessel is at sea. The SIM can be
secured to a surface (horizontal or vertical) through the pass-through holes that are under the
corner trim pieces. The holes accept: #8-32 pan head, M4 pan head or M5 socket head cap screws.
The trim piece can be removed by hand to expose the securing holes.

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 Pass through holes

Figure 20: Removal of trim to expose securing holes

4.1.2 Electrical and Interfacing

The SIM has four DB-9 male connectors on the front. The label, on the top, clearly shows all
connections. Beginning on the left front, the connections are: GPS, Motion, Heading, and Sound
Velocity. At present time the GPS time message (for timing), sound velocity, and motion (for roll
stabilisation) inputs are enabled. Next to each DB-9 are two vertical LEDs; the top LED responds to
the input data: Green – receiving data that is being decoded; Red – no connection; Orange –
receiving data that cannot be decoded (wrong baud rate or format setting in the Sonic Control
Sensor Settings menu). There is also a LED next to the on/off rocker switch, which is the head
connection indicator: Green – head on, Red – head power off or not connected, Orange – problems
with communications. The sonar head LED (next to the mains rocker switch) will be orange if the
sonar head current draw is below expected limits.

On the second row up are three BNC connections as well as three Ethernet connections. The BNC,
which is above the GPS DB-9, receives the one Pulse Per Second (PPS) from the GPS receiver. The
PPS, along with the GPS time information on the DB-9, is used to time stamp and synchronise all
data.

The two BNC connections, to the right of the Ethernet connectors, are used to receive and send
synchronisation triggers to and from other systems.

Mains voltage (90 – 260VAC) is input via the IEC connector. Above the connector is a rocker switch
which turns on the system.

The SIM outputs the bathymetry data, via the Ethernet, on the Ethernet connection marked DATA
(as marked on the label on top of the SIM). All of the RJ45 Ethernet connections are routed to the
SIM’s internal Gigabit Ethernet switch.

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 Figure 21: SIM Interfacing Physical Connections

Figure 22: SIM Interfacing Guide (from label on top of the SIM)

NB. Again, at the present time, the SIM only takes in the PPS, NMEA Time message, sound velocity
and motion data and not heading information.

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 Figure 23: SIM IEC mains connection and deck lead Amphenol connector

Figure 24: Impulse connector

Impulse Amphenol MS R2Sonic 10013A

Function
Pin Number Pin Number Wire Colour
BI_DC+ 4 A Blue
BI_DC- 5 B Blue/White
BI_DB- 7 C Green
BI_DB+ 8 D Green/White
BI_DD- 11 E Brown
BI_DD+ 12 F Brown/White
BI_DA- 9 G Orange
BI_DA+ 10 H Orange/White
Data Shield 6 n/c Drain Wire
Power + 1 J,M Red, Yellow (#18AWG)
Power Return 2 K,L Black, Blue (#18 AWG)
Table 6: Deck Lead Pin Assignment (Gigabit Ethernet and Power)

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4.1.3 Serial Communication
All serial interfacing is standard RS-232 protocol.

Pin Data
2 Receive
3 Transmit
5 Ground
Table 7: DB-9M RS-232 Standard Protocol

Pin Data Function

1 Receive2 Secondary Serial Port
2 Receive Primary Serial Input
3 Transmit Primary Serial Output
4 +12VDC +12VDC Power
5 Ground Data and Power Common
6 N/C Not Connected
7 +12VDC +12VDC Power
8 N/C Not Connected
9 Transmit2 Secondary Serial Output
Table 8: SIM DB-9M Serial pin assignment

4.1.4 Time and PPS input

4.1.4.1 Connecting PPS and Time to the SIM

In order to provide the most accurate multibeam data possible, the Sonic 2024/2022 takes in the
GPS Pulse Per Second (PPS) and NMEA ZDA time message or an ASCII UTC message, which is
associated with the pulse, to accurately time stamp the Sonic 2024/2022 data. The data collection
software will take in the same PPS and time message to synchronise the computer clock and the
auxiliary sensor data.

The PPS is normally a TTL (transistor – transistor logic) pulse. The pulse is transmitted to the SIM
and the data collection computer via a coaxial cable (such as RG-58); the cable is terminated with
BNC connectors so that it is easy to use a ‘T’ adaptor to parallel the PPS to different locations.
Connect one end of the coaxial cable to the GPS receiver’s PPS output (via a ‘T’ adaptor, if required)
and the other end to the SIM BNC labelled PPS. When a pulse is received, the light next to the BNC
connector will blink at 1 Hz.

The standard time message is a NMEA sentence identified as $GPZDA. The time message must go to
both the SIM and the data collection computer, so the message must be either split or output on
two different RS-232 ports on the GPS receiver.

4.1.4.2 Trimble UTC: UTC yy.mm.dd hh:mm:ss ab<CR><LF>"

Trimble GPS receivers provide the PPS time synchronisation message with an ASCII UTC string and
not the ZDA string. When interfacing a Trimble GPS, use the UTC message and not the ZDA for

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timing information. If both the ZDA and UTC are input, the UTC will take priority; the SIM will
automatically ignore ZDA while receiving UTC. The UTC status code (‘ab’) is ignored.

Setting up the time synchronisation is done through the Sonic Control software detailed in Chapter
6.

In that each of the SIM serial ports provides 12VDC on selected pins, it is not recommended to use a
fully wired serial interface cable as this may cause some GPS receivers to stop sending data. Use a
cable with only pins 2, 3 and 5 wired, if possible.

4.1.5 Motion Input

The roll component, of the motion data, is used for roll stabilisation. Currently, the only acceptable
format is the standard TSS1 data string. It is recommended to set the motion sensor to output the
highest baud rate and highest update rate possible, preferably 100 Hz or higher.

Connect the motion data to the DB-9 labelled Motion, on the SIM. Setting up the serial port
parameters is done through Sonic Control, which is covered in Chapter 6.

4.1.6 SVP input

4.1.6.1 Connecting the sound velocity probe

The sound velocity probe is used to provide the sound velocity at the sonar head, which is used for
the receive beam steering. It is not used for refraction correction; that must be accomplished in the
data collection software employing a full water depth sound velocity cast.

4.1.6.2 Valeport miniSVS

The miniSVS comes with a 15 metre cable. The cable carries both the DC power (8 – 29V DC) to the
probe and the data from the probe to the SIM. The miniSVS is set for a baud rate of 9600 and will
start outputting sound velocity (Format: <sp> xxxx.xxx m/sec) as soon as power is applied. The
miniSVS cable is terminated with a female DB-9 RS-232 connector; this is attached to the male DB-9
RS-232 connector, on the SIM, marked SVP. The probe is powered through the SIM’s serial port
12VDC supply.

Setting up the SVP input is done through the Sonic Control software detailed in Chapter 6.

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5 OPERATION OF THE SONIC 2024/2022 VIA SONIC CONTROL
The Sonic 2024/2022 multibeam echosounders are controlled by the Sonic Control software. The
Sonic Control GUI does not require a dedicated computer and is usually installed on the user’s data
collection computer.

5.1 Installing Sonic Control Graphical User Interface

Sonic Control is supplied on a CD or as an attached file. There is no installation program, merely
decompress the program to a folder in a root directory of the computer. Send the R2Sonic.exe to
the desktop as a short cut. The computer must have the Windows .NET Framework installed. This
can be downloaded, for free, from the Microsoft web site (dotnetfix35.exe). NB. Do not install Sonic
Control under Windows’ Program Files.

Figure 25: Sonic Control Icon on desktop

Figure 26: Sonic Control 2000

5.2 Hot Keys

• F2 – Brings up the Sonar Settings
• Alt+Z – Returns sector to 0 rotation
• Alt+X – Takes a snapshot of the GUI

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5.3 Network Setup
All communication, between the Sonic 2024/2022 and the SIM and data collection computer is via
Ethernet. The first step in setting up the sonar system is to establish the correct Ethernet
parameters, which include the IP (Internet Protocol), Subnet Mask and UDP (User Datagram
Protocol)base port under Settings | Network settings.

5.3.1 Initial Computer setup for Communication

Prior to starting Sonic Control 2000 for the first time, the computer’s network parameters must be
set correctly to establish the first communication.

Open the computer’s network connections. Identify the NIC (Network Interface Card) that is being
used for the Sonic system and select Properties (usually by using the right mouse button context
menu, highlight the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and select properties. Select ‘Use the following IP
address’ and enter:

IP address: 10.0.1.102

Subnet mask: 255.0.0.0

Figure 27: Windows XP Internet Properties

Select Internet Protocol and then select Properties to enter the correct IP and Subnet mask.

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 It is very important that the exact
settings, as shown in Figure 33, are
entered. This will allow initial
communications to be established
with the Sonic system; once
communication is established, the IP
address can be user configured.

WARNING
ALL COMPUTER
FIREWALLS MUST BE
DISABLED TO INSURE
COMMUNICATION.

Figure 28: IP and Subnet mask setup

5.3.2 Discover Function

The sonar head and the SIM have initial IP and UDP ports to establish communication (see below).
Communication will not be established until the serial number of sonar head and the SIM are
entered in the settings for Sonar 1, in the Sonic Control 2000 Network settings.

Use the Discover function to request the serial number information from all attached R2Sonic
equipment. The Discover function will automatically transfer the serial numbers to the correct field.

5.3.2.1 Default Network Configuration

Head IP: 10.0.0.86 BasePort: 65500

SIM: 10.0.0.99 BasePort: 65500

GUI: 10.0.1.102 BasePort: 65500

Bathy: 10.0.1.102 BasePort: 4000 (actual port 4000)

Snippets: 10.0.1.102 BasePort: 4000 (actual port 4006)

TruePix™: 10.0.1.102 BasePort: 4000 (actual port 4001)

Water Column: 10.0.1.102 BasePort: 3995 (actual port 4000)

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 Figure 29: Sonic Control Network setup

Until the correct serial numbers are entered, there will be no communication. Once the correct
serial numbers are entered, click Apply and dots will be visible in the wedge display signifying
communication is established. Using Discover will guarantee that the serial numbers will be entered
correctly and verify Ethernet communication between devices.

5.3.3 Configuring Network Communication

• The network settings allow freedom in selecting IP numbers for various pieces of
equipment.
• The most important settings to get right are the Subnet Mask (upper left corner of the
Network settings dialog) and the GUI IP number. If these numbers are wrong, the Sonic
Control program will not be able to configure the sonar head and SIM. The GUI IP number
and subnet mask, entered in the Network Settings dialog, is the IP address and subnet
mask assigned to the computer that is running the Sonic Control program.
• To verify computer network setup run ipconfig/all from the command line or command
prompt.

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 Figure 30: Command prompt-ipconfig/all

• The Sonic Control program is required to send networking configuration to the sonar head
and SIM whenever the sonar head and/or SIM are powered up.
• If the GUI IP number and subnet mask are set correctly, the Discover button will list the
R2Sonic devices attached to the network. If the GUI IP number and/or subnet mask is set
wrong, Discover will not work and the sonar head and SIM will not configure.
• Settings for Sonar 1:
Head IP: Any unique IP number within the network subnet.
Head BasePort: Any number between 49152 and 65535. Preferred is: 65500.
SIM IP: Any unique IP number within the network subnet.
SIM BasePort: Any number between 49152 and 65535. Preferred is: 65500.
GUI IP: Same IP number of the computer running the Sonic Control software.
GUI BasePort: Any number between 49152 and 65535. Preferred is: 65500.
Bathy IP: IP number of the computer running bathymetry data collection software.
Bathy BasePort: Base port number that the bathymetry data collection software
requires.
TruePix™/Snippets IP: IP number of the computer running snippets data collection
software.
TruePix™/Snippets BasePort: Base port number for Snippets, Snippets will be
output on a port, which is the base port plus 6. With a base port of 4000, Snippets
will be on port 4006; TruePix™ will be on port 4001
• Settings for Sonar 2:
All entries must be zero. Serial numbers are left blank.
• Once networking is set up, Sonic Control will automatically connect upon power up; there
is no need to go back into the Network Settings

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5.4 Sensor Setup (Serial Interfacing)
The Sonar system receives various data on the SIM serial ports as noted in Section 5. Select Settings
| Sensor setting to setup the serial communications parameters.

Figure 31: Sensor communication settings

5.4.1 GPS
The GPS input is for the ZDA time message ($GPZDA) or Trimble UTC message, other NMEA
messages may be in the same string; it is not necessary to isolate the ZDA or UTC. In the GPS
receiver’s operation manual, there will be an entry that will detail which edge of the PPS pulse is
used for synchronisation; this will be either synch on rising edge, or synch on falling edge. Selecting
the correct polarity is vital for correct timing.

The firmware supports the ZDA integer part (HHMMSS) and accepts PPS pulses if they pass a basic
stability test: the last two pulses must be within 200ppm. If the PPS is unstable or absent, the SIM's
internal trained clock-runs with a high degree of accuracy.

The decoded time, from the bathymetry packet, is visible in the main display on the lower left along
with the cursor position information. If the displayed time is 01/01/1970 it indicates that timing is
not set up correctly.

5.4.2 Motion
Currently, the motion data is used for roll stabilisation and must be in the TSS1 Format. The motion
data should be at the highest possible baud rate, with the motion sensor configured for the highest
output possible; at a minimum 100Hz update.

5.4.3 Heading
Not currently enabled.
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5.4.4 SVP
This is used to set the communication for the sound velocity probe mounted on the sonar head.

5.4.5 Message displays

Not currently enabled; see Status Message.

5.4.6 Synch In / Synch out

Used to receive or send synchronisation TTL pulses. Output goes high when transmitter pings, goes
low after receiver has collected data.

Figure 32: Sync In/Out Options

5.4.6.1 Sync In (Trigger)

• The SIM Synch In input requires a TTL signal (0 to +5V)
• The minimum high level trigger point is +2.4V
• The trigger pulse width must be longer than 1µsec
• The sonar will ping 10.025msecs (±10µsecs) after receiving the trigger

5.4.6.2 Sync Out

• Output is 0 to +5V
• Sync out is high during the receive period if sync out is set to rising edge and low during the
receive period if sync out is set to falling edge.

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5.5 Sonar Settings (Hotkey: F2)
The Sonic 2024/2022 has many features that provide the user with the versatility to tailor the
system to any survey project; many of these features can be controlled either through the
Operation Settings or with the mouse cursor.

Figure 33: Sonar Operation Settings window

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5.5.1 Frequency
The Sonic 2024/2022 operates on a user selectable frequency, from 200 kHz to 400 kHz, in 10 kHz
steps. The operating frequency can be changed on the fly; there is no need to stop recording data,
go offline, or load any firmware. The operating frequency is selected via the drop down menu next
to Frequency (kHz).

Figure 34: Operating Frequency Selection

5.5.2 Ping Rate Limit

The Sonic 2024/2022 can transmit at a rate up to 60 Hz (60 pings per second), this is called the Ping
Rate. At times, it may be desirable to reduce the ping rate to reduce the collection software file size
or for other reasons. Highlight the box next to Ping Rate Limit and the ping rate limit drop down
box will be activated; select a predefined ping rate or enter a manual rate.

Figure 35: Ping Rate Limit

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5.5.3 Sector Coverage
The Sonic 2024/2022 allows the user to select the swath sector from 10° to 160°. All 256 beams are
used, no matter what the selected sector coverage that is chosen. The smaller the sector, the
higher the sounding density is within that sector. Changing the Sector Coverage can be done on the
fly, with no need to stop recording data or to go offline.

The Sector Coverage can also be controlled via

the mouse cursor, inside the wedge display.

Position the cursor on either of the straight sides

of the wedge; the cursor will change to a double
arrow and the sector can be reduced or
increased. When using the cursor to change the
sector coverage, the change only takes place
when the mouse button is released.

The sector angle will be numerically visible in the

lower left hand corner of the wedge display
while the mouse button is depressed.

Figure 36: Sector Coverage

5.5.4 Sector Rotate

The Sonic 2024/2022 has the capability to direct the selected sector to either port or starboard,
allowing the user to map vertical features, or areas of interest, with a high concentration of
soundings resulting from the compressed sector.

First, change the sector coverage to the desired opening angle; this will concentrate the 256 beams
within the sector, and then increase the Range setting.

Second, rotate the swath towards the feature to be mapped with high definition. This is done on
the fly, with no need to stop data recording or to go off line. When rotating, make sure to keep the
bottom detections within the confines of the range.

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 The sector can also be rotated using the mouse cursor, in
the wedge display. Position the cursor on the curved
bottom of the wedge; the cursor will change to a
horizontal double arrow, the wedge can now be rotated to
port or starboard. The angle of rotation is numerically
visible in the lower left hand corner of the wedge display
during rotation. A clockwise rotation is positive, an anti-
clockwise rotation is negative.

The change only takes place when the mouse button is

released. To return to 0 rotation, use the Hotkey Alt+Z.

Figure 37: Sector Rotate

5.5.5 Bottom Sampling

There are two options: Equiangular or Equidistant. In equidistant mode, all beams are equally
distributed, within the sector. There are limits to what the equidistant can do, based on opening
angle and bottom topography; it is best on flat sea floor and with an opening angle (Sector
Coverage) equal to, or less than, 130°.

5.5.6 Minimum Range Gate (m)

This provides a means to block out noise or interference close to the sonar head. Enter the range, in
metres, from the sonar head to establish the gate; anything within that range will be blocked. As a
safety precaution: This gate should not be used when working in very shallow water.

5.5.7 Mission Mode

The versatility, built into the Sonic 2024/2022, is further enhanced with the ability to adapt the
system to the nature of the survey task: normal survey, surveying a vertical feature or the optional
Forward Looking Sonar mode.

Figure 38: Mission Mode

• Down, Bathy Norm: Normal bathymetry survey

• Down, Bathy VFeature: With the ability to map vertical surfaces, without physically rotating
the sonar head, this Mission Mode provides improved detection methods tailored to
mapping vertical features. This specialised mode greatly reduces the corner ‘ringing’ seen in
older technology systems. When using Bathy VFeature, please use Equiangular bottom
sampling and not Equidistant.
• Down ,FLS Narrow/Wide: One Forward Looking Sonar mode. No bathymetry output; this
setting is for imagery only.

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 • Up, Bathy Norm; Up, Bathy VFeature: is the same as the above, but orientates the wedge
so it is pointing up (used primarily hull inspection type survey).
• Up, FLS Narrow/Wide: Most common setting when using the optional FLS feature

The Mission Mode can be changed on the fly, with no need to stop recording data.

5.5.8 IMAGERY

5.5.8.1 Acoustic Image (Display only)

The wedge can display acoustic intensity. This will aid in setting the correct combination of
operating parameters (such as power, pulse width and gain). Enabling the Acoustic Intensity will
increase the network load.

Enable the wedge Acoustic Intensity under the Display options. The Brightness control, in the main
window, is used to set the intensity in the display. A good brightness setting, to start with, is 30dB.

Figure 39: Enable Acoustic Image in the wedge display

5.5.8.2 Forward Looking Sonar

Forward looking mode can be in one of two configurations. FLS Wide uses the 20° projector within
the standard projector. FLS Narrow uses the 1° standard projector. The wide mode, using the 20°
projector, will have a lower source level, but is very good for near field use. The narrow mode
allows for full source level to be used (221dB), but is more critical in aiming towards the target due
to the 1° transmit pattern.

Figure 40: FLS Wide mode

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5.5.8.2.1 FLS Mode adjustments
In FLS mode, the Brightness button adjusts the image ‘gain’ up to 80dB. The colour palette is
selected in the Display options, under Acoustic Image.

Figure 41: Imagery palette selection in Display Options

5.5.9 Roll Stabilize

When a motion sensor is interfaced to the SIM, the data can be stabilised for roll motion of the
vessel. With the advanced roll stabilisation, in the Sonic 2024/2022, there is no need to stop
recording or go off line to change between roll stabilised and non-stabilised mode, nor is there a
need to go into the data collection software and identify the data as roll stabilised. The R2Sonic roll
stabilisation has been developed based on recommend methods from various data collection
software companies.

Roll stabilisation only works within the 160° maximum sector, any swath rotation or large sector size
(opening angle) that attempts to go beyond the 160° limit will cause the system to stop roll
stabilisation.

As stated in the SIM interfacing, it is recommended that the TSS1 data be at the highest update rate
possible.

Figure 42: Roll Stabilize

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5.5.10 Dual Head Mode (Also see Appendix VI, Section 12.7)
The selections are: Single Head, Simultaneous Ping or Alternating Ping. When the dual head mode is
selected, a second wedge display will be available in Sonic Control 2000.

Figure 43: Dual Head Mode

Figure 44: Dual Head Mode active

In dual head mode, certain controls: Range, Power, Pulse Length, and Gain set both sonar heads.

NB. For a dual head system, the Discover function will only list the systems. Discover does not auto-
fill the serial numbers for a dual head system. Correct serial numbers must be entered by hand for
both systems.

5.5.10.1 Dual Head default settings

To make it easier to set up the system for dual head operation, there is a specific settings file that
can be loaded that will set all of the defaults for a dual head configuration. Under the File menu
selection, select Load Settings.

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 Figure 45: Load Settings menu selection

The available settings files will be shown. There are two Factory Default initialisation files; one for
single head, the other for dual head.

Figure 46: Loading an .ini file

When the file is loaded, Sonic Control will be configured for dual head mode, this includes the
default network settings.

Figure 47: Default dual head network settings

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5.5.11 TruePix™, Snippets, Water Column Enable
If any of these options are installed, in the Sonic 2024/2022, they can be turned on and off by ticking
the box next to appropriate option enable.

5.6 Ocean Setting

Figure 48: Ocean Characteristics

Ocean Characteristics include Absorption and Spreading loss, which are the main components of the
Time Variable Gain (TVG) computation, and Sound Velocity (for receive beam steering).

5.6.1 Absorption: 0 – 200 dB/km

Absorption is influenced primarily by frequency and the chemical compounds of boric acid B(OH)3
and magnesium sulphate MgSO4.

It is highly recommended that the local absorption value be entered. If this is not known, a good on-
line source is: http://resource.npl.co.uk/acoustics/techguides/seaabsorption/ 1

Appendix V provides a table of absorption values based on operating frequency.

5.6.2 Spreading Loss: 0 – 60 dB

Spreading loss is the loss of intensity of a sound wave, due to dispersion of the wave front. It is a
geometrical phenomenon and is independent of frequency. The sound wave propagates in a
spherical manner, the area of the wave front increases as the square of the distance from the
source. Therefore, the sound intensity decreases with the square of the distance from the
projector. Spreading loss is not dependent on frequency.

Spreading loss is not a setting that normally needs to be changed except when surveying in deeper
depths. As spreading loss is not dependent on frequency, the setting is unaffected by a change in
operating frequency. A general default value of 20 – 30 is normally sufficient for most survey
conditions.

NB. In very shallow water (2m or less) it may be more advantageous to use Fixed Gain. To put the
system into Fixed Gain enter zero (0) for both Spreading Loss and Absorption.

1
Linked with the kind permission of the National Physical Laboratory; Teddington, United Kingdom TW11
0LW; NPL reserves the right to amend, edit or remove the linked web page at any time.
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For more detailed information on absorption and spreading loss, please refer to Appendix V Basic
Acoustic Theory.

5.6.3 Time Variable Gain

Absorption and spreading loss are the main components of the Time Variable Gain (TVG)
computation.

TVG Equation

TVG = 2*R* α/1000 + Sp*log(R) + G

α = Absorption Loss db/km

R = Range in metres
Sp = Spreading loss coefficient
G = Gain from Sonar Control setting

TVG is employed in underwater acoustics to compensate for the nature of the reflected acoustic
energy. When an acoustic pulse is transmitted in a wide pattern, the first returns will generally be
from the nadir region and very strong. As the receive window time lengthens, the weaker returns
are received. Using a fixed gain would apply either too much gain for the early returns or
insufficient gain for the later returns. The solution is to use TVG. The function of TVG is to increase
gain continuously throughout the receive cycle. Therefore, smaller gain corresponds with the first
returns (normally the strongest) and higher gain corresponds to the later returns (normally the
weakest). This function is represented in, what is called, the TVG curve.

5.6.3.1 TVG Curve

The TVG curve can be either shallow or steep depending mostly on the Absorption value to define
the shape of the curve. The Spreading Loss will determine the amplitude of the gain.

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 Figure 49: TVG Curve Concept

5.6.3.2 Sound Velocity

The speed of sound, at the receiver’s face, is required to do the receive beam steering, which is
required for all flat array sonars. The angular acoustic wave front strikes each receive element, but
at a different time and phase depending on the angle of the return. By introducing a variable delay
to each receive element’s information, the phases can be aligned and the beam can be ‘steered’ in
the direction of the return. In order to accurately apply the correct delay, three factors have to be
known or measured: The physical distance between each receive element is known, the time of
reception at each receive element is measured, the speed of sound at the receiver face must be
known or measured (for this reason there is a sound velocity probe attached to the mounting
frame).

The beam steering can be accomplished, without a sound velocity probe, by entering in the correct
sound velocity for the area around the sonar head. To manually enter a sound velocity, check the
box for ‘Use Custom velocity’ and enter a velocity.

WARNING
The wrong sound velocity, at the sonar
head, will cause erroneous data. There are
currently no known post processing tools
to correct for this.

If the sound velocity is wrong, the beam steering will be in error. If the sound velocity is greater than
what it really is at the face of the receiver, the ranges will be shorter and thus the bottom will curve

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up or ‘smile’. If the sound velocity is less than what it really is at the face of the receiver, the ranges
will be longer and the bottom will curve down or ‘frown’. This error can be confused with a
refraction error caused by the wrong water column sound velocity profile. The refraction error can
be corrected by entering the correct water column sound velocity profile, however; erroneous beam
steering cannot be corrected as it is part of the beam data.

Therefore, for accurate beam steering to take place, an accurate sound velocity must be provided to
the Sonic 2024/2022.

Figure 50: The angular acoustic wave front will strike each receive element at a different time

As the wave progresses across the face, each receive element will see the wave at a slightly different
time and thus a slightly different phase. The formed beam is steered in the direction of the acoustic
wave by selectively adding delay to each receive element’s data until the data is coherent and in
phase. In Figure 46, receive element 1 would have the most delay applied, whereas receive element
8 would have no delay; thus a ‘virtual array’ will be formed.

5.7 Installation Settings

Figure 51: Installation Settings

5.7.1 Projector Orientation

The preferred orientation is with the projector facing forward. This configuration has been tested at
speeds up to 12 knots, with excellent results (hull and moon pool mounting). However, if
installation requires the projector to face aft, this setting is used to renumber the beams to reflect
the aft orientation

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5.7.2 Projector Z Offset (m)
Using the standard R2Sonic mounting frame, the projector is mounted at a precise distance, relative
to the receive array, with a Z offset of 0.119m: the default. If the projector is not mounted in the
same vertical relationship to the receive array, an offset can be entered here to compensate for that
vertical offset.

The default Z offset value is 0.119m; this is the physical distance between the receive array ceramic
face and the centre point of the projector array, as used with the standard R2Sonic mounting frame
(with 35mm projector standoffs). Do not change this value unless the projector is mounted with a
different vertical offset, relative to the receive array. Please contact R2Sonic for further guidance on
mounting the projector with a different vertical offset.

5.7.3 Head Tilt

If the sonar head is physically tilted to port or starboard, the tilt angle is entered here to rotate the
wedge and depth gates.

5.8 Status
Provides a detailed list of the current system parameters in both the sonar head and the SIM,
including current version of installed firmware and serial input messages.

Figure 52: Status Message

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5.9 Tools | Firmware Update

WARNING
ALL COMPUTER
FIREWALLS MUST BE
DISABLED. ALL VIRUS
CHECKERS MUST BE
DISABLED.

When R2Sonic issues a firmware update, it will be made available to the customer, allowing the
customer to update their system by themselves. There are two firmware updates possible: SIM
update and/or sonar head update. The update file will be designated either Simb$ (SIM) or Head$
(sonar head); the extension will be *.bin.

Prior to updating firmware, make sure that none of the computer’s other Ethernet ports are in use;
it may be necessary to shut down other sensors that use the Ethernet for data transfer.

Place the update file in the Sonic Control directory on the computer hard drive. Go to Tools |
Firmware Update; the files will be shown, if not use the browse button to search for the correct
upgrade file to down load to either the SIM or the sonar head. If there is an upgrade for both the
sonar head and the SIM, it is recommended to upgrade the SIM first. Updates are not fully installed
until the system has been power cycled

Figure 53: Select Tools; Firmware Update

Figure 54: The Browse button will open the current GUI's directory

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Figure 55: Select correct update .bin file

Figure 56: A batch file will automatically load the upgrade file

Once the Update button is clicked on, a batch file will automatically run and download the .bin to
the appropriate place.

Figure 57: The start of a firmware update. A series of dots represents the update progress.

Figure 58: Firmware update completed, the window will close automatically and the Update window will show
successful completion

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5.9.1 Firewall and Virus Checker Issues
A major problem can arise from having a firewall turned on (either Windows or third party) and
virus checkers. Having a firewall on will cause a window to pop up, from the firewall, during the
upgrade procedure requesting permission to run the upgrade; selecting yes (to allow) it proceeds.
The user will think the upgrade is good and power cycle the system; this is where the issue lies, the
upgrade is corrupted by the pop-up window and the system should not be power cycled until the
upgrade is performed again (once trained the firewall or virus checker will not prompt again). If a
firewall or virus checker pop up window appears during the update: Do Not Power Cycle the System.
The firmware must be re-loaded.

5.10 Display settings

The user can customise the colour scheme of Sonic
Control’s main window.

Dot Colors provides a means to view instantaneous

information by colouring the bottom detections dots for
the detection algorithm being employed when
Magnitude is selected.

Selecting Intensity provides a grey scale representation of

the return data’s acoustic strength. This Dot Color mode
can be very helpful in balancing the power, gain and
pulse length for optimal operation of the system. The
Brightness (dB) sets a base reference for the depiction of
the acoustic return strength.

Under Draggable Sector Outline, the user can enable or

disable the feature to use the mouse cursor to change Figure 59: Display Settings
opening angle and swath rotation.

Acoustic Image the Image Enable box turns the wedge’s

acoustic imagery on and off. The drop down, under
Image Enable, allows the user to select the colour palette
for wedge’s acoustic imagery.

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5.11 Imagery
On the Imagery Tab, the user can select the imagery data (TruePix™ and Water Column) formats for
logging. The maximum data size is shown to provide the user with an idea of what to expect when
storing imagery data.

Figure 60: Imagery Settings

5.11.1 TruePix™ and Water Column

The size of the TruePix™ and Water Column formats are given; the user can select either of the
formats (this would depend on the users’ end product).

Data rates for Water Column and TruePix are also affected by pulse width. Longer pulse widths will
reduce data rate approximately:

15-30us: 1/1 data rate

35-65us: 1/2 data rate
70-135us: 1/4 data rate
>= 140us: 1/8 data rate

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5.12 Main Operation Parameters
The main operating parameters of the Sonic 2024/2022 are controlled by the buttons in the lower
portion of the window.

Figure 61: Operating parameter buttons

To change a value, position the mouse cursor on the button then use the left mouse button to
decrease the value and the right mouse button to increase the value.

The right hand side of the panel provides system information:

• W: Wedge sector (opening angle)

• T: Sector Tilt angle
• f: Operating frequency
• c: Sound velocity at the sonar head
• PR: Ping rate
• D: Nadir depth

The lower left area displays the colour of the SIM communications LEDs, time, which is decoded
from the bathymetry packet and the current cursor position, relative to the sonar head. The angular
information is represented by theta Θ.

5.12.1 Range: 0 – 500 metres

The Range setting sets the maximum slant range of the Sonic 2024/2022. The maximum slant range
determines how fast the Sonic 2024/2022 can transmit; this is the Ping Rate. What the range setting
is doing is telling the Sonic 2024/2022 the length of time that the receivers should be ‘listening’ for
the reflected acoustic energy. If the Range setting is too short, some of the returning energy will be
received during the subsequent receive period, i.e. out of synch, and will be seen as noise.

It is easy for the operator to maintain the correct Range setting by noting the bottom detection dots
relationship to the straight legs of the wedge display.

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 Straight legs of the wedge represent
the Range setting; bottom detection
dots should be within this area

Figure 62: Range setting represented in the wedge display

Figure 63: Graphical concept of the Wedge Display

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5.12.2 RangeTrac™ – Sonic Control automatically sets correct range
RangeTrac™ removes the need to manually set the correct range; Sonic Control will determine the
correct range and maintain the range setting, no matter how rapidly the depth may change.
RangeTrac is enabled by selecting the box, next to RangeTrac, in Sonic Control.

Figure 64: RangeTrac enabled

The Range button will change to reflect that Sonic Control is operating in RangeTrac mode.

Sonic Control will continue to operate in RangeTrac mode until the user manually changes range or
RangeTrac is deselected.

When using RangeTrac, the user manually sets the range first and then turns on RangeTrac; from
that point on, there is no need for the user to adjust the Range setting. RangeTrac will automatically
set the correct Range for the water depth. RangeTrac will also optimise the ping rate for the
determined range.

There are no limits to RangeTrac as far as steepness of slope or amount of variability. RangeTrac can
be used simultaneously with GateTrac, in both the Depth and the Depth + Slope modes.

5.12.3 Power: 0 – 221 dB

The Power setting sets the source level of the transmit pulse; this is represented in Figure 60, below.
The Sonic 2024/2022 should be operated with sufficient power to enable good acoustic returns from
the sea floor. The value will change based on water depth, bottom composition, and operating
frequency. In general, higher power is better for getting decent bottom returns rather than using
receiver gain to obtain the returns. If the Power setting is too low, more receiver gain will need to
be used to capture the bottom returns; this can mean more extraneous noise will also be received.
The increase in noise will require more processing time; it is better to slightly increase the Power to
increase the strength of the bottom returns and, thus, allow for a lower receiver gain setting. If too
much power is used, the receivers can be over-driven (saturated); this will result in noisy data
and/or erroneous nadir depth readings. A good balance of source level (Power) and receiver gain is
the desired end. Shift – left click will turn transmitter power off (Power 0).

5.12.4 Pulse Length: 15µsec – 1000µsec

Pulse length determines the transmit pulse duration time. The Sonic 2024 pulse length range is
from 15µsec to 1000µsec. The pulse length does not affect the pulse amplitude, which is
determined by the Power setting. The general guide line is to maintain as short a pulse length as

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possible to optimise the resolution, but not so short as to weaken the transmit pulse. Generally, as
the water gets deeper the pulse length will have to be increased to get more ‘total’ power in the
water. The default pulse length will depend on the chosen operating frequency.

Figure 65: Transmit Pulse

5.12.5 Gain: 1 – 45
Receiver gain is in 2 dB steps from 1 to 45. This adjusts the gain of the sonar head receivers.

5.12.6 Depth Gates: GateTrac™

The depth gate allows the user to eliminate noise or other acoustic interference by the limits set in
the Minimum and Maximum Depth. There is manually selected gates, GateTrac: Depth and
GateTrac: Depth + Slope.

Gates are enabled by selecting the check box next to Enable Gates.

Figure 66: Enable Gates

Figure 67: Manual and GateTrac selections

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 5.12.6.1 Gates Manual
The depth gates can also be changed using the mouse in the wedge display. Click and drag on either
depth gate; the cursor will change to a double arrow , drag the gate to the new depth and release
the mouse button. The depth gate position is visible in the lower left hand section of the display.
When the mouse button is released the gate will be updated in the Operation Parameters area.

To move both gates, simultaneously, use the right mouse button and both gates will move, keeping
the same relationship.

In Manual mode, the gate slope can be adjusted by using the Gate Slope button in the Operation
area. The gates can be tilted up to ±90°.

Figure 68: Manually adjust the gate slope

5.12.6.2 GateTrac: Depth

GateTrac: Depth will automatically adjust the gates for water depth, based on the tolerance that is
selected by the control next the to gate drop down menu. The tolerance is ± percentage of nadir
depth. Right click will increase the tolerance (up to ±90%); left click reduces the tolerance.

Figure 69: Gate width tolerance toggle

When GateTrac: Depth is enabled, the Gate Min and Gate Max buttons will be disabled, but the
Gate Slope button will still be active.

Figure 70: GateTrac enabled; Gate min and max control is disabled

If the soundings are visible, in the display, then when GateTrac : Depth is enabled, the gates will
automatically jump to the soundings, with the selected tolerance. As the gates automatically adjust,
the values update in the lower section of the window. The user can use the Gate Slope button to
change the tilt of the gates, they will still automatically track the bottom, and the gate slope will not
change from what the user has selected.
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 5.12.6.3 GateTrac: Depth + Slope
Depth and Slope GateTrac will automatically adjust the gates for the depth and the slope of the
bottom. When GateTrac: Depth + Slope is enabled, the Gate Min and Max as well as the Gate Slope
buttons will be greyed out.

Figure 71: GateTrac: Depth + Slope enabled, manual gate controls are disabled.

Figure 72: GateTrac: Depth + Slope enabled and tracking a steep slope

5.12.6.4 Using Gates

If the minimum or maximum depth gate eliminates good data, the data are lost as it will not be
included in the Sonic 2024/2022 output. In the data collection software there will also be a form of
depth gates. If the data are eliminated there, it is more than likely that the data is flagged and not
really deleted, so it can be recovered.

The main reason to use the Sonic 2024/2022 depth gates is to eliminate interference of the bottom
detection process. Depending on bottom composition, multiple returns can occur. There will be a
secondary and possibly a tertiary return that arises from the initial bottom returns being reflected
by the water surface and then back up again to the receiver. These second and third returns can be
strong enough to influence the bottom detection process. Using the Sonic 2024/2022 depth gate
will enable the Sonic 2024/2022 to search only a small area of the entire beam for a bottom
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detection, therefore, only the area around where the energy from the actual bottom returns are will
be searched to derive a bottom detection. Although the user enters a depth for the gate setting, to
the Sonic 2024/2022 this is a time to start searching and a time to stop searching.

Figure 73: Graphical representation of depth gate

The above representation illustrates how the depth gate narrows down the bottom detection search
area (in time) to only the area where the true bottom is expected. If the Maximum Depth gate was
not in this location, the second return could be strong enough so as to influence the bottom
detection process.

Again, it must be borne in mind that if the depth gate is set such that true bottom detections are
‘gated out’; those data are lost entirely and cannot be recovered.

5.13 Ruler
The ruler or measuring tool can be used to obtain range and bearing information, within the GUI, by
using the mouse cursor. Use Ctrl + Left Mouse Button (LMB), the cursor will change to a cross and
can be dragged to the target (once the range and bearing is initiated, the Ctrl button can be
released. The Range and Bearing information is along the bottom of the Sonic Control window.

Figure 74: Ruler Function

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5.14 Save Settings
When Sonic Control is launched, it will always load the default settings configuration file located in
the Sonic Control installation directory (CurrentSettings.ini). The default configuration file will save
any local configuration changes during operation of the system.

When a user defined configuration is saved, like dualhead.ini, Sonic Control will still use the default
configuration file to store local changes while operating the sonar. This is equivalent to copying the
default configuration file to a configuration file with another name.

When a user defined configuration is loaded, Sonic Control will use the default configuration file to
store local changes while operating the sonar. This is equivalent to copying the loaded configuration
file to the default configuration file.

5.15 Operating Sonic Control on a second computer

There may be circumstances where it is preferred to run Sonic Control on a different computer than
the computer where the data collection software is running. The user can change IP addresses as
well as UDP ports. By doing Discover (in Settings | Network Settings), the system looks for all
attached R2Sonic equipment, which will be indentified by model and serial number. Once the serial
number is discovered, it is used to assign an IP and UDP port to the sonar head and the SIM, after
this is done, the IP and UDP ports can be changed.

5.15.1 Two computer setup

1) Set the data collection computer’s networking to IP address 10.0.1.102 as usual
2) Setup Sonic Control, on the data collection computer, as normal: do Discover and apply the
settings to establish communication with the system
3) Set the second computer’s networking to IP address 10.0.1.105 (using this as an example)
4) Load Sonic Control on the second computer, but do not connect the second computer to the
SIM until directed to below
5) Open Sonic Control on the second computer
6) Go to Settings | Network settings and change only the GUI IP address to 10.0.1.105 (see
illustration below)
7) Connect a LAN cable from the second computer to one of the free RJ45 ports on the SIM
(there will now be 2 Ethernet cables connected to the SIM)
8) On the data collection computer’s Sonic Control, go to Settings | Network Settings and
change only the GUI IP to the IP of the second computer: 10.0.1.105 (see illustration below)
9) Do not change any other IP or Port, only the IP for the GUI is to be changed
10) Select Apply: the GUI, on the data collection computer, will no longer update nor will it be
able to control the multibeam
11) On the second computer, open Sonic Control
12) Under Network settings, use Discover to obtain the serial numbers of the SIM and sonar
head and Apply; this computer now controls the Sonic system.
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 13) This example used IP address 10.0.1.105, but any IP can be entered as long as it adheres to
the restrictions set by the subnet mask

Figure 75: Change in GUI IP

5.15.2 Changing back to one computer

1) Open Sonic Control on the data collection computer.
2) Change the GUI address to 10.0.1.102
3) On the second computer, change the GUI IP address back to 10.0.1.102 and Apply.
4) Sonic Control, on the data collection computer now controls the system.

Disconnect the second computer’s Ethernet cable from the SIM.

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6 SONIC 2024/2022 THEORY OF OPERATION
The Sonic 2024/2022 transmits a shaped continuous wave pulse at the user- selected frequency.
The transmit pulse is narrow in the along-track direction, but very wide in the across-track direction.
The reflected acoustic energy is received via the Sonic 2024/2022 receivers; within the Receive
Module the beams are formed and the bottom detection process takes place. The resultant bottom
detections (range and bearing) are then sent via Ethernet, through the deck lead, to the SIM. The
SIM then sends the data out to the Sonic Control software and the data collection software.

6.1 Sonic 2024/2022 Sonar Head Block Diagram

Receive Module

Wet Controller
Receivers

Beam Former To SIM

Gigabit Ethernet
Bottom Detection
Projector

Transmitter Board

Transmitter Power
Supply
48 DCV from
SIM
Low Voltage Power Med. Voltage Power
Supply Supply

Figure 76: SONIC 2024 Sonar Head Block Diagram

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6.2 Sonic 2024/2022 Transmit (Normal Operation Mode)
The projector is comprised of a precisely arranged set of composite ceramics. The projector, itself,
can transmit over a wide frequency range, which makes it unique amongst multibeam
echosounders. A pulse, at the chosen operating frequency, excites the ceramics which converts the
electrical energy to acoustic energy. The pulse originates from the Wet Controller board in the
Receive Module, which is then passed onto the Transmitters and out to the Projector. The
amplitude of the pulse is set by the transmit Power setting in Sonic Control 2000; the Pulse Length
setting in Sonic Control 2000 determines how long the pulse excites the ceramics.

The projector’s transmit pattern ensonifies the seafloor in a very wide across-track, but narrow
along-track pattern as the vessel moves along the survey line. The across-track angle is 160°; the
along-track angle depends on frequency. The 400 kHz along-track pattern is 1°. The along-track
lengthens out to 2° at 200 kHz. This is the Normal Operating Mode and not extended Vertical
Mapping Mode.

Figure 77: Transmit pattern

Depending on the water conditions, sea floor composition and other factors, a portion of the
acoustic energy that strikes the seafloor will be reflected back towards the surface. The return
acoustic energy will strike the Sonic 2024/2022 receiver’s ceramics.

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6.3 Sonic 2024/2022 Receive (Normal Operation Mode)
The Projector is comprised of composite ceramics that convert electrical energy to acoustic energy.
The composite ceramics, in the Receive Module, convert the reflected acoustic energy back to
electrical energy. The small electrical voltage, generated by the ceramics, is amplified and then
passed onto the receivers. The output of the receivers goes directly to the Wet Controller board in
the Receive Module.

In general, the receive pattern is 130° (normal bathymetry survey) in the across-track. The along-
track pattern depends on the frequency; from 23° at 400 kHz to 40° at 200 kHz.

Figure 78: Receive pattern with Transmit pattern

The Wet Controller board contains the FPGA that performs the beam forming and bottom detection
operation; time tags the data; and formats the sonar data for output back up to the SIM. The
bathymetry data is output as a Range and Bearing (from the sonar head’s acoustic centre) for each
beam. Other outputs include: side scan, beamformed imagery, and snippets.

The output of the Wet Controller board is sent through the deck lead, to the SIM’s Gigabit switch
and onto the data collection computer though one of the SIM’s external RJ45 connections.

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6.4 Sonic 2024/2022 Sonar Interface Module (SIM) Block Diagram
SIM
RS-232
Controller

I/O Board
TTL - BNC

48VDC
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Switch
Ethernet

Power Supply
90 – 260 VAC
To/From
Sonar Head
48VDC
Sonar
Connector

Figure 79: Sonar Interface Module Block Diagram

6.4.1 Sonar Interface Module (SIM) Block Diagram

6.4.1.1 SIM Power Requirement

The SIM operates within a voltage range of 90 to 260 VAC. The mains voltage is converted in the
various DC voltages required for the operation of the Sonic 2024/2022. Primarily, 48 VDC is sent to
the Receive Module to power the sonar head.

6.4.1.2 SIM Controller

The SIM Controller card primarily does time stamping of sensor data and deals with RS-232 and BNC
data.

6.4.1.3 SIM – Sonic Control 2000 interfacing

Sonic Control 2000 communicates with the SIM over the Gigabit Ethernet DATA RJ-45. Commands,
from Sonic Control 2000 are transmitted to the SIM and then to the Sonic 2024/2022. The Sonic
2024/2022 data passes through SIM to the data collection software.

6.4.1.4 SIM – RS-232 Interfacing

The SIM receives the GPS PPS and time message (NMEA ZDA), the sound velocity from the probe
near the sonar head and the motion sensor data (for the depth gates). These data are routed
through the SIM Controller to the Ethernet switch for transmission to the sonar head.

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APPENDIX I: Multibeam Survey Suite
Components
7 Auxiliary Sensors and Components
A multibeam survey system is comprised of more components than just the Sonic 2024/2022
Multibeam Echosounder. These components are the auxiliary sensors, which are required to
provide the necessary information for a multibeam survey. This does not mean that these sensors
are a minor part of the survey system; each auxiliary sensor is required for any multibeam survey
operation. The required sensor data:

• Position: Differential Global Positioning System Receiver

• Heading: Gyrocompass
• Attitude: Motion Sensor
• Refraction correction: Sound Velocity Probe

Each of the individual sensors requires their own setup and operation procedures. The details,
discussed here, concerning the installation and calibration of the auxiliary sensors, is supplemental
to any and all manufacturer’s documentation.

7.1 Differential Global Positioning System

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is well known to all surveyors. There was a period of time
when the GPS position was intentionally made less accurate; this was Selective Availability (SA).
When SA was enacted, the GPS position became too inaccurate for survey use. It was during this
period that the concept of differential corrections was established. Differential corrections were
derived from users monitoring the GPS position at a known survey point and computing the
corrections required to adjust the various pseudo ranges to make the GPS position agree with the
known survey position. If a vessel was operating within the local area and observing the same
satellite constellation, the derived pseudo range corrections could be applied on board to make for
a more accurate and consistent position. The corrections are normally transmitted over a radio link
and applied within the GPS receiver.

7.1.1 Installation
The first and foremost consideration when installing the DGPS system is the location of the
respective antennae. Both the GPS antenna and the differential antenna (if they are two separate
antennae) need to be mounted on the vessel in such a way so as to have a totally unobstructed view
of the sky.

When installing the GPS antenna, the surveyor should be aware of the position of the stacks and
masts; in particular are davits or cranes that may be currently in a stored position, but will be in use

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during survey operations. If mounting the antenna on a vessel that has helicopter landing facilities,
coordinate the placement of the antenna with the personnel in charge of helicopter operations.

When the location for the antennae has been determined the next step is determining how the
coaxial cable, connecting the antenna and the receiver, is to be run. The cables should be run in
such a manner so as to be protected from possible damage. Cables should not be run through
hatches or windows, if it can be avoided; if such runs are necessary, then a block or other such
obstruction should be placed so that the hatch or window will not close on the cable. If the cables
are to be suspended between two points, a rope or other line should be strung to carry the weight
of the cables. Cables should never be kinked; all cables have a minimum bending radius, if it is
known adhere to it, if it is not known, use common sense. Do not run cables in a manner that they
will become safety hazards on the vessel, causing personnel to trip or be caught on them. Avoid
running cables along voltage carrying lines.

It is important to mark the cables at both ends to denote what they are and to where they go.

The connection to the antenna may be required to be completely water proofed (depending on the
manufacturer’s recommendations) using electrical tape, with a secondary covering of self-
amalgamated tape. Ensure that there are no air gaps in the tape; they will become a channel for
water. If a cable is to be run upwards from the antenna, form a drip loop by leaving slack in the
cable that will hang below the antenna connector. This will allow any water that flows down the
cable to collect and drip from the slack loop instead of running into the connector.

The cables, connectors and antennae should be inspected regularly for signs of damage, corrosion
or abuse. Any abrasions on the cable should be securely taped; if possible, a waterproof coating
should also be applied.

7.1.2 GPS Calibration

Prior to commencing survey operations, the accuracy of the Differential GPS position and
transformation to local datum should be determined. There are two main methods to determine
the accuracy of the DGPS position and data transformation. For both methods, a local land survey
benchmark is required.

7.1.2.1 Position Accuracy Determination Method 1

The GPS antenna is physically placed over the survey benchmark. The surveyor will ensure that the
antenna has a clear view. This is particularly important if the benchmark being used is in a dock area.
The surveyor will also ensure that, if a separate antenna is used to receive differential corrections,
that it is not blocked.

The GPS position data should be logged, in the data collection software, for not less than 15
minutes. The collected data can then be averaged, standard deviations determined, and compared
to the published position of the survey benchmark.

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The two main causes of error, in this area, are:

• Wrong geodetic transformations being applied to the WGS-84 position derived from GPS.
• Erroneous coordinates for the Differential reference station.

7.1.2.2 Position Accuracy Determination Method 2

This method is most easily accomplished during the gyrocompass calibration. The antenna remains
mounted on the vessel. The surveyor will set up on the known survey benchmarks; using standard
land survey techniques, the exact absolute position of the antenna can be determined. During the
period that the surveyor is ‘shooting in’ the GPS antenna, the GPS position will be logged on board,
the averaging and statistical analysis will be as above.

The surveyor will need to take numerous shots to also obtain an average, due to the possible
movement of the vessel while alongside.

7.2 Gyrocompass
Utmost care is required for the installation of the gyrocompass. The gyrocompass is a sensor that
cannot be situated randomly. The purpose of the gyrocompass is to measure the vessel’s heading.
In order to do this, the gyrocompass should be placed on the centre line running from the bow stem
to the midpoint of the stern. If it is not possible to place the gyrocompass on the centreline of the
vessel, it can be mounted on a parallel to the centre line.

All survey grade gyrocompasses will be plainly marked for alignment on the centre line. This
marking may be an etched line fore and aft on the mounting plate, or possibly metal pins on the
front and the back of the housing that point down. If no marking exists, then measuring the fore
and aft faces and finding the centre may be sufficient.

No matter how well the gyrocompass is placed, there exists a possible error between the true
vessel’s heading and the gyrocompass derived heading. Any new installation of a gyrocompass
should include a gyrocompass calibration. There are various methods to perform a gyrocompass
calibration; the best method employed will be determined by the location of the vessel, the time
allotted for the calibration and the resources at hand.

7.2.1 Gyrocompass Calibration Methods

After the installation of gyrocompass (henceforth termed gyro) on a vessel, that gyro should be
calibrated to ensure that the heading it determines is the true heading of the vessel.

If the error is large, the gyro can be physically rotated to align itself with the true vessel heading.
Small errors can be corrected, either by internal adjustment to the gyro, or in the software that
receives the gyro reading.

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 7.2.1.1 Standard Land Survey Technique
One of the most accurate methods to determine the gyro error involves the use of standard
recognised land survey techniques. The time and equipment involved requires that a substantial
period be allotted for such a calibration.

• If possible, the vessel will be berthed alongside a quay or dock that has a survey
benchmark located in close proximity.
• If a survey benchmark is not located close to the berth, then the surveyor will have
to run a transit from the nearest, suitable, local survey bench mark to establish a
point on the quay that has a well defined position. From this point another point
should be established along the quay to form a baseline.
• When the vessel comes alongside, all lines should be made as taut as possible. The
gyro should be allowed 2 hours to settle down after the vessel has come alongside.
• The stern of the vessel should be measured, with a metal tape, to determine the
centre point of the stern. A survey reflector will be placed at this position. Another
survey reflector will be placed exactly at the bow. It will be verified that the
reflectors are accurately placed on the centre line of the vessel by either
measurements or survey techniques.
• The surveyor will set up on one benchmark; a round of readings will be taken from
the benchmark to the fore and aft reflectors. Simultaneous to this, the survey
personnel will record the gyro heading as it is read by the survey computer. Any
variation between the digital output and the physical gyro reading should be
remedied prior to the commencement of readings. It is recommended that the
personnel on the vessel and the surveyors on the quay be in constant
communication to assist in coordinating the measurements.
• One round of readings will be considered to be not less than 30 sets, a set being one
reading each from the bow and stern reflectors.
• Upon completion of the round from benchmark one, the surveyor will move to
benchmark two and repeat the process.
• Upon the completion of all rounds, from the two benchmarks, the vessel will turn
about. With the vessel, now heading on the reciprocal heading, the gyro will be
allowed at least 1 hour to settle down.
• When the gyro has been given sufficient time to settle down, a further series of
range and bearing measurements will be made in exactly the same manner as
before.

When all readings are completed, the surveyor will calculate the azimuth between the two survey
reflectors for each set of readings. The azimuth readings will be compared with the headings taken
on board the vessel from the gyro itself. If there has been little or no movement of the vessel, an
average can be taken of the azimuths and for the gyro readings and compared. By calculating the
standard deviation of the readings, the surveyor can determine the degree of movement during the
recording process. If the deviation is greater than the stated accuracy of the gyro, the comparison
readings should be based on simultaneous time.

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If physical adjustments are required, they should be made and the calibration process repeated. If
the adjustment is determined to be minor and can be accounted for in the survey software, the
correction value should be entered and then verified using the calibration process. This check of the
calibration value can be an abbreviated version of the calibration process detailed above.

Figure 80: Gyrocompass Calibration method 1

• Quayside Benchmarks have known geodetic positions.

• Measure Range and Bearing to reflectors on vessel centre line.
• Using Range and Bearing to reflectors, determine geodetic position for
reflectors.
• Calculate bearing from stern reflector to bow reflector will give the true
heading of the vessel.
• True heading of vessel is then compared to gyrocompass reading taken at
the same time as the Range and Bearing measurements.
• Benchmarks do not have to be on the quay, but should be in a position to
give accurate Range and Bearing to the reflectors.

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 7.2.1.2 Tape and Offset Method of Gyro Calibration
This method relies on measuring the offset distance from a baseline on the quay, with a known
azimuth, to a baseline that is established on the vessel. There are greater areas for error when using
this method, particularly in establishing a baseline with known azimuth.

A baseline is established on the quay as close as possible to the vessel's side. It is very important
that the azimuth of this baseline be as accurately determined as possible. The baseline should be of
a length that will exceed the baseline that is established on the vessel.

A baseline is established on the vessel that is parallel to the centre line of the vessel. It should not
be assumed that the side of the vessel is parallel to the centre line. This baseline should be on the
deck that faces the dock. The baseline on the vessel should be as long as possible, the longer the
better.

With the vessel secured alongside the quay, the vessel baseline will be compared to the quayside
baseline. Two points will be established on the quayside baseline that corresponds exactly to the
fore and aft positions on the vessel baseline. That is: the points that are established on the quayside
baseline should be normal to the points on the vessel baseline.

Figure 81: Gyro Calibration Method 2

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The example, below, will illustrate the math involved.

Figure 82: Gyro Calibration Method 2 example

A to A' 1.0 metres B to B' 1.5 metres

Side a 5.0 metres Side b 1.5 – 1.0 = 0.5 metres

Angle b' Arctan 0.5/5.0 = 5.7°

Ship Azimuth = 270° + 5.7° = 275.7°

Table 9: Gyro Calibration Method 2 computation

Figure 83: Idealised concept of Gyro Calibration Method 2

In this example, the vessel heading for this set of readings is 275.7°; this would be compared to the
gyro reading recorded at the same time the offsets were measured.

In the above example, if the bow was further out from the quay than the stern, the angle b' would
be subtracted from the azimuth of the quay, i.e. 270° - 5.7° = 264.3°.

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7.3 The Motion Sensor
The motion sensor is used to determine the attitude of the vessel in terms of pitch, roll and heave.
Pitch is the movement of the bow going up and down. Roll is the movement of the port and
starboard side going up and down. Heave is the vessel going up and down.

The sonar head is physically attached to the vessel; as the vessel moves, so does the sonar head.
The motion sensor reports the movements of the vessel to the data collection software; the data
collection software, using the offsets to the motion sensor and to the sonar head, computes the
movement at the sonar head to correct the multibeam data for pitch, roll and heave.

One important aspect of the motion sensor is the sign convention used by the motion sensor as
compared to the sign convention used in the collecting software. The surveyor must be aware of
the convention that is used and what adjustments are necessary, if any, to ensure that the
convention is consistent with the data collection computer.

There exist two major areas of thought as to where the motion sensor should be situated. One
group believes that the motion sensor should go as close to the multibeam as possible, even if the
multibeam is mounted on an over-the-side pole. The second group believes the motion sensor
should be placed as close to the centre of rotation for the vessel as possible.

Placing the motion sensor on the hydrophone pole would seem to solve for all movement of the
pole itself, but in fact the motion sensor, mounted in this fashion, can provide false attitude
measurements. This is particularly true when there is significant roll; the motion sensor on the pole
can interpret a portion of this roll as heave, which is not true. By placing the motion sensor as close
to the centre of rotation (also called the centre of gravity) as possible, only the real heave of the
vessel will be measured. All software will solve for the motion of the sonar head, based on the
offsets that have been entered into the setup files for the vessel configuration; this is called a lever
arm adjustment. The other consideration is that the motion data is usually applied to the GPS
antenna. The GPS antenna is usually mounted high on the vessel, so any pitch or roll will induce a
large amount of movement in the GPS antenna thus providing a false position due to the antenna
movement. If the motion sensor is mounted on the hydrophone pole, it is reporting an exaggerated
motion because it is far from the centre of motion of the vessel; this exaggerated motion then
would be applied to the GPS antenna position and the vessel position computation would be in
error.

The other consideration is that the alignment of the motion sensor must be on or parallel to the
centre line of the vessel; it is essential to prevent ‘bleed-over’ of pitch and roll. If the motion sensor
is not aligned with the centre line, when the vessel rolls some of the roll will be seen as pitch as the
motion sensor’s accelerometers and gyros are not aligned with the axes of the vessel it is mounted
on. It is more difficult to obtain this precise alignment if the motion sensor is placed on the pole.

Mount the motion sensor as close to the centre of rotation (or centre of gravity as possible) and
perfectly aligned to the centre line of the vessel.
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The motion sensor should be mounted on as level a platform as possible. After mounting the
motion sensor, the actual 'mounting angles' should be measured. Some motion sensors contain
internal programs that can measure the mounting angles. Some data collection software packages
also include the capability to measure mounting angles. The mounting angles are the measured
degrees of the actual physical mounting of the motion sensor. This is to compensate for sloping or
warped decks. Many decks have some slope to them and this should be accounted for to ensure
that the pitch and roll values that the motion sensor derives is for vessel movement and not for its
physical mounting on the deck. The mounting angles should be measured prior to any multibeam
calibration and not changed after the calibration.

Prior to measuring the mounting angles, the vessel should be put in good trim by the engineer. On a
small vessel it is important that the angles be measured without undue influence from people
standing around. A false measurement can be induced by two people sitting on the gunwale having
a conversation while the measuring process is being completed. It is usually a good idea to have all
personnel leave a small vessel during the measuring process.

If the motion sensor mounting angles have been entered in the motion sensor or the data collection
software, they can only be changed prior to the multibeam calibration (patch test); they are not to
be changed after the patch test.

It is important to keep the motion sensor in mind when surveying. A motion sensor takes time to
'settle down' after a turn or a speed change and most of the settling down will depend on the heave
bandwidth that is entered into the motion sensor. Some motion sensors can take in position, speed
and heading data to assist them in the settling process. Depending on the degree of the turn or the
amount of the speed change a practical period of 2 minutes should be allowed for the motion
sensor to settle. It is prudent to plan the survey to allow for a long enough 'run in' to the start of
data collection to allow the motion sensor time to settle and the heave normalise. If this is not
done, many times motion artefacts or erroneous depths will be seen at the beginning of line and the
processed data will not be correct.

Monitor the motion sensor (all data collection software provides a time series window to monitor
individual data) to ensure that it is operating properly.

7.4 Sound Velocity Probes

There are two basic types of sound velocity probes. One type measures the parameters of sound
velocity in water; those being Conductivity (Salinity), Temperature, and Depth (Pressure), these are
normally referred to as CTD probes. The other type of probe contains a small transducer and has a
reflecting plate, at a known distance from the transducer that reflects the sound, the time is
measured for this transmission and the sound velocity determined by that measurement; these are
called Time of Flight probes. There is third type, known as the Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT)
which is launched and as it passes through the water column sends back temperature readings
(through two very thin wires); it is not recovered, it is expendable.

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The CTD and Time of Flight probes store the data internally. The data is downloaded to a computer
after the probe is recovered.

7.4.1 CTD Probes

The CTD probe type of sound velocity probe has instruments to measure the conductivity of the
water, water temperature, and a pressure sensor to measure depth. The CTD probe is a good choice
if any of this information is also required; to obtain a velocity a formula must be used.

There are various formulae available that are based on the parameters that are recorded by the
CTD. The UNESCO algorithm is considered a universal standard and was put forth by C-T. Chen and
F.J. Millero in 1977. The Chen-Millero (and Li) equation is complex as is Del Grosso’s (1974) and
have been termed Refined. Simple formula, such as Mackenzie’s (1981), also yields good results.

When using a CTD, it is very important that the probe be allowed to sit, fully submerged, in the
water for a few minutes prior to deploying it; this is to allow the probe to reach equilibrium with the
water temperature It is also important that the tube, through which the water flows pass the
sensors, is checked for obstructions or marine growth.

Figure 84: CTD Probe

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7.4.2 Time of Flight Probe
The Time of Flight probe incorporates a transducer that transmits an acoustic pulse that reflects
back from a plate that it is at a very precise distance from the transducer. The two-way travel time
is measured, divided by 2, and the sound velocity determined. The Time of Flight probe is usually
considered more accurate for multibeam survey work.

The sound velocity probe that is mounted close to the Sonic 2024/2022 sonar head is a time of flight
probe.

Pressure sensor
Transducer
for depth

Reflecting
Plate
Figure 85: Time of Flight SV probe

7.4.3 XBT Probes

The XBT is a probe which free falls through the water column at a more or less constant speed (the
probe is designed to fall at a known rate so that the depth can be inferred) and measures the
temperature as it passes through the water column. Inside the probe is the thermograph, which is
attached to a spool of very fine wire. Two very small wires transmit the temperature data from the
probe back to a computer. The XBT is not recovered. XBT probes can be launched whilst underway

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and are used extensively by Navy and Defence forces for rapid determination of the sound velocity
without stopping the vessel.

7.5 The sound velocity cast

There are no set rules for when to take a measurement of the water column sound velocity.
Common sense is a good guideline. The conditions, detailed below, have a major influence as to
when to take a sound velocity cast.

7.5.1 Time of Day

Throughout the day the upper level sound velocity characteristic will change mainly due to solar
heating or cooling due to cloud cover or precipitation. Another main element of the time of day
changes is tides.

When working in tidally influenced areas, the sound velocity can change drastically due to a salt
wedge that moves in and out with the tide. The surveyor must be aware of the relationship of the
time of the tide to the salt wedge.

7.5.2 Fresh water influx

Any river, stream or runoff will drastically change the sound velocity through the introduction of
freshwater and also through a temperature difference.

7.5.3 Water Depth

The sound velocity cast should always be made in the deepest part of the survey area. The sound
velocity profile cannot be extrapolated to deeper depths as there are too many possible variables.

7.5.4 Distance
If the survey area is large, then it is quite possible that there will be differences across the range of
the survey area even in open water.

7.5.5 Deploying and recovering the Sound Velocity Probe

The guide lines for deploying and recovering the sound velocity probe are based on common sense,
but are sometimes ignored during the actual operation. The guidelines, below, are for a hand cast in
shallow water. The softline, used for the cast, should be marked to provide an indication of the
amount of line out.

7.5.5.1 Shallow water sound velocity cast / deployment by hand

1. Plan where the cast is to be made.
a. In a small area, deploy in the deepest part of the survey area.
b. Always do a cast prior to starting the survey.
2. Liaise with the captain or office of the watch with the plan position and time of deployment
and time required for the cast.
3. Prepare the probe for casting (some probes may need to be programmed prior to each
launch).
4. Secure the probe to the downline with a bowline knot or shackle.
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 5. Secure the bitter end of the downline to the vessel.
6. Request permission, from the bridge or helm, to deploy and await their OK to launch.
a. Bridge or helm to ensure that the vessel is out of traffic.
b. Bridge or helm to assess wind and sea conditions and advise as to which side of
vessel the deployment should be made.
7. Put the probe in the water until it is totally covered and let it remain there for a period of
time to acclimate to the sea temperature. This is very important with a CTD type of probe,
but of less concern for a time-of-flight probe.
8. Verify the water depth.
9. Lower the probe at a constant rate; only the downcast should be used.
10. Try not to allow the probe to touch the bottom.
11. Recover the probe rapidly.
12. As soon as the probe is on deck, notify the bridge or helm that they are free to manoeuvre,
but remain in the area.
13. Rinse the probe with fresh water and dry thoroughly.
14. Download the cast and verify that it looks good.
15. Load the cast into the data collection software.

7.5.5.2 Deep Water Cast / Deployment by mechanical means

A cast in deeper water requires more preparation and planning. A deep water cast can be
considered to be any cast that is deployed via an ‘A’ Frame, winch, or other mechanical means.
Even a shallow water cast can fall under this definition when mechanical means are used.

One of the main concerns, in a deep water cast, is that the probe will not go straight down due to
the current flow or vessel drift due to wind and/or currents. This being the case, weights must be
used to ensure the cable (and probe) go as straight down as possible.

Unless the sound velocity probe is designed to have additional weight attached to it, no weights
should be attached to the sound velocity probe. The weights, which enable deployment as straight
as possible, are attached to the end of the cable. The probe should be attached to the cable
approximately 3 – 5 metres above the weights; if the weights hit the bottom this should provide
enough scope for the probe to land clear of the weights.

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Figure 86: Deploying a sound velocity probe via a winch or A - Frame

The other major consideration when deploying a probe in deeper water, is that the vessel must be
stationary longer and will drift. If there is a large variation in depths, the depth when the probe
went in, may not be the same depth when the probe reaches the bottom. It is essential that enough
cable be deployed to ensure a full profile to the sea floor.

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APPENDIX II: Multibeam Surveying
8 Introduction
Multibeam surveying affords the surveyor with many advantages, but it also requires more thought
behind the survey itself.

8.1 Survey Design

Multibeam surveying survey planning is very different than single beam survey planning. The main
considerations are line spacing and line direction. In single beam surveying, lines are normally
spaced based on the scale of the desired chart. The line direction is normally at the discretion of the
surveyor. In multibeam surveying, the surveyor has to plan the survey carefully, with thought to
overlap between adjacent lines and the direction that those lines are run.

8.1.1 Line Spacing

The entire concept of multibeam surveying is based on the swath coverage that defines the
multibeam system. The survey lines should be designed so that there is 100% overlap in coverage
between adjacent lines. As swath width is a function of water depth, it follows that the spacing
between lines may not be constant. Looking at a chart of the survey area, the surveyor should be
able to determine the swath width that will be obtained and can design the line spacing accordingly.

A large overlap in swath coverage is required due to various factors. One prime factor is roll. As the
vessel rolls the swath coverage will vary in relation to this roll. If the vessel rolls to port (port-side
down), the swath coverage on the port side will be lessened, whereas the swath coverage on the
starboard side will increase. If there is not sufficient overlap in swath coverage there could be gaps
in coverage, between adjacent lines, due to the roll.

If the helmsman has problems keeping the vessel on the designated line, this could case gaps if the
vessel goes off line to opposite directions on adjacent lines.

Unexpected shallows will reduce the swath coverage. If the lines are designed with very little
overlap, a shallow area on the lines will see reduced swath coverage and the possibility of gaps
between the lines.

8.1.2 Line Direction

In single beam surveying, the usual practice is to survey normal to the contours. The concept is to
cut the contours at 90° to obtain the best definition of the slope. Multibeam survey is exactly
opposite of this; in multibeam survey the lines are planned to survey parallel to the contours.
Multibeam surveying can be likened to side scan surveying; the best definition is obtained when the
slope is within the port or starboard swath coverage. There will be poor definition of the slope
covered by the nadir beams, as they act similar to a single beam echosounder.

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In setting up the survey lines, if the lines were to run up and down slope, the spacing would have to
vary between the start and the end of the lines, as the swath coverage would vary due to the
change in water depth. The lines would not be parallel. By surveying along the contours, the depths
will remain more or less constant so that the spacing does not have to change from beginning to
end. However, the spacing between adjoining lines may vary due to increased or decreased depth.

8.1.3 Line Run-in

As was previously noted, it is good survey practice to allow the motion sensor and gyro time to
settle after making a turn. With this in mind, the surveyor should set up the survey lines so that an
adequate lead in, before the start of data recording, is allowed.

Extra lead in time allows the helmsman the opportunity to get on to the line and make any
adjustments that are necessary to counteract wind or current conditions. It is much better for the
vessel to be a little off of the planned survey line, but heading in a straight direction, rather than
‘fish-tailing’ back on forth across the line, trying to maintain zero offline.

Surveying into a beach may only allow very limited run-in, if the lines are also to be surveyed out
from the beach. In this case it may be better to design the lines so that they run parallel to the
beach. Of course, if it shallows greatly towards the beach, the lines should be run parallel to this
slope anyway as detailed above.

8.2 Record Keeping

It is essential that detailed records be kept of all aspects of the multibeam survey. The logging of all
details of the survey will greatly assist those in charge of processing the data. Maintaining a vessel
log, that reflects offsets, draft measurements, sound velocity profiles and etc; will give the surveyor
a reference that can be easily accessed. The more information that is logged, the easier it will be
during processing and it will also provide the surveyor with a means to assess survey technique with
a view to improving the efficiency of the survey.

8.2.1 Vessel Record

A hardbound ledger book should be kept for the vessel record. The vessel record should include,
but is not limited to:

• Diagram of the vessel with measurements

• All offsets
• Daily draft measurements
• Diary of sound velocity profiles
• Surveyors / Operators
• Equipment list
• Equipment interface information
• Diary reflecting dates of individual surveys

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The vessel record is meant to be a quick reference for general information that is required for
multibeam surveying. Some of the information does not change from survey to survey and should
go either in the front of the book or the back of the book. A section of pages can then be devoted to
the information that does change from survey to survey or day to day.

As an example:

• Page 1 – Plan of the vessel with all vessel measurements

• Page 2/5 – Plan of the vessel with all offsets
• Page 6/9 – Equipment list and interfacing information
• Pages 10/20 – Dates of individual surveys with listing of surveyors responsible for those
surveys
• Pages 21/40 – Diary of draft measurements
• Pages 41/60 –Diary of sound velocity measurements

As can be seen, this is a general reference which can provide dates and general details.

When naming surveys and sound velocities, a certain degree of logic in their naming will greatly
assist deciphering an individual event out of many events. In the case of sound velocity profiles, it is
common to name the profiles for the date that they were taken. A sound velocity profile taken on
04 July 2009 would be referred to as 20090704. If more than one profile is taken during the day,
then a letter suffix can be added: 20090704a, to separate the profiles, or a time of cast can be added
to the file name. Keep in mind that personnel, who were not on board during the data collection,
may need to reference the information; keeping it logical and chronological will help.

Ensure that many blank pages are kept for the various categories. When a book is filled, plainly
mark on the cover the inclusive dates that the vessel log covers. If possible, also mark this
information along the spine of the vessel log. These logs should be kept in a safe and dry place on
the vessel.

8.2.2 Daily Survey Log

The Daily Survey Log is where all the details of the survey are recorded: start/stop time of the lines,
line names, and line direction, speed of survey, and comments pertaining to that survey line. A copy
of the appropriate survey log should accompany all multibeam data along its path during processing.

Daily Survey Logs are of two types: rough and smooth. The smooth log is a sheet that is arranged in
rows and columns, where the appropriate survey information is entered, much like a spread sheet.
It can be a single sheet that is printed out on board, or it can be professionally produced pad of
sheets. The rough log is similar to the vessel log; it is normally a ledger book; the start/stop times,
line name, line direction and comments are entered line by line, usually on the right hand page as
they occur. The left hand page then is left for details of draft, sound velocity profile data, tides or
any other information that is pertinent to the lines that are detailed on the right hand page.

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A copy of the survey log is sent along with the multibeam data to processing and a copy is kept on
board the vessel.

An example of the information on a smooth log:

• Sensor offsets
• Calibration offsets
• Date
• Survey name, area and surveyors
• Name of sound velocity file
• Name of tide file
• Vessel name
• Start/Stop time of survey line
• Line name
• Direction
• Comments

Due to the nature of a single sheet type log, the information should be entered on each individual
sheet, even though many items do not change from one day to the next.

With the log book style of daily log the items that do not change can be listed on one page, so that
everything following that page will be under those parameters (offsets, vessel name etc.). The right
hand page will include the start/stop times, line name, direction and comments. The left hand page,
as noted above, is for additional information. A further advantage to using a log book is the space
available to sketch diagrams of the survey or other visual aids that might make the survey easier to
understand.

The surveyor uses a log book to record the data as it occurs. A daily survey log sheet can be created
in any word processor or spreadsheet program. At a convenient time the surveyor can call a sheet
up, within the appropriate program, enter the data and print it out. This has many advantages, the
most obvious is that the daily log sheet is typed in and printed out making it very legible to read; it
can be stored down to memory, making a permanent record.

Although maintaining a good detailed log of daily survey events may be difficult to get use to, after a
short time the advantages will become obvious.

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Figure 87: Rough log, kept during survey operations...does not need to be neat, but must contain all pertinent
information

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Figure 88: Smooth log; information copied from real-time survey log
APPENDIX III: Offset Measurements
9 Lever Arm Measurement – Offsets
Each component or sensor that produces information, unique to its position, will have a point that is
considered the reference point of that sensor. The Sonic 2024/2022, the motion sensor, and the
GPS antenna will have a documented point from which to measure. The gyrocompass’ data is not
dependent on its position on the vessel so, therefore, does not require an offset measurement.

9.1 Vessel Reference System

When all equipment (Sonic 2024/2022 sonar head, motion sensor, gyrocompass and GPS) have been
permanently mounted, the physical offsets to a central reference point (CRP) must be measured.
The central reference point (CRP) or vessel reference point (VRP) is that point that the surveyor
chooses to be the origin for the X and Y grid that will define the horizontal relationship between all
of the sensors. The vertical or Z reference can be the water line or other logical vertical reference.
Generally, the CRP corresponds to the centre of gravity or rotation of the vessel. All of the sensors
must have their physical relationship to each other measured and entered into the data collection
software or the processing software.
All offsets, between sensors, are defined by an X, Y and Z offset from a reference (CRP or VRP) point.
The X axis runs athwartship, i.e. from the port side to the starboard side. The Y axis runs alongship
from the bow to the stern. The Z axis runs perpendicular through the reference. The origin can be
any point; the origin will remain the same for all sensors. Some surveyors take the GPS antenna as
the origin for all measurements, others take the sonar head itself, while others might take the
motion sensor (especially if it on the centre of rotation for the vessel). The sign convention is
standard for a Cartesian plane, translated to a vessel: starboard of the reference point is positive,
forward of the reference point is positive. The sign for Z may differ, depending on the data
collection or processing software.

Figure 89: Vessel Horizontal and Vertical reference system

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9.2 Measuring Offsets
The accurate measurement of offsets is vital to the accuracy of the survey data. If possible, the
vessel will be put on a hard stand so that it can be very accurately measured using standard land
survey equipment, such as a total station. However, this may not be possible and the offsets will
have to be measured using a tape and plumb-bob, which is detailed below.

9.2.1 Sonic 2024 Acoustic Centre

Please refer to the drawings on Page 104 to 106 to obtain measurements, with reference to the
system offsets, when mounting on the Sonic mounting frame.

Figure 90: Sonic 2024/2022 Acoustic Centre

9.2.2 Horizontal Measurement

All measurements should be made with a metal tape measure. A cloth tape can stretch, it can also
be knotted or kinked, unknown to the persons making the measurements. At a minimum, two
people should be assigned to take the measurements; three people will work better with the third
person writing down the measurements. One person will be the holder and the other will be the
reader. Starting at either the reference point or the sensor, the distance will be measured. When
either the reference point or the sensor is reached, the two people will reverse roles: the holder is
now the reader and the reader is the holder, the transverse is made back to the point of beginning,
but not using the same path. If reference marks were made on the first leg, they should not be used
on the second leg back. If the measurement from the sensor to the reference point, in one direction,
agrees with the measurement in the opposite direction, made by a different reader and holder, then
the offset is good. If there is a small disagreement in measurements, the two measurements can be
averaged. If there is a large disagreement then the process should be repeated. What is a small
disagreement? A few centimetres can be expected.

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9.2.3 Vertical Measurement
To measure elevations or the Z offset, the use of a plumb bob is required. This can be something as
simple as a spanner tied to a length of line and lowered from one deck to the next. The plumb bob
will also allow for accurate measurements in the X and Y direction when transposing them from one
deck to the other.
The plumb bob works, of course, by gravity so generally points to the centre of the earth. This being
the case, if the vessel is not in good trim, i.e. has a list, the resting position of the plumb bob may not
be at the true vertical point under the place from which it is being held. This is very critical when
transposing X and Y measurements from one deck to another.
The draft of a vessel will not be constant. Prior to going out on a survey, the fuel and water may be
filled up, causing the vessel to settle lower in the water. Possibly less people are on board causing
the vessel to rise higher in the water. The main concept here is that the draft of the sonar head
changes. All X and Y offsets remain the same as long as the sensors are not moved, but the Z offset
changes constantly depending on the draft of the vessel.
If possible, the pole should be marked to show the depth of the head. Measuring up from the sonar
head’s acoustical reference, rings can be painted on the pole in 10 cm (or other) increments, with 2
cm hatching between rings. The surveyor may have to observe the pole over the course of a few
minutes to determine where the water line is and would then estimate the depth by interpolating
between the 10 cm depth rings.
Another method would be for the surveyor to initially measure from the sonar head’s acoustical
reference to the top of the hydrophone pole. This is the total pole measurement. At the start of a
survey day, the surveyor will go to the pole and measure from the top of the pole to the water line
(using the tape measure and plumb bob or similar weight), this is called the dry measurement.
Taking the dry measurement from the total pole measurement yields the wet measurement, which
is the draft of the sonar head. Due to wave motion, the surveyor may have to take a series of
measurements to ensure an accurate reading.
When the draft or Z of the sonar head is determined the Z for the GPS antenna and the motion
sensor can be adjusted accordingly, if the Z reference is the water line. In most data collection
software a Z shift, in relation to the water surface, can be entered in for the CRP, which will do the
vertical adjustment for all offsets
It is very important that when measuring the draft on small vessels that the person taking the
measurement does not unduly cause the vessel to list towards that side. Having someone counter
balance the weight of the person taking the measurement is a good idea. This is also true of any
temporary list the vessel is experiencing. On small survey vessels, a person leaning over the side, to
take the draft measurement, can induce upwards, or exceeding a 10cm error in depth readings
during survey operation.
On some vessels it is advisable to take draft readings during the survey or immediately after
completion of the survey, as the draft will change that much.
All offset information should be recorded in the daily survey log and the vessel’s permanent survey
record.

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APPENDIX IV: The Patch Test
10 Introduction
The alignment of the Sonic 2024/2022 sonar head to the motion sensor and gyro is critical to the
accuracy of the determined depths. It is not possible to install the sonar head in exact alignment
with the motion sensor and gyro to the accuracy required (x.xx°). If GPS time synchronization is not
used, the latency of the position, as reported by the GPS, must also be measured during the
calibration. This being the case a multibeam calibration must be performed to measure the angular
misalignment between the Sonic 2024/2022 and the motion sensor and gyro and, if necessary, the
position latency; this is called the Patch Test.

The patch test is performed with each new installation or whenever a sensor is moved. In the case
of an over-the-side mount, a large number of calibration computations need to be performed to
determine how well the pole goes back into the same position each time it is deployed. With more
permanent mounting arrangements, a minimum of 5 separate patch tests should be conducted in
order to derive a standard deviation that would indicate the accuracy of the derived values.

The patch test involves collecting data over certain types of bottom terrain and processing the data
through a set of patch test tools. There are two primary methods of processing the data that are
currently used: an interactive graphical approach and an automatic, iterative surface match. Each of
these techniques has strengths and weaknesses and the preferred approach is dependent on the
types of terrain features available to the surveyor. All modern multibeam data collection software
packages contain a patch test routine. Please read the software manual for explicit information
regarding the requirements for that software’s patch test. The below criteria is, in general, the norm
for a patch test.

10.1 Orientation of the Sonic 2024/2022 Sonar Head

The orientation of the sonar head must be known in order to convert the measured slant ranges to
depths and to determine the position of each of the determined depths.

Any error in the measured roll of the

Sonic 2024/2022 sonar head can cause
substantial errors in the conversion from
slant range to depth. A roll error of 1°
on a 50 m slant range will cause a 0.6 m

Figure 91: Sonic 2024/2022 axes of rotation error in the resulting depth. Any error in
the measured pitch of the Sonic
2024/2022 head will primarily have a detrimental effect on the accuracy of the positions that are
determined for each slant range/depth.

A pitch error of 1° will cause an along-track error in the position of 0.4 meter when the sonar head
is 25 meters above the seabed.

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10.2 Patch Test Criteria
The patch test requires collecting sounding data over two distinct types of sea floor topography; a
flat bottom is used for the roll computation whereas a steep slope or feature is used for the latency,
pitch, and yaw data collection.

Care must be taken that the sonar head covers the same area on both data collection runs, this may
not be the same as vessel position, especially with an over-the-side mount or if the sonar head
rotated. Only the latency data collection requires a different speed from normal survey speed.

The data collection for Latency, Pitch and Yaw should be done in as deep water as possible. This is
particularly true for the pitch computation due to the fact that in shallow water the angle of pitch
may not be easily determined due to a lack of resolution.

10.2.1 Latency Test

The vast majority of installations will incorporate GPS time synchronisation and, as such, no latency
is expected in the GPS position. However, it is necessary to complete at least one or two latency
tests to prove that the latency, for all practical purposes, is zero. Most patch test programs will not
yield zero latency, but the derived value would be so small so as to constitute a practical zero.

For the latency test, data is collected on a pre-defined line up a steep slope or over a well defined
object (such as a rock or small wreck). The line is surveyed at survey speed up the slope, and then
surveyed again, in the same direction, but at a speed that should be half of the survey speed. If the
vessel cannot make way at half survey speed then the fast run will need to be taken at a higher
speed than normal survey speed and this can influence the latency test due to squat or settlement.
The main consideration is that one line should be twice the speed of the other.

Figure 92: Latency Data collection

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10.2.2 Roll Test
The data collection for roll has to be over a flat sea floor. One line is surveyed twice, in reciprocal
directions and at survey speed.

When the data, from the two data collections, are looked at in
profile, there will be two seafloors sloped in opposite
directions. Most patch test programs will go through a series of
iterations to determine when the difference between the two
surfaces is the smallest, and this is the roll offset.

Figure 94: Roll data collections

Figure 93: Roll data collection Roll is perhaps the most critical value in the patch test routine
as an error in roll will result in an error in sounding depths.
However, the computation to determine the roll misalignment is usually the easiest and most
consistent.

Sounding Error due to +0.5° Roll Error in 20 metres depth

0.60

0.40
Depth Error in Metres

0.20

0.00
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
-0.20

-0.40

-0.60
Degrees from Nadir

Graph 1: Depth errors due to incorrect roll alignment

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10.2.3 Pitch Test
The pitch data collection is over the same type of sea floor as the latency data collection, i.e. steep
slope or feature on the sea floor. One line is surveyed, twice, in reciprocal directions at survey
speed. It is very critical that the sonar head passes over the same exact part of the slope on each
run.

A profile of the data will show two different slopes,

which represent the reciprocal data collections. The
patch test software goes through a series of
iterations of pitch angle corrections until the
difference between the two surfaces reaches a null.
Whatever the angle of correction, which results in
the minima or null, that angle will be reported as the
pitch misalignment.

Figure 95: Pitch data collections

A pitch error will result in a an along –track position error, which increases greatly with depth

Position Errors due to Pitch

Alignment Errors
6
Sounding Position Error (metres)

4
1.0° Error
3
0.75° Error
2 0.5° Error
1 0.25° Error

0
0 100 200 300 400
Water Depth (metres)

Graph 2: Position errors as a result of pitch misalignment; error can be either negative or positive

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10.2.4 Yaw Test
The yaw data collection and subsequent solving for the yaw offset is usually the most difficult of the
4 tests that comprise a patch test. This is especially true if a slope is used for the yaw computation; a
feature generally works much better. The reason for this is that the area that is used for the
computation is not directly under the vessel, but in the outer beams and the slope may not be
perfectly perpendicular in relation to the course of the vessel.

For the Yaw data collection two parallel lines are

used, with the vessel surveying in the same
direction on those lines. The lines are to be on
either side of a sea floor feature or over a slope.
The lines should be approximately 2 – 3 times
water depth in separation. A yaw error will result
in a depth position error, which increase with the
distance away from nadir.

Figure 96: Yaw data collection

Position Error with a Heading Error of 0.50°

6

Water Depth
2
Along-track Position Error in Metres

200 metres
150 metres
0 100metre
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
50 metre
-2 25 metres
10 metres

-4

-6
Angle from Nadir

Graph 3: Along track position error caused by 0.5° error in yaw patch test
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 Position Error with a Heading Error of 1.0°
10

6
Water Depth
4
Along-track Position Error in Metres

200 metres
2
150 metres
0 100metre
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 50 metre
-2
25 metres
-4 10 metres

-6

-8

-10
Angle from Nadir

Graph 4: Along-track position error caused by 1.0° error in yaw patch test error

10.3 Solving for the Patch Test

Depending on the data collection software that is employed and how it solves for the patch test,
there will be a distinct order that the tests will be solved for, but this does not influence the data
collection for the patch test. In general, latency will be solved before pitch; roll will be solved for
before yaw. It is not uncommon that a larger than expected error in one of the tests will make it
necessary to go back and resolve for all previous values. This can be the case with a large yaw offset,
as this will influence to a greater degree the accuracy of the latency and pitch computations if done
using a slope.

The resultant patch test values are corrections that are entered in the data collection software and
not in the Sonic 2024/2022 software, as the values are used for process data.

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APPENDIX V: Basic Acoustic Theory

Figure 97: In 1822 Daniel Colloden used an underwater bell to calculate the speed of sound under water in Lake Geneva,
Switzerland at 1435 m/Sec, which is very close to recent measurements.

11 Introduction
With multibeam, as with any echosounder, a main concern is: sound in water. Once the projector
transmits the acoustic energy into the water, many factors influence that energy’s velocity and
coherence. The major influence is the velocity of sound in water.

11.1 Sound Velocity

The major influence on the propagation of acoustic energy is the sound velocity of the water
column. As the acoustic pulse passes through the water column, the velocity and direction
(refraction) of the wave front will vary based on the water column sound velocity. If the sound
velocity, through the water column, is not accounted for in the data collection software the depths
and the depth location will be in error. For this reason, sound velocity casts are an oft repeated
routine during multibeam survey.

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Figure 98: Concept of refraction due to different sound velocities in the water column

The velocity of sound in water varies both horizontally and vertically. It cannot be assumed that the
velocity of sound in the water column remains constant over large areas or throughout the day in a
more local area. The main influences on sound velocity are: Conductivity (salinity), Temperature and
Depth (pressure).

1 ° C change in Temperature = 4.0 m/sec change in velocity

1 ppt change in Salinity = 1.4 m/sec change in velocity
100 m change in Depth (10 atm’s pressure) = 1.7 m/sec change in velocity

Figure 99: Sound velocity profile

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11.1.1 Salinity
Generally, salinity ranges from 32 – 38 parts per thousand (ppt) in ocean water. A change in salinity
will create density changes, which affect the velocity of sound. As a general rule, a change in salinity
of only 1 ppt can cause a sound velocity change of 1.4m/sec. There are many influences on the
salinity concentration in sea water.

1. Evaporation
2. Precipitation
3. Fresh water influx from rivers
4. Tidal effects (salt wedges)

11.1.2 Temperature
Temperature is the major influence on sound velocity in water. A 1°C change is equal to
approximately a 4m/sec change in velocity. Once the upper layer is passed, the temperature
normally decreases until pressure becomes the more dominating influence on the velocity of sound,
which is approximately at 1000 metres. The normal influences on the temperature component of
sound velocity include:

1. Solar heating
2. Night time cooling
3. Rain / run off
4. Upwelling

11.1.3 Refraction Errors

Refraction errors occur due to the wrong sound velocity profile being applied to the data. The error
increases away from nadir and, as such, is more apparent in the outer beams. The visual effect is
that the swath will curl up (smile) or curl down (frown). The actual representation is that the
soundings are either too shallow or too deep.

Figure 100: Refraction Error indication

At an angle of 45° in 10 meters of water, a ±10 meters per second velocity error will result in a depth
error on the order of ± 4.6 cm. .

• Convex (smiley face) = Sound velocity profile used higher than real profile
• Concave (frown face) = Sound velocity profile used lower than real profile

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11.2 Transmission Losses
The transmission of an acoustic pulse is generally called a ‘ping’. When the projector sends out the
acoustic pulse many factors operate on that pulse as it moves through the water column to the
bottom and also on its return upward. The major influence of the water column sound velocity
characteristics was detailed above; this affects the speed of transmission (and return). There are
other influences that will affect acoustic energy in water and these are transmission losses.

11.2.1 Spreading Loss

Spreading loss does not represent a loss of energy, but refers to fact that the propagation of the
acoustic pulse is such that the energy is simply spread over a progressively larger surface area, thus
reducing its density. Spreading loss is not frequency dependent.

11.2.1.1 Spherical Spreading

Spherical spreading loss is the decrease in the source level if there are no boundaries (such as the
water surface or sea floor) to influence the acoustic energy; all of the acoustic energy spreads out
evenly, in all directions, from the source. The loss in intensity is proportional to the surface area of
the sphere. The intensity decreases as the inverse square of the range for spherical spreading. With
Spherical spreading, the transmission loss is given as: TL = 20log(R), where R is range

Point Source
of Acoustic
Energy

Figure 101: Concept of Spherical Spreading

11.2.1.2 Cylindrical Spreading

In reality the acoustic energy cannot propagate in all directions due to boundaries such as the sea
floor and the water surface; this give rise to Cylindrical Spreading. Cylindrical spreading is when the
acoustic energy encounters upper and lower boundaries and is ‘trapped’ within these boundaries;
the sound energy begins to radiate more horizontally away from the source. With Cylindrical
spreading the acoustic energy level decreases more slowly than with Spherical spreading. With
Cylindrical spreading, the transmission loss is given as: TL = 10log(R), where R is range.

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 Figure 102: Concept of Cylindrical Spreading

11.2.2 Absorption
Absorption is frequency dependent and refers to the conversion of acoustic energy to heat when it
strikes chemically distinct molecules in the water column. Magnesium Sulphate MgSO4
predominates, with Boric Acid B(OH)3 playing a major part at lower frequencies. Temperature is also
an influence on absorption. Absorption is one of the key factors in the attenuation of the acoustic
energy based on frequency; the higher the frequency, the greater the absorption. The higher the
sonar operating frequency, the more rapid the vibration (or excitement) of the particles in the water
and this leads to the greater transference of acoustic energy; thus, the attenuation of the acoustic
wave. This is the reason why lower frequencies are used to obtain deeper data. At 400 kHz, the
normal seawater absorption is approximately 100 dB/km, whereas at 200kHz the absorption is
approximately 50 dB/km. These are values for normal sea water (with a salinity of 35 ppt). Fresh
water has little, if any salinity (<0.5ppt), so absorption is considerably less.

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The below table and charts illustrate how frequency, water temperature, and salinity affect
absorption

Seawater Absorption Values: Salinity = 35ppt, pH=8 2

dB/km
400kHz 200kHz
Temp (C) 5° 10° 15° 20° 25° 5° 10° 15° 20° 25°
Depth (m)
50 97 100 111 130 154 46 56 68 80 89
100 96 100 110 128 153 46 55 67 79 88
150 96 99 110 128 152 46 55 66 78 88
200 95 99 109 127 151 45 55 66 78 87
250 95 98 109 126 150 45 54 66 77 86
300 95 98 108 125 149 45 54 65 77 86
400m 44 53 64 76 84
Mean Value 96 99 110 127 152 45 55 66 78 87

Freshwater Absorption Values: Salinity = 0.5ppt, pH=7

dB/km
400kHz 200kHz
Temp (C) 5° 10° 15° 20° 25° 5° 10° 15° 20° 25°
Depth (m)
50 65 55 46 39 33 17 14 12 10 9
100 65 54 46 38 33 17 14 12 10 9
150 65 54 45 38 33 17 14 12 10 9
200 65 54 45 38 32 17 14 12 10 9
250 65 54 45 38 32 16 14 12 10 9
300 64 54 45 38 32 16 14 12 10 9

Mean Value 65 54 45 38 33 17 14 12 10 9
Table 10: Absorption Values for Seawater and Freshwater at 400 kHz and 200 kHz

2
Equation used for computation is from: Ainslie M.A., McColm J.G., “A simplified formula for viscous and
chemical absorption in sea water”, Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 103(3), 1671-1672 as employed
on the NPL website, op cit.
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 160
Frequency and Temperature Influence on Seawater
140 Absorption

120
400kHz
Absorption dB/km

100 200kHz

80

60
Mean values for water
depths from 50 metres to
40 300 metres (400 metres
for 200 kHz)

20

0
Degrees Celsuis 5° 10° 15° 20° 25°

Graph 5: Seawater Absorption (Salinity 35ppt)

70
Frequency and Temperature Influence on Freshwater
60 Absorption
400 kHz
50
Absorption dB/km

200 kHz
40 Mean values for
water depths
from 50 metres
30 to 300 metres
(
20

10

0
Degrees Celsius 5° 10° 15° 20° 25°

Graph 6: Freshwater Absorption

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 Seawater Absorption dB/km

Freq. 10°C 15°C 20°C 25°C

200 55 67 80 89

210 57 69 82 94

220 59 71 85 97

230 61 74 88 101

240 63 76 91 105

250 65 78 94 109

260 67 80 96 113

270 69 82 99 116

280 71 84 101 120

290 73 86 104 123

300 75 88 106 126

310 78 91 108 129

320 80 93 111 132

330 82 95 113 135

340 85 97 115 138

350 87 99 118 141

360 90 102 120 143

370 92 104 122 146

380 95 106 125 149

390 98 109 127 152

400 100 111 129 154

Table 11: Operating Frequency - water temperature - absorption

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11.2.3 Reverberation and Scattering
The sea is not homogenous in nature. Everything from suspended dust particles to fish, from the sea
surface to the sea floor will scatter, that is reradiate, the acoustic energy. All of the effects of
individual scattering can be termed reverberation. The effect of reverberation is to lessen the
acoustic energy and this leads to transmission losses.

Reverberation is divided into three main areas: sea surface reverberation, bottom reverberation,
and volume reverberation (the body of water that the energy is passing through).

Both the sea surface and the sea bottom will reflect and scatter sound, thus affecting the
propagation of sound. Sea surface scattering is influenced by how rough the sea is (which is related
to wind velocity) and also the trapped air bubbles in the near surface region. The sea surface is also
a good reflector of acoustic energy; this can lead to second and even tertiary bottom returns as the
bottom return acoustic energy is reflected by the sea surface and is then reflected once more by the
sea bottom.

In the case of the sea floor, the strength of the scattering depends on the type of bottom
(composition and roughness), the grazing angle of the acoustic pulse and the operating frequency of
the sonar.

There is also bottom absorption based on the sea floor terrain and composition. Bottom absorption
is also dependent on the operating frequency of the sonar and the angle of incidence. Bottom
absorption will be greater for a higher frequency and large angle of incidence. It is more or less
intuitive that a mud bottom will absorb more of the acoustic energy than a rocky bottom. When the
acoustic energy is absorbed it means there is less that will be reflected back to the Sonic
2024/2022’s receivers. The surveyor must be aware of the bottom composition as adjustments can
be made to the Sonic 2024/2022 operating parameters to help compensate for the bottom
absorption.

In waters with a large sediment load, the suspended particles will scatter the sound wave, thus
leading to transmission loss. In the scattering process, there is also a degree of energy that it is
reflected (backscatter); this can be a cause for ‘noise’ in the sonar data. Again, the surveyor should
be aware of this condition and, if need be, change the operating parameters of the Sonic 2024/2022.
When discussing the changing of the operating parameters, it is generally a matter of increasing
transmit power or pulse length to get more total power into the water. In some circumstances,
increasing the Absorption value will allow the system to rapidly increase gain to capture the
reflected energy that has been dissipated by seafloor absorption or scattering in the water column.

As noted above many of the effects of absorption, scattering, and bottom absorption are frequency
dependent. With the Sonic 2024/2022, the operator can adjust the sonar frequency to optimise the
system for the survey conditions. This will take some trial and error; however, lower frequencies
tend to do best in areas of absorbent bottom and high sediment load (scatter).

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Appendix VI ROV and AUV Installation
12 Sonic 2024/2022 Mounting: Sub-Surface (ROV/AUV)

12.1 Installation Considerations

• A 1000BASE-T link (best time sync accuracy) is preferred; however, with bathymetry only
information, 100BASE-T will work. 10BASE-T will also work, but is not recommended. Bathy
data requires 2 Mb/s data rate at a maximum ping rate of 60 pings/sec. For future
compatibility, please use 100BASE-T at minimum, Snippets will not work with 10BASE-T;
however, Snippets will work over a 100BASE-T link.
• Average power, for a Sonic 2024 is 50W (1A), peak is 100W (2A); for a Sonic 2022 it is 35W
(0.73A), peak is 75W (1.5A). The peak power of 100W (75W) occurs just after transmit and
typically lasts for a few msecs (depends on transmitter power setting). If you use a separate
power supply for the sonar, we recommend using a 120 to 150W power source to supply the
head, but less if installing a Sonic 2022.
• The sonar up/down link is all done through the Ethernet channel. Thus, no other hardware is
required except for the Ethernet media converters (copper to fibre, fibre to copper). As a
precaution, placing additional filtering on the output of the 48V supply to the sonar head is a
good idea to prevent vehicle electronic noise from getting into the sonar head. A common
mode choke, on the 48V line, is recommended. The Bourns (JW Miller) PM3700-50-RC
common mode choke works well (surface mount part). A Bourns 8102-RC choke, which is
easier to install (non-surface mount) can also be used.
• The supplied deck cable is a special cable with Ethernet pairs which are rated to 3000 meters
water depth. Do not substitute this cable, as the Ethernet data pairs need to meet certain
important specifications. When terminating the Ethernet connections to your own
connector, the Ethernet twisted pairs need to terminate right at the connector pins,
maintaining the twist on the wires as close to the connector pins as possible. On the
bulkhead connector, use CAT5, or better Ethernet cable, from the connector, to the
Ethernet media converter. Use adjacent pins for each wire pair. If 100BASE (or 10BASE)
Ethernet is used, only the green and orange pairs are required. All four pairs, including blue
and brown, are only required when using gigabit Ethernet.
• Using a connector with a pigtail spliced on to the deck leads’ Ethernet pairs has a low
probability of working. If the deck lead must be terminated to a pigtail, the pigtail length
must be as short as possible, probably no more than 7-8cm. There are no special
considerations for the power conductors other than the connector being able to handle
48VDC and 2 amperes. The drain (shield) wire does not need to be terminated.

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12.1.1 Ethernet wiring considerations
The sonar head and SIM use gigabit Ethernet ports. There are rules, regarding number of pairs of
wire to use, between different Ethernet ports, those rules are:

• Gigabit to Gigabit

Need all four pairs. If only two pairs used, in an attempt to force the ports to 100BASE-T, the
ports will not negotiate and the result will be no connection. Sometimes it's not obvious if a port
is Gigabit enabled; try connecting unknown ports to a gigabit Ethernet switch and see what
speed it connects at via the status lights on the switch.

• Gigabit to 100BASE-T

Two pairs (green and orange on TIA/EIA-568-B wiring) can be used. Be sure to test this with a
modified patch cable (cut the brown and blue pairs) before committing to the chosen Ethernet
equipment as there may be surprises hidden in the equipment.

• 100BASE-T to 100BASE-T:
You can use two pairs (green and orange, T568B).

When connecting to the SIM, use either of the AUX Ethernet ports for the sonar head Ethernet
connection.

12.2 Data Rates

Bathy: ≈800 kb/s max (bathy data is sent twice, to GUI and data acquisition computer)
Snippets: ≈11Mb/s max
TruePix™: ≈ 5.5 Mb/s (magnitude +angle) max
≈ 3.5 Mb/s (magnitude) max
Water Column: ≈280 Mb/s max for magnitude only
≈560 Mb/s max for magnitude + phase
AI(FLS): Depends on GUI wedge size; more information will be added

The data rate, for water column data, can be significantly reduced by increasing the pulse width. At
certain pulse widths, the receiver sampling rate halves, which will make the water column data rate
halve.

As an example:

Pulse width 15µsec - 30µsec: 65 kHz sample rate = Ethernet: 35 Mb/sec (amplitude) 280 Mb/s
(amplitude and phase)
Pulse width 35µsec - 70µsec: 32.5 kHz sample rate = Ethernet: 17.5 Mb/s (amplitude), 140 Mb/s
(amplitude and phase)

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12.3 ROV Installation Examples

Figure 103: Single Head ROV Installation scheme A

Figure 104: Single Head ROV Installation scheme B (Preferred)

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 Figure 105: Dual Head ROV Installation scheme A

Figure 106: Dual Head ROV Installation scheme B (Preferred)

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12.4 Power Requirements
The basic over the side installation of the Sonic 2022 and 2024 systems consists of the sonar head,
projector, SIM box, sound velocity probe, and interconnecting cables. The sonar head, SIM, and
computer(s) communicate via 100BASE-T or 1000BASE-T (Gigabit) full duplex Ethernet.

Installation in an ROV requires an Ethernet media converter to convert copper to fibre optic and
back to copper media to accommodate long tethers. On shorter ROV tethers (less than 1000
metres), using impedance controlled twisted-pair copper wire and a DSL modem may be possible.

Remote or autonomous vehicles typically supply the 48 volt power to the sonar head, and if
required, the SIM Controller board.

Device Power Conditions

2024 with SIM 95 to 260VAC, 75 W 2024 head connected to SIM, equivalent to
over the side installation.
Conditions: 30m range, Tx power = 215 dB,
pulse width = 50us.
2022 with SIM 95 to 260VAC, 54 W 2022 head connected to SIM, equivalent to
over the side installation.
Conditions: 30m range, Tx power = 215 dB,
pulse width = 50us.
SIM 95 to 260VAC, 16.5 W No connections to SIM
2024 head at 48V 30m range, Tx power = 215 dB, pulse width =
1.05 A average 50us.
1.77 A peak after transmit
2022 head at 48V 30m range, Tx power = 215 dB, pulse width =
0.70 A average 50us.
1.34 A peak
SIM control 48V, 78mA (gigabit) No connections except Ethernet.
board 48V, 51mA (100BASE-T)
Table 12: Systems Power Requirements

In an ROV or AUV installation, the sonar head and SIM Controller board require 48VDC which is
supplied by the vehicle power system. The average power required is 50 watts for the 2024, 35
watts for the 2022. Just after transmit, an additional 50 watts is required to charge the transmit
capacitor bank for a brief period of time. See Fig. 101 and Fig. 102 for current waveforms. If a
separate power supply for the sonar is required, it should be rated for 120 to 150 watts or higher.

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Figure 107: Sonic 2024 power supply current waveform. Peak current is 1.770A at 48V. Sonar settings: pulse width =
100us, Tx Power = 221dB, Freq = 400 kHz.

Figure 108: Sonic 2022 power supply current waveform. Peak current is 1.340A at 48V. Sonar setting: pulse width =
100us, Tx Power = 221dB, Freq = 400 kHz.

Figure 109: Inrush current to 2024 head during power up, 20 ms window.

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 Figure 110: Inrush current to the 2024 head during power up, 1 second window.

12.4.1 Common mode noise rejection

Common mode noise on the 48VDC power line to the sonar head should be minimized. The SIM
Controller board has a common mode choke on the power line to the sonar head. If sonar head
power is not supplied by the SIM Controller board, install a common mode choke on the sonar head
48VDC power line. A suitable common mode choke is JW Miller (Bourns) 8102-RC. This is available
from Digi-Key. See Fig. 106 for wiring details

Figure 111: Power supply choke installation on 48VDC power

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12.4.2 SIM Power connections

Figure 112: SIM Controller Power Connections

Figure 113: J6 Connector on SIM Controller board

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12.5 SIM Installation – ROV
The SIM can be installed either top-side or in the vehicle. There are advantages to both methods
which depend on the multiplexer capabilities. For SIM installation in the vehicle, the SIM Controller
board may be removed from the SIM or supplied as an additional item. The SIM controller board
uses a PC/104 size format, but does not use the PC/104 bus.

Figure 114: ROV installation block diagram with the SIM top-side

Figure 115: ROV installation block diagram with the SIM controller board mounted in the vehicle electronics bottle and
GPS (ZDA or UTC formats) and PPS signals are supplied by top-side equipment

Figure 116: ROV installation block diagram with the SIM controller board mounted in the vehicle electronics bottle. GPS
(ZDA or UTC formats) and PPS signals are supplied by the vehicle time system.

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12.6 SIM Installation – AUV
The circuit boards, inside the SIM, can be supplied separately as shown in Fig 5-2. The three boards
use a PC/104 size format, but does not use the PC/104 bus. The three boards are the I/O board
where the customer connects time, motion and sound velocity sensors; SIM Controller board; and a
gigabit Ethernet switch.

It’s best that the SIM Controller board supply power to the sonar head as the controller board has a
common mode choke for the 48 VDC power to the sonar head and the SIM Controller board can
control power to sonar head. If the customer uses their own custom data acquisition software, a list
of commands for the sonar head and SIM are in Appendix VII. The uplink data format is provided in
Appendix VIII.

Figure 117: Typical wiring. GPS (ZDA or UTC formats) and PPS signals are supplied by the vehicle time system

Figure 118: SIM Board Stacks

SIM board stacks:

Top board: I/O (DB-9 connectors can either be horizontal or vertical entry)
Middle board: SIM controller
Bottom board: Gigabit, 5-Port, Ethernet switch

BNC connector: GPS PPS input

SMB connectors: sync in and out

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12.7 SIM Board Physical Installation
1. Power requirements: 48VDC, 50 watts average, 100 watts peak.
2. All boards are static sensitive. People handling the boards should be properly grounded.
3. User has the option to use the I/O board or not. The I/O board is connected to the SIM
Controller Board via a ribbon connector (SIM Controller J6 and I/O board J14).
4. For an AUV setup, the Ethernet connections are not used on the I/O board. The Ethernet
connections are made directly to the Ethernet Switch board.
5. If the I/O board is not used, direct connections to J6, on the SIM Controller, can be made (see Fig
107). One level of static protection is removed if the I/O Board is not used; however, there is
enough protection for small static events on J6.

12.7.1 SIM Board Dimensional Information

Dimensions are given are in inches [millimetres]

Figure 119: SIM Controller Board installation dimensions

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12.7.2 SIM Board Images

Figure 120: Assembled SIM Boards

Figure 121: SIM Boards height

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12.8 Dual Sonar Head
12.8.1 Dual Head Installation
The R2Sonic family of multibeams can be installed in a dual head configuration, either pointing
inwards or directed outwardly, depending on the customer’s survey task. In dual head mode, the
individual sonar heads can either ping simultaneously (with frequency offset) or alternate pings
(same frequency). The dual head configuration is comprised of two sonar heads, two SIM boxes and
one Sonic Control 2000.

Two SIM boxes are used, but only one is the master (SIM1). SIM1 will be the SIM to take in all of the
serial data as well as the PPS; SIM2 only provides power to the second sonar head. SIM2 is
connected to SIM1 via an Ethernet cable to one of the RJ45 ports on SIM1.

12.8.2 Operation

12.8.2.1 Load Dual Head Factory Default Settings

The factory default settings, for dual head mode, will populate the default IP addresses and UDP
ports for all systems. Go to File |Load Settings, there will be three .ini files; load
FactorySettingsDualHead.ini.

Figure 122: Default .ini settings file

Go to Settings| Network settings to enter the serial numbers for the dual head system.

Figure 123: Dual head IP and UDP defaults

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 12.8.2.2 Dual Head – Same Frequency – Alternating ping
To operate the dual sonar heads on the same frequency it is necessary to coordinate the transmit
and receive periods so there is no interference. Operating in the ‘Ping-Pong’ mode will halve the
ping rate for each head, but the user gains identical acoustic resolution (such as backscatter) for
both sonar heads. Please see Section 5.3.6 for head synchronisation settings.

12.8.2.3 Dual Head – Dual Frequency – Simultaneous ping

Offsetting the operating frequencies, of both heads, allows the user to ping both heads
simultaneously. The amount of frequency separation depends mostly on the manner in which the
sonar heads have been installed and, to a lesser extent, environmental factors. Usually, the
maximum separation required is 60 – 80kHz and can be less.

Figure 124: Dual-sonar head ping modes

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Appendix VII Sonic Control Commands
13 R2Sonic Control Commands

13.1 Introduction
This describes the commands sent from the user interface to the sonar head and SIM.
Head firmware version 14-Mar-2011 and SIM firmware version 08-Apr-2010 utilize the commands in
this document. Future versions of firmware will adhere to this format and may include additional
commands.
Older versions of head and SIM firmware are not compatible with this format.

13.2 General Notes

1. These formats are designed for easy 4-byte alignment. Be sure your compiler/linker doesn't
insert any extra padding between values. If necessary, use your compiler's "packed" directive.
2. All values have big-endian byte order. Your compiler may provide conversion functions such as
htonl, htons, ntohl, ntohs, however those assume integers so you'll need to be very careful with
floats.
3. u32 means unsigned integer, 32 bits.
f32 means IEEE-754 32-bit floating point.
4. All packets are UDP/IP datagrams.
5. It’s recommended that all commands be sent periodically, at a 1 to 0.5 Hz rate. This ensures that
the sonar head and SIM always have the proper settings should a power interruption occur.

13.2.1 Ethernet Port Numbers

Head & SIM status & command port = Baseport +2
GUI command port = 56232 (fixed port number)

13.2.2 Type Definitions

typedef unsigned int u32;

typedef float f32;

13.2.3 Command Packet Format

Pseudo C format for commands:

// *** BEGIN PACKET: COMMAND FORMAT 0 ***

u32 PacketName; // 'CMD0'

// Command (for network efficiency, the packet can contain multiple commands,
// but ensure the IP datagram reaches the sonar unfragmented).

u32 CommandName; // example 'RNG0' to set range

x32 CommandValue; // a 4-byte value such as u32 or f32

// *** END PACKET: COMMAND FORMAT 0 ***

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13.3 Head Commands, Binary Format
Cmd Format Units Values Description

ABS0 f32 dB/km 0 to 200 Absorption

AIB0 f32 dB 0 to 60 Acoustic image brightness

AIH0 u32 lines 0 = off Acoustic imagery height. Set to

display wedge radius in pixels.
wedge radius in pixels Head will return requested lines
or less, usually less. Larger values
will increase Ethernet data rate.

AUT0 u32 Flag bits [7:0] auto power (not functional)

0x00000001 = auto power on [15:8] auto gain (not functional)

0x00000100 = auto gain on [23:16] auto range

0x00010000 = auto range on [31:24] spare

Auto power/gain work in tandem, thus both

are enabled/disabled at same time.

BIE0 u32 0 = off Bathy intensity enable

1 = on

BMAX f32 metres 0 to 999 Max range filter

Head default = 999

Depricated 12 Dec 2011, see

RGB0
BMIN f32 metres 0 to 500 Min range filter

Head default = 0

Depricated 12 Dec 2011, see

RGA0

BOS0 u32 0 = Equiangle Bottom sampling

1 = Equidistant

DGA0 f32 metres 0 to 500 depth gate min

DGB0 f32 metres 0 to 500 depth gate max

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 Cmd Format Units Values Description

DGO0 u32 0x00000000 = gates off Depth gates control. Manual

gates mode require DGA0, DGB0,
0x00000001 = manual gates DGS0 to be set. In auto gates
0x0000ww02 = auto gates mode, a peak percentage value
for gate width must be supplied in
0x0000ww03 = auto gate/slope bits [15:8] in this command.

where ww = gate width in ±

percent of depth (5% to 90%)

DGS0 f32 radians -π/2 to +π/2 depth gate slope

DHM0 u32 0 = single head Head sync mode

1 = master simultaneous, dual
2 = master alternating, dual (single and dual head modes)
3 = slave simultaneous, dual
4 = slave alternating,dual
DYNA u32 0xaabbbccc Generates a moving simulated
aa = spare bottom for testing auto gate
bbb = slope control features.
ccc = depth control
Three control bits:
ex: 0x003d0523 shows a
bottom at 5m depth which [0:0] = magnitude (0-f)
wobbles.
[1:1] = ∆ magnitude (0-f)

[2:2] = rate of change (0-f)

*DYNA is also supported as an ASCII command

(enter hex digits without the ‘0x’)

FILT u32 0 = off FILT is depricated. Do not use (10

1 = range Mar 2011). Use DGO0, RGA0,
2 = depth RGB0.
3 = range & depth
FRQ0 f32 Hz 200000 to 400000 Frequency

GAN0 f32 1 to 45 Rcvr gain. gain in dB = setting * 2

PNG0 u32 1 = emit one ping only Manual ping. Each time this
command is sent, sonar will emit
one ping.

PRL0 f32 Hz 0.1 to 60 Ping rate limit user-value

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 Cmd Format Units Values Description

PRO0 u32 0 = projector forward Projector orientation

1 = projector aft
PROJ u32 0 = none Projector type selector
1 = narrow (1°)
2 = wide (20°) (only in FLS
mode)
PRU0 u32 0 = off Ping rate limit user-enable
1 = on
PRZ0 f32 metres -1.0 to +1.0 Projector mounting Z offset

Default = 0.119

RET0 f32 radians -45° to +45° Receiver tilt

RGA0 f32 metres 0 to 500 Min range filter, was BMIN

Head default = 0

RGB0 f32 metres 0 to 999 Min range filter, was BMAX

Head default = 999

RGO0 u32 0 = range gates off Range gate enable

1 = range gates on
RNG0 f32 metres 2 to 500 Range

ROS0 u32 0 = off Roll stabilization enable

1 = on
SER0 f32 radians -70° to +70° Sector rotate.

Wedge edges must not go beyond

±80°

SEW0 f32 radians 10° to 160° Sector width

SNIP u32 0 = off Snippets enable

1 = on
SPR0 f32 0 to 60 Spreading loss
typically 20
SVL0 f32 m/s 1250 to 1600 Sound velocity user-value

SVU0 u32 0 = use SVP Sound velocity user-enable

1 = user value
TPG0 u32 0 = disable TruePix gates TruePix gates
1 = use bathy gate max
2 = use bathy gates min & max
TPM0 u32 0 = off TruePix mode.
1 = mag only
2 = mag & angle

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 Cmd Format Units Values Description

TRG0 u32 0 = free running Ping trigger source. Required, SIM

1 = external trigger, SIM sync in command SYI0.
2 = standby, wait for PNG0
cmd.
TWIX u32 0 = flat bottom Bottom type
1 = vertical features
TXL0 f32 seconds 0 to 1000µs Pulse length

TXP0 f32 dB//1µPa 0, 191 to 221 Transmitter power

WCM0 u32 0 = off Water column data. warning, high

1 = mag only speed data, up to 70MB/s.
2 = mag & phase

Changes:

12 Dec 2011

Added: AIB0, AIH0, SYNC, TRG0, PNG0, RGA0, RGB0, RGO0

Depricated: BMIN, BMAX

Removed: FILT, MIM0

09 Mar 2012 added: TPM0, TPG0

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13.4 SIM Commands, Binary Format

Cmd Format Units Values Description

BDG0 u32 bps standard baud rates GPS baud

300 to 115200
BDM0 u32 bps standard baud rates Motion baud
300 to 115200
BDS0 u32 bps standard baud rates SVP baud
300 to 115200
DBG0 u32 7 or 8 GPS data bits

DBH0 u32 7 or 8 Heading data bits

DBM0 u32 7 or 8 Motion data bits

DBS0 u32 7 or 8 SVP data bits

DRG0 u32 0 = auto GPS driver

DRH0 u32 0 = auto Heading driver

DRM0 u32 0 = auto Motion driver

DRS0 u32 0 = auto SVP driver

ENG0 u32 0 = off GPS serial port enable

1 = on
ENH0 u32 0 = off Heading serial port enable
1 = on
ENM0 u32 0 = off Motion serial port enable
1 = on
ENS0 u32 0 = off SVP serial port enable
1 = on
PAG0 u32 0 = none GPS parity
1 = odd
2 = even
PAH0 u32 0 = none Heading parity
1 = odd
2 = even
PAM0 u32 0 = none Motion parity
1 = odd
2 = even
PAS0 u32 0 = none SVP parity
1 = odd
2 = even

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 Cmd Format Units Values Description

POG0 u32 0 = rising PPS edge. Sync on time message

1 = falling will sync to the RS232 message.
2 = sync on time message (no PPS pulse is not used.
PPS)
SPO0 u32 0 = head power off Sonar head power
1 = head power on
SYI0 u32 0 = off Sync in mode. Middle of transmit
1 = rising edge trigger pulse is offset by +10ms from
2 = falling edge trigger trigger edge. Required, Head TRG0
command.

SYO0 u32 0 = rises at center of tx pulse, Sync out mode. always active.
falls at end of rcv
1 = falls at center of tx pulse,
risess at end of rcv
2 = off

Changes:

12 Dec 2011
Added: SYI0, SYO0

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13.5 Command Examples Sent to the Sonar Head and SIM
Example of commands sent to the sonar head every two seconds. Columns after the command are
hex, integer, and floating point representations of the data sent for each command

PacketName: CMD0

Command: ABS0 0x42a00000 1117782016 80.000000

Command: SPR0 0x41f00000 1106247680 30.000000

Command: SVL0 0x44bb8000 1153138688 1500.000000

Command: SVU0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: RGO0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: AUT0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: RNG0 0x41a00000 1101004800 20.000000

Command: GAN0 0x41500000 1095761920 13.000000

Command: FRQ0 0x48c35000 1220759552 400000.000000

Command: TXP0 0x433f0000 1128202240 191.000000

Command: TXL0 0x37a7c5ac 933741996 0.000020

Command: SEW0 0x40060a92 1074137746 2.094395

Command: DGA0 0x40a8f312 1084814098 5.279672

Command: DGB0 0x410cca8f 1091357327 8.799453

Command: DGS0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: DGO0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: PRL0 0x3f800000 1065353216 1.000000

Command: PRU0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: RET0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: PRO0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: PRZ0 0x3df3b646 1039382086 0.119000

Command: SER0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: BOS0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: TWIX 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: PROJ 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: ROS0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: DHM0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: SNIP 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: BIE0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: AIH0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: AIB0 0x40c00000 1086324736 6.000000

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 Command: WCM0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: TPM0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: TPG0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: TRG0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: STM0 0x00000002 2 0.000000

Example of commands sent to the SIM every two seconds. Columns after the command are hex,
integer, and floating point representations of the data sent for each command

PacketName: CMD0

Command: ENG0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: BDG0 0x00002580 9600 0.000000

Command: DBG0 0x00000008 8 0.000000

Command: DRG0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: PAG0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: SBG0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: POG0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: SYI0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: SYO0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: ENH0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: BDH0 0x00002580 9600 0.000000

Command: DBH0 0x00000008 8 0.000000

Command: DRH0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: PAH0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: SBH0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: ENM0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: IPM0 0x0a00002f 167772207 0.000000

Command: POM0 0x00001388 5000 0.000000

Command: BDM0 0x00009600 38400 0.000000

Command: DBM0 0x00000008 8 0.000000

Command: DRM0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: PAM0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: SBM0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: ENS0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: BDS0 0x00002580 9600 0.000000

Command: DBS0 0x00000008 8 0.000000

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 Command: DRS0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: PAS0 0x00000000 0 0.000000

Command: SBS0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: SPO0 0x00000001 1 0.000000

Command: STM0 0x00000002 2 0.000000

Example of UDP/IP Ethernet packet of commands sent to the sonar head.

First 42 characters are Ethernet header information. Characters after 29h are commands

0000 00 50 c2 90 43 3d 00 e0 81 2e be 88 08 00 45 00 .P..C=........E.
0010 01 40 7b 73 40 00 80 11 00 00 0a 00 01 66 0a 00 .@{[email protected]..
0020 00 56 06 a1 ff de 01 2c df c3 43 4d 44 30 41 42 .V.....,..CMD0AB
0030 53 30 42 a0 00 00 53 50 52 30 41 f0 00 00 53 56 S0B...SPR0A...SV
0040 4c 30 44 bb 80 00 53 56 55 30 00 00 00 00 52 47 L0D...SVU0....RG
0050 4f 30 00 00 00 00 41 55 54 30 00 00 00 00 52 4e O0....AUT0....RN
0060 47 30 41 a0 00 00 47 41 4e 30 41 50 00 00 46 52 G0A...GAN0AP..FR
0070 51 30 48 c3 50 00 54 58 50 30 43 3f 00 00 54 58 Q0H.P.TXP0C?..TX
0080 4c 30 37 a7 c5 ac 53 45 57 30 40 06 0a 92 44 47 [email protected]
0090 41 30 40 a8 f3 12 44 47 42 30 41 0c ca 8f 44 47 [email protected]
00a0 53 30 00 00 00 00 44 47 4f 30 00 00 00 01 50 52 S0....DGO0....PR
00b0 4c 30 3f 80 00 00 50 52 55 30 00 00 00 00 52 45 L0?...PRU0....RE
00c0 54 30 00 00 00 00 50 52 4f 30 00 00 00 00 50 52 T0....PRO0....PR
00d0 5a 30 3d f3 b6 46 53 45 52 30 00 00 00 00 42 4f Z0=..FSER0....BO
00e0 53 30 00 00 00 00 54 57 49 58 00 00 00 00 50 52 S0....TWIX....PR
00f0 4f 4a 00 00 00 01 52 4f 53 30 00 00 00 01 44 48 OJ....ROS0....DH
0100 4d 30 00 00 00 00 53 4e 49 50 00 00 00 00 42 49 M0....SNIP....BI
0110 45 30 00 00 00 00 41 49 48 30 00 00 00 00 41 49 E0....AIH0....AI
0120 42 30 40 c0 00 00 57 43 4d 30 00 00 00 00 54 50 [email protected]
0130 4d 30 00 00 00 00 54 50 47 30 00 00 00 00 54 52 M0....TPG0....TR
0140 47 30 00 00 00 00 53 54 4d 30 00 00 00 02 G0....STM0....

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Example of UDP/IP Ethernet packet of commands sent to the SIM.
First 42 characters are Ethernet header information. Characters after 29h are
commands.

0000 00 50 c2 90 41 35 00 e0 81 2e be 88 08 00 45 00 .P..A5........E.
0010 01 18 7b 74 40 00 80 11 00 00 0a 00 01 66 0a 00 ..{[email protected]..
0020 00 63 06 a2 ff de 01 04 fa f0 43 4d 44 30 45 4e .c........CMD0EN
0030 47 30 00 00 00 01 42 44 47 30 00 00 25 80 44 42 G0....BDG0..%.DB
0040 47 30 00 00 00 08 44 52 47 30 00 00 00 00 50 41 G0....DRG0....PA
0050 47 30 00 00 00 00 53 42 47 30 00 00 00 01 50 4f G0....SBG0....PO
0060 47 30 00 00 00 01 53 59 49 30 00 00 00 00 53 59 G0....SYI0....SY
0070 4f 30 00 00 00 00 45 4e 48 30 00 00 00 01 42 44 O0....ENH0....BD
0080 48 30 00 00 25 80 44 42 48 30 00 00 00 08 44 52 H0..%.DBH0....DR
0090 48 30 00 00 00 00 50 41 48 30 00 00 00 00 53 42 H0....PAH0....SB
00a0 48 30 00 00 00 01 45 4e 4d 30 00 00 00 01 49 50 H0....ENM0....IP
00b0 4d 30 0a 00 00 2f 50 4f 4d 30 00 00 13 88 42 44 M0.../POM0....BD
00c0 4d 30 00 00 96 00 44 42 4d 30 00 00 00 08 44 52 M0....DBM0....DR
00d0 4d 30 00 00 00 00 50 41 4d 30 00 00 00 00 53 42 M0....PAM0....SB
00e0 4d 30 00 00 00 01 45 4e 53 30 00 00 00 01 42 44 M0....ENS0....BD
00f0 53 30 00 00 25 80 44 42 53 30 00 00 00 08 44 52 S0..%.DBS0....DR
0100 53 30 00 00 00 00 50 41 53 30 00 00 00 00 53 42 S0....PAS0....SB
0110 53 30 00 00 00 01 53 50 4f 30 00 00 00 01 53 54 S0....SPO0....ST
0120 4d 30 00 00 00 02 M0....

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Appendix VIII: R2Sonic Data Format
14 R2Sonic Uplink Data Formats
This describes the data formats sent from the sonar head and SIM. Unless noted, the data packets
are sent from the sonar head. The formats are given in pseudo C.
Head firmware versions 13-Dec-2011, and newer, utilize the data formats in this document.
Previous head firmware versions back to 25-Mar-2010 only utilise data formats from sections 14.5
and 14.6 in this document. Future versions of firmware will adhere to this format and may include
additional information.
The data format, in older versions of sonar head firmware, are different than the format described in
this document and are unsupported.

14.1 General Notes

1. Each info or data section includes a name/size mini-header to allow the parser to easily skip
unneeded or unrecognized sections. These formats are designed for easy 4-byte alignment. Be
sure your compiler/linker doesn't insert any extra padding between values. If necessary, use
your compiler's "packed" directive.
2. All values have big-endian byte order. Your compiler may provide conversion functions such as
htonl, htons, ntohl, ntohs, however those assume integers so you'll need to be very careful with
floats.
3. u8, u16, u32 means unsigned integers of 8, 16, 32 bits.
s8, s16, s32 means signed integers of 8, 16, 32 bits.
f32 means IEEE-754 32-bit floating point.
4. All packets are UDP/IP datagrams

14.2 Port Numbers

Bathymetry data port = gui.Baseport + 0
TruePix data port = tpd.Baseport + 1
Device status port = gui.Baseport + 2
Acoustic Image data port = gui.Baseport + 3
Water Column data port = wcd.Baseport + 5
Snippets data port = tpd.Baseport + 6

14.3 Type Definitions

typedef unsigned char u8;
typedef unsigned short u16;
typedef unsigned int u32;
typedef signed char s8;
typedef signed short s16;
typedef signed int s32;
typedef float f32;

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14.4 Ethernet Data Rates
Bathymetry: ≈ 800 kb/s max (bathy data is sent twice, to GUI and data acquisition computer)
TruePix: ≈ 5.5 Mb/s (mag+angle) max
≈ 3.5 Mb/s (mag) max
Water Column: ≈ 560 Mb/s (mag+phase) max
≈280 Mb/s (mag) max
Snippets: ≈ 11 Mb/s max

Where Mb/s = megabits per second.

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14.5 Bathymetry Packet Format

// *** BEGIN PACKET: BATHY DATA FORMAT 0 ***

u32 PacketName; // 'BTH0'

u32 PacketSize; // [bytes] size of this entire packet
u32 DataStreamID; // reserved for future use

// section H0: header

u16 H0_SectionName; // 'H0'

u16 H0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u8 H0_ModelNumber[12]; // example "2024", unused chars are nulls
u8 H0_SerialNumber[12]; // example "100017", unused chars are nulls
u32 H0_TimeSeconds; // [seconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, integer part
u32 H0_TimeNanoseconds; // [nanoseconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, fraction part
u32 H0_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
f32 H0_PingPeriod; // [seconds] time between most recent two pings
f32 H0_SoundSpeed; // [meters per second]
f32 H0_Frequency; // [hertz] sonar center frequency
f32 H0_TxPower; // [dB re 1 uPa at 1 meter]
f32 H0_TxPulseWidth; // [seconds]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthHoriz; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringHoriz; // [radians]
u32 H0_TxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
f32 H0_RxBandwidth; // [hertz]
f32 H0_RxSampleRate; // [hertz] sample rate of data acquisition and signal processing
f32 H0_RxRange; // [meters] sonar range setting
f32 H0_RxGain; // [multiply by two for relative dB]
f32 H0_RxSpreading; // [dB (times log range in meters)]
f32 H0_RxAbsorption; // [dB per kilometer]
f32 H0_RxMountTilt; // [radians]
u32 H0_RxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
u16 H0_reserved; // reserved for future use (uncorrected pressure sensor reading in meters)
u16 H0_Points; // number of bathy points

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 // section R0: 16-bit bathy point ranges

u16 R0_SectionName; // 'R0'

u16 R0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 R0_ScalingFactor;
u16 R0_Range[H0_Points]; // [seconds two-way] = R0_Range * R0_ScalingFactor
u16 R0_unused[H0_Points & 1]; // ensure 32-bit section size

// section A0: bathy point angles, equally-spaced (present only during "equi-angle" spacing mode)

u16 A0_SectionName; // 'A0'

u16 A0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 A0_AngleFirst; // [radians] angle of first (port side) bathy point, relative to array centerline, AngleFirst < AngleLast
f32 A0_AngleLast; // [radians] angle of last (starboard side) bathy point
f32 A0_MoreInfo[6]; // reserved for future use

// section R0: 16-bit bathy point ranges

u16 R0_SectionName; // 'R0'

u16 R0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 R0_ScalingFactor;
u16 R0_Range[H0_Points]; // [seconds two-way] = R0_Range * R0_ScalingFactor
u16 R0_unused[H0_Points & 1]; // ensure 32-bit section size

// section A0: bathy point angles, equally-spaced (present only during "equi-angle" spacing mode)

u16 A0_SectionName; // 'A0'

u16 A0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 A0_AngleFirst; // [radians] angle of first (port side) bathy point, relative to array centerline, AngleFirst < AngleLast
f32 A0_AngleLast; // [radians] angle of last (starboard side) bathy point
f32 A0_MoreInfo[6]; // several to-be-determined values such as attitude info to assist the GUI display

// section A2: 16-bit bathy point angles, arbitrarily-spaced (present only during "equi-distant" spacing mode)

u16 A2_SectionName; // 'A2'

u16 A2_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 A2_AngleFirst; // [radians] angle of first (port side) bathy point, relative to array centerline, AngleFirst < AngleLast
f32 A2_ScalingFactor;
f32 A2_MoreInfo[6]; // several to-be-determined values such as attitude info to assist the GUI display
u16 A2_AngleStep[H0_Points]; // [radians] angle[n] = (32-bit sum of A2_AngleStep[0] through A2_AngleStep[n]) * A2_ScalingFactor
u16 A2_unused[H0_Points & 1]; // ensure 32-bit section size

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 // section I1: 16-bit bathy intensity (present only if enabled)

u16 I1_SectionName; // 'I1'

u16 I1_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 I1_ScalingFactor;
u16 I1_Intensity[H0_Points]; // [micropascals] intensity[n] = I1_Intensity[n]) * I1_ScalingFactor
u16 I1_unused[H0_Points & 1]; // ensure 32-bit section size

// section G0: simple straight-line depth gates

u16 G0_SectionName; // 'G0'

u16 G0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 G0_DepthGateMin; // [seconds two-way]
f32 G0_DepthGateMax; // [seconds two-way]
f32 G0_DepthGateSlope; // [radians]

// section G1: 8-bit gate positions, arbitrary paths (present only during "verbose" gate description mode)

u16 G1_SectionName; // 'G1'

u16 G1_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 G1_ScalingFactor;
struct
{
u8 RangeMin; // [seconds two-way] = RangeMin * G1_ScalingFactor
u8 RangeMax; // [seconds two-way] = RangeMax * G1_ScalingFactor
} G1_Gate[H0_Points];
u16 G1_unused[H0_Points & 1]; // ensure 32-bit section size

// section Q0: 4-bit quality flags

u16 Q0_SectionName; // 'Q0' quality, 4-bit

u16 Q0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u32 Q0_Quality[(H0_Points+7)/8]; // 8 groups of 4 flags bits (phase detect, magnitude detect, reserved, reserved), packed left-to-right

// *** END PACKET: BATHY FORMAT 0 ***

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14.6 Snippet Format

// *** BEGIN PACKET: SNIPPET DATA FORMAT 0 ***

u32 PacketName; // 'SNI0'

u32 PacketSize; // may be zero in UDP, otherwise: [bytes] size of this entire packet
u32 DataStreamID; // reserved for future use

// section H0: header (present only in first snippet packet of each ping)

u16 H0_SectionName; // 'H0'

u16 H0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u8 H0_ModelNumber[12]; // example "2024", unused chars are nulls
u8 H0_SerialNumber[12]; // example "100017", unused chars are nulls
u32 H0_TimeSeconds; // [seconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, integer part
u32 H0_TimeNanoseconds; // [nanoseconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, fraction part
u32 H0_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
f32 H0_PingPeriod; // [seconds] time between most recent two pings
f32 H0_SoundSpeed; // [meters per second]
f32 H0_Frequency; // [hertz] sonar center frequency
f32 H0_TxPower; // [dB re 1 uPa at 1 meter]
f32 H0_TxPulseWidth; // [seconds]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthHoriz; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringHoriz; // [radians]
u32 H0_TxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
f32 H0_RxBandwidth; // [hertz]
f32 H0_RxSampleRate; // [hertz] sample rate of data acquisition and signal processing
f32 H0_RxRange; // [meters] sonar range setting
f32 H0_RxGain; // [multiply by two for relative dB]
f32 H0_RxSpreading; // [dB (times log range in meters)]
f32 H0_RxAbsorption; // [dB per kilometer]
f32 H0_RxMountTilt; // [radians]
u32 H0_RxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
u16 H0_reserved; // reserved for future use
u16 H0_Snippets; // number of snippets
f32 H0_MoreInfo[6]; // reserved for future use

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 // section S1: 16-bit snippet data (for network efficiency packet may contain several of these sections) (supports snippets up to 32K samples
by fragmenting
// at the IP level rather than by the application like 81xx)

u16 S1_SectionName; // 'S1'

u16 S1_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u32 S1_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
u16 S1_SnippetNumber; // snippet number, 0 to H0_Snippets-1
u16 S1_Samples; // number of samples in this snippet, sample rate is H0_RxSampleRate
u32 S1_FirstSample; // first sample of this snippet relative to zero range, sample rate is H0_RxSampleRate
f32 S1_Angle; // [radians] angle of this snippet, relative to array centerline
f32 S1_ScalingFactorFirst; // scaling factor at start of snippet, 0=ignore, use linear interpolation to get other values
f32 S1_ScalingFactorLast; // scaling factor at end of snippet, 0=ignore
u32 S1_reserved; // reserved for future use
u16 S1_Magnitude[S1_Samples]; // [micropascals] = S1_Magnitude[n] * (linear interpolate between S1_ScalingFactorFirst and
S1_ScalingFactorLast)
u16 S1_unused[S1_Samples & 1]; // ensure 32-bit section size

// *** END PACKET: SNIPPET DATA FORMAT 0 ***

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14.7 Water Column (WC) Data Format
// *** BEGIN PACKET: WATER COLUMN (WC) DATA FORMAT 0 ***

// The water column data contains real-time beamformer 16-bit magnitude data
// (beam amplitude) and optional 16-bit split-array phase data (intra-beam
// direction). Maximum data rate is about 70 megabytes per second (assuming
// 256 beams, 68.4 kHz sample rate, and phase data enabled). The sample rate
// (and signal bandwidth) varies with transmit pulse width and range setting.
// Maximum ping data size is about 32 megabytes (assuming 256 beams of 32768
// samples, and phase data enabled), but max size may change in the future.
// The number of beamformed data samples normally extends somewhat further
// than the user's range setting.
//
// When the operator enables water column mode, each sonar ping outputs
// numerous 'WCD0' packets containing: one H0 header section, one A1 beam
// angle section, and many M1 or M2 data sections. The section order may
// change in the future, so plan for that in your data acquisition.
//
// Each M1 or M2 section contains a subset of the ping data. Its header
// indicates its size position to help you assemble the full ping array.
//
// You may wish to detect missing M1 or M2 data sections (perhaps a lost
// UDP packet), and then fill the gap with zeros or perhaps data from the
// previous ping (to reduce visual disturbances), and then increment an
// error counter for network health monitoring purposes.
//
// The water column data is basically in polar coordinates, so you may
// wish to geometrically warp it into the familiar wedge shape for display.
// Consider using OpenGL or Direct3D texture mapping.

u32 PacketName; // 'WCD0'

u32 PacketSize; // [bytes] size of this entire packet
u32 DataStreamID; // reserved for future use

// section H0: header (only one per ping)

u16 H0_SectionName; // 'H0'

u16 H0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u8 H0_ModelNumber[12]; // example "2024", unused chars are nulls
u8 H0_SerialNumber[12]; // example "100017", unused chars are nulls
u32 H0_TimeSeconds; // [seconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, integer part
u32 H0_TimeNanoseconds; // [nanoseconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, fraction part
u32 H0_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
f32 H0_PingPeriod; // [seconds] time between most recent two pings
f32 H0_SoundSpeed; // [meters per second]

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 f32 H0_Frequency; // [hertz] sonar center frequency
f32 H0_TxPower; // [dB re 1 uPa at 1 meter]
f32 H0_TxPulseWidth; // [seconds]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthHoriz; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringHoriz; // [radians]
u32 H0_TxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
f32 H0_RxBandwidth; // [hertz]
f32 H0_RxSampleRate; // [hertz] sample rate of data acquisition and signal processing
f32 H0_RxRange; // [meters] sonar range setting
f32 H0_RxGain; // [multiply by two for relative dB]
f32 H0_RxSpreading; // [dB (times log range in meters)]
f32 H0_RxAbsorption; // [dB per kilometer]
f32 H0_RxMountTilt; // [radians]
u32 H0_RxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
u16 H0_reserved; // reserved for future use
u16 H0_Beams; // number of beams

// section A1: float beam angles, arbitrarily-spaced (only one per ping)

u16 A1_SectionName; // 'A1'

u16 A1_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 A1_MoreInfo[6]; // reserved for future use
f32 A1_BeamAngle[H0_Beams]; // [radians] angle of beam relative to array centerline, ordered from port to starboard, first angle < last
angle

// section M1: 16-bit magnitude data (present only during "magnitude-only" water column data mode, many per ping, you assemble them into
complete ping data)

u16 M1_SectionName; // 'M1'

u16 M1_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u32 M1_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
f32 M1_ScalingFactor; // reserved for future use
u32 M1_TotalSamples; // range samples in entire ping, sample rate is H0_RxSampleRate
u32 M1_FirstSample; // first sample of this section
u16 M1_Samples; // number of samples in this section
u16 M1_TotalBeams; // beams (always a multiple of 2) (typically columns in your memory buffer)
u16 M1_FirstBeam; // first beam of this section (always a multiple of 2)
u16 M1_Beams; // number of beams in this section (always a multiple of 2)
u32 M1_reserved0; // reserved for future use
u32 M1_reserved1; // reserved for future use
struct

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 u16 magnitude; // values 0 to 65535 map non-linearly (due to TVG scaling and possible gain compression) to signal amplitude
} M1_Data[M1_Beams][M1_Samples]; // magnitude data (typical example: 256 beams each containing 36 two-byte structs, 16 kilobytes)

// section M2: 16-bit magnitude and phase data (present only during "magnitude and phase" water column data mode, many per ping, you assemble
them into
// complete ping data)

u16 M2_SectionName; // 'M2'

u16 M2_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u32 M2_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
f32 M2_ScalingFactor; // reserved for future use
u32 M2_TotalSamples; // range samples in entire ping, sample rate is H0_RxSampleRate
u32 M2_FirstSample; // first sample of this section
u16 M2_Samples; // number of samples in this section
u16 M2_TotalBeams; // beams (always a multiple of 2) (typically columns in your memory buffer)
u16 M2_FirstBeam; // first beam of this section (always a multiple of 2)
u16 M2_Beams; // number of beams in this section (always a multiple of 2)
u32 M2_reserved0; // reserved for future use
u32 M2_reserved1; // reserved for future use
struct
{
u16 magnitude; // values 0 to 65535 map non-linearly (due to TVG scaling and possible gain compression) to signal amplitude
s16 phase; // values -32768 to +32767 map non-linearly (due to complex transfer function) to target angle within the
beamwidth
} M2_Data[M2_Beams][M2_Samples]; // magnitude and phase data (typical example: 256 beams each containing 36 four-byte structs, 36 kilobytes)

// *** END PACKET: WATER COLUMN (WC) DATA FORMAT 0 ***

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14.8 Acoustic Image (AI) Data Format
// *** BEGIN PACKET: ACOUSTIC IMAGE (AI) DATA FORMAT 0 ***
// The acoustic image data contains real-time beamformer 8-bit magnitude data
// (beam amplitude) that has been scaled to 8-bits by a user-selected
// brightness value, and compressed in range by an adjustable amount to
// reduce network bandwidth and processing. The data is called "samples"
// before compression and "bins" after compression. For example, 7200 samples
// of beamformer data (M0_TotalSamples) may be compressed to 600 bins
// (M0_TotalBins). The number of beamformed data samples normally extends
// somewhat further than the user's range setting. The AIH0 sonar command
// sets an upper limit to the number of compressed output bins. It's not a
// precise compression factor, so the number of bins is usually somewhat less
// than the AIH0 value. The maximum data rate with no compression is about
// 17.5 megabytes per second (assuming 256 beams).
//
// When the operator enables acoustic image mode, each sonar ping outputs
// numerous 'AID0' packets containing: one H0 header section, one A1 beam
// angle section, and many M0 data sections. The section order may change in
// the future, so plan for that in your data acquisition.
//
// Each M0 section contains a subset of the ping data. Its header indicates
// its size position to help you assemble the full ping array.
//
// You may wish to detect missing M0 data sections (perhaps a lost UDP
// packet), and then fill the gap with zeros or perhaps data from the
// previous ping (to reduce visual disturbances), and then increment an error
// counter for network health monitoring purposes.
//
// The acoustic image data is basically in polar coordinates, so you may wish
// to geometrically warp it into the familiar wedge shape for display.
// Consider using OpenGL or Direct3D texture mapping.

u32 PacketName; // 'AID0'

u32 PacketSize; // [bytes] size of this entire packet
u32 DataStreamID; // reserved for future use

// section H0: header (only one per ping)

u16 H0_SectionName; // 'H0'

u16 H0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u8 H0_ModelNumber[12]; // example "2024", unused chars are nulls
u8 H0_SerialNumber[12]; // example "100017", unused chars are nulls
u32 H0_TimeSeconds; // [seconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, integer part
u32 H0_TimeNanoseconds; // [nanoseconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, fraction part
u32 H0_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
f32 H0_PingPeriod; // [seconds] time between most recent two pings
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 f32 H0_SoundSpeed; // [meters per second]
f32 H0_Frequency; // [hertz] sonar center frequency
f32 H0_TxPower; // [dB re 1 uPa at 1 meter]
f32 H0_TxPulseWidth; // [seconds]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthHoriz; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringHoriz; // [radians]
u32 H0_TxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
f32 H0_RxBandwidth; // [hertz]
f32 H0_RxSampleRate; // [hertz] sample rate of data acquisition and signal processing
f32 H0_RxRange; // [meters]
f32 H0_RxGain; // [multiply by two for relative dB]
f32 H0_RxSpreading; // [dB (times log range in meters)]
f32 H0_RxAbsorption; // [dB per kilometer]
f32 H0_RxMountTilt; // [radians]
u32 H0_RxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
u16 H0_reserved; // reserved for future use
u16 H0_Beams; // number of beams

// section A1: float beam angles, arbitrarily-spaced (only one per ping)

u16 A1_SectionName; // 'A1'

u16 A1_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
f32 A1_MoreInfo[6]; // reserved for future use
f32 A1_BeamAngle[H0_Beams]; // [radians] angle of beam relative to array centerline, ordered from port to starboard, first angle < last
angle

// section M0: 8-bit magnitude data (many per ping, you assemble them into complete ping data)

u16 M0_SectionName; // 'M0'

u16 M0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u32 M0_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
f32 M0_ScalingFactor; // reserved for future use
u32 M0_TotalSamples; // range samples (before compression) in entire ping, sample rate is H0_RxSampleRate
u32 M0_TotalBins; // range bins (after compression) in entire ping (M0_TotalBins <= M0_TotalSamples)
u32 M0_FirstBin; // first bin of this section
u16 M0_Bins; // number of bins in this section
u16 M0_TotalBeams; // beams (always a multiple of 4) (typically columns in your memory buffer)
u16 M0_FirstBeam; // first beam of this section (always a multiple of 4)
u16 M0_Beams; // number of beams in this section (always a multiple of 4)
u32 M0_reserved; // reserved for future use
struct
{ u8 magnitude; // values 0 to 255 map non-linearly (due to TVG scaling and possible gain compression) to signal amplitude
} M0_Data[M0_Beams][M0_Bins]; // magnitude data (typical example: 256 beams each containing 21 one-byte structs, 5376 bytes)

// *** END PACKET: ACOUSTIC IMAGE (AI) DATA FORMAT 0 ***

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14.9 TruePix™ Data Format
// *** BEGIN TRUEPIX DATA FORMAT 0 ***
// TruePix is like sidescan with 3D relief. Each sonar ping produces a port
// and starboard time-series of data samples at the sonar's sample rate. Each
// sample contains the signal's magnitude (like sidescan) and across-track
// target direction angle (like bathymetry). After collecting many pings of
// data along a survey line, you now have a large array of data points with
// range, direction, and brightness. Apply noise reduction, and render the
// data as a textured 3D surface.
//
// Two data formats are available: D0 provides magnitudes only, D1 provides
// magnitudes and direction angles. The GUI allows the user to choose the
// desired format.
//
// The sonar generates one TruePix data set per ping. Each data set is
// usually split into multiple UDP packets. The D0 or D1 header includes
// FirstSample and Samples values to help you reassemble the full data set.
//
// Someday you may be able to convert the 16-bit magnitude values to
// micropascals by applying a to-be-determined function involving the sample
// number and the MagnitudeScaling[] coefficients, but this conversion is not
// yet supported so these coefficients are zero. You can convert the
// direction angles from 16-bit values to radians by multiplying by
// AngleScalingFactor.

u32 PacketName; // 'TPX0'

u32 PacketSize; // may be zero in UDP, otherwise: [bytes] size of this entire packet
u32 DataStreamID; // reserved for future use

// section H0: header (present only in first packet of each ping)

u16 H0_SectionName; // 'H0'
u16 H0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u8 H0_ModelNumber[12]; // example "2024", unused chars are nulls
u8 H0_SerialNumber[12]; // example "100017", unused chars are nulls
u32 H0_TimeSeconds; // [seconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, integer part
u32 H0_TimeNanoseconds; // [nanoseconds] ping time relative to 0000 hours 1-Jan-1970, fraction part
u32 H0_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
f32 H0_PingPeriod; // [seconds] time between most recent two pings
f32 H0_SoundSpeed; // [meters per second]
f32 H0_Frequency; // [hertz] sonar center frequency
f32 H0_TxPower; // [dB re 1 uPa at 1 meter]
f32 H0_TxPulseWidth; // [seconds]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxBeamwidthHoriz; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringVert; // [radians]
f32 H0_TxSteeringHoriz; // [radians]
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 u32 H0_TxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
f32 H0_RxBandwidth; // [hertz]
f32 H0_RxSampleRate; // [hertz] sample rate of data acquisition and signal processing
f32 H0_RxRange; // user setting [meters]
f32 H0_RxGain; // user setting [multiply by 2 for dB]
f32 H0_RxSpreading; // [dB (times log range in meters)]
f32 H0_RxAbsorption; // [dB per kilometer]
f32 H0_RxMountTilt; // [radians]
u32 H0_RxMiscInfo; // reserved for future use
u32 H0_reserved; // reserved for future use
f32 H0_MoreInfo[6]; // reserved for future use

// section D0: 16-bit magnitude data (present only during "magnitude only" mode)
u16 D0_SectionName; // 'D0'
u16 D0_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u32 D0_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
u32 D0_TotalSamples; // number of samples in entire time series (sample rate is H0_RxSampleRate)
u32 D0_FirstSample; // first sample of this section relative to zero range
u16 D0_Samples; // number of samples in this section
u16 D0_reserved; // reserved for future use
f32 D0_MagnitudeScaling[8]; // to be determined, 0=ignore
struct
{
u16 PortMagnitude; // [micropascals] = PortMagnitude * (tbd function of sample number and D0_MagnitudeScaling[8])
u16 StbdMagnitude; // similar but starboard side
} D0_Data[D0_Samples];

// section D1: 16-bit magnitude and direction data (present only during "magnitude+direction" mode)

u16 D1_SectionName; // 'D1'

u16 D1_SectionSize; // [bytes] size of this entire section
u32 D1_PingNumber; // pings since power-up or reboot
u32 D1_TotalSamples; // number of samples in entire time series (sample rate is H0_RxSampleRate)
u32 D1_FirstSample; // first sample of this section relative to zero range
u16 D1_Samples; // number of samples in this section
u16 D1_reserved; // reserved for future use
f32 D1_MagnitudeScaling[8]; // to be determined, 0=ignore
f32 D1_AngleScalingFactor;
struct
{
u16 PortMagnitude; // [micropascals] = PortMagnitude * (tbd function of sample number and D1_MagnitudeScaling[8])
s16 PortAngle; // [radians from array centerline (positive towards starboard)] = PortAngle * D1_AngleScalingFactor
u16 StbdMagnitude; // similar but starboard side
s16 StbdAngle; // similar but starboard side
} D1_Data[D1_Samples];

// *** END TRUEPIX DATA FORMAT 0 ***

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14.10 Head Status Format
// *** BEGIN PACKET: HEAD STATUS DATA FORMAT 0 ***
// Head Status data reports the status of the sonar head. This data is
// useful for troubleshooting. Data is sent to gui baseport + 2.
//
// Each section name consists of 4 characters. The fourth character
// indicates the number of 32-bit words following each section name.
// The forth character can be 1-9, A-Z; allowing up to 35 32-bit words.
// The number of words in each section may change at a later date. Be
// sure your program can parse the number of words.
// The order of the sections is not fixed.

u32 PacketName; // 'STH0'

u32 PacketSize; // [bytes] size of this entire packet
u32 DataStreamID; // reserved for future use

// section SER3: serial number

u32 SER3_SectionName; // 'SER3'

u32 serial_number[3]; // example "100117", unused chars are nuls

// section PRT3: part number

u32 PRT3_SectionName; // 'PRT3'

u32 part_number[3]; // example "15000001", unused chars are nuls

// section MDL3: model number

u32 MDL3_SectionName; // 'MDL3'

u32 model_number[3]; // example "2024", unused chars are nuls

// section FWV6: main controller firmware version

u32 'FWV6'; // main ctrl firmware version string

u32 version.i[6]; // example "19-Dec-2011-17:19:29", unused chars are nuls

// section FWT6: internal transmitter firmware version

u32 FWT6_SectionName; // 'FWT6'

u32 tinytx.i[6]; // example "16-Aug-2011-17:19:29", unused chars are nuls

// section OPT1: option settings

u32 OPT1_SectionName // 'OPT1'

u32 options // truepix_snippets[0:0] 0=off, 1=on
// depth_rating[1:1] 0=100m, 1=3km
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 // forward_looking[2:2] 0=off, 1=on
// water_column[3:3] 0=off, 1=on
// ultra-high resolution[4:4] 0=off, 1=on

// section SENa: sensor data received from SIM

u32 SENa_SectionName; // 'SENa'

u32 gps.time.sec; // [seconds]unix time
u32 gps.time.nsec; // [seconds = gps.time.nsec/(2^32)] unix time
f32 sensor.pitch; // [radians] mru pitch
f32 sensor.roll; // [radians] mru roll
f32 sensor.heave; // [meters] mru heave
f32 sensor.heading; // heading (not implemented)
f32 sensor.velocity; // [m/s] sound velocity
f32 sensor.pdepth.uncal; // [meters] depth uncalibrated
f32 sensor.pdepth.cal; // [meters] depth calibrated
f32 sensor.fpgatemp; // [°C] FPGA temperature

// section ADC3: a/d converter

u32 ADC3_SectionName; // 'ADC3'

f32 adc.chan0; // [volts] 48VDC power supply voltage
f32 adc.chan1; // [amperes] 48V current
f32 adc.chan8; // [volts] transmitter power supply voltage

// section ETH6; ethernet registers

u32 ETH6_SectionName; // 'ETH6'

u32 ethernet.speed; // [megabits/sec] link connect speed
u32 erxpackets; // [counts] ethernet receive packets
u32 etxpackets; // [counts] ethernet transmit packets
u32 erxoverflows; // [counts] ethernet receive buffer overflows
u8 mac.addr[8] // mac address, use last 6 bytes, first 2 bytes are not used

// *** END PACKET: HEAD STATUS DATA FORMAT 0 ***

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14.11 SIM Status Data Format
// *** BEGIN PACKET: SIM STATUS DATA FORMAT 0 ***
// SIM Status data reports misc info from the SIM box. This data is
// useful for troubleshooting. Data is sent to gui baseport+2.
//
// Each section name consists of 4 characters. The fourth character
// indicates the number of 32-bit words following each section name.
// The forth character can be 1-9, A-Z; allowing up to 35 32-bit words.
// The number of words in each section may change at a later date. Be
// sure your program can parse the number of words.
// The order of the sections is not fixed.

u32 PacketName; // 'STS0'

u32 PacketSize; // [bytes] size of this entire packet
u32 DataStreamID; // reserved for future use

// section SER3: serial number

u32 SER3_SectionName; // 'SER3'

u32 serial_number[3]; // example "100117", unused chars are nulls

// section PRT3: part number

u32 PRT3_SectionName; // 'PRT3'

u32 part_number[3]; // example "15000002", unused chars are nulls

// section MDL3: model number

u32 MDL3_SectionName; // 'MDL3'

u32 model_number[3]; // example "2024", unused chars are nulls

// section FWV6: firmware version

u32 FWV6_SectionName; // 'FWV6'

u32 version; // example "15-Dec-2011-14:00:42", unused chars are nulls

// section LED1: SIM front panel LED status

u32 LED1_SectionName; // 'LED1'

u32 led_status; // [00=off 01=undef 10=bad 11=good] flags for status LEDs
// gps[1:0]
// motion[3:2]
// heading[5:4], not implemented
// svp[7:6]
// alt-gps[9:8], not implemented
// alt-motion[11:10], not implemented
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 // alt-heading[13:12], not implemented
// alt-svp[15:14], not implemented
// pps[17:16]
// sync in[19:18]
// sync out[21:20]
// head on[23:22]
// reserved[31:24]

// section SEN7: RS232 sensor values

u32 SEN7_SectonName; // 'SEN7'

u32 gps.time.sec; // [seconds] unix time
u32 gps.time.nsec; // [seconds = gps.time.nsec/(2^32)] unix time
f32 mru.pitch; // [radians] mru pitch value
f32 mru.roll; // [radians] mru roll value
f32 mru.heave; // [meters] mru heave
f32 0.0; // heading (not implemented)
f32 svp.velocity; // [m/s] sound velocity

// section ADC2: a/d converter

u32 ADC2_SectonName; // 'ADC2'

f32 adc.chan0; // [volts] 48VDC power supply voltage
f32 adc.chan1; // [amperes] 48V current to head

// section ETH6: ethernet registers

u32 ETH6_SectonName; // 'ETH6'

u32 ethernet.speed; // [megabits/sec] link speed
u32 erxpackets; // [counts] ethernet receive packets
u32 etxpackets; // [counts] ethernet transmit packets
u32 erxoverflows; // [counts] ethernet receive buffer overflows
u8 mac.addr[8] // mac address, use last 6 bytes, first 2 bytes are not used

// *** END PACKET: SIM STATUS DATA FORMAT 0 ***

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14.12 Device Status Format
The device status packet contains the ConfigID number that was sent to the sonar head and SIM during IP configuration. This packet contains no survey
information and is ignored for data collection purposes. The R2DS packet is sent from the sonar head and SIM once per second to the sonar control
program IP address. The ConfigID received from the sonar head and SIM should be compared with the ConfigID number sent to the sonar head and SIM
during IP configuration. If there is a mismatch, the control
program should send IP configuration data to the sonar head
struct R2DS // R2Sonic Device Status
{
and/or SIM to correct the issue.
u32 PacketName; // 'R2DS'
u32 SerialNumber[3]; // up to 12 ASCII chars, unused chars are zero
u32 ConfigID; // from most recent R2DC packet
u32 spare;
} pkt; C structure of Device Status packet

0000 00 e0 81 2e be 88 00 50 c2 90 40 58 08 00 45 00 .......P ..@ X..E. Device status Ethernet packet example received from the sonar
0010 00 34 04 6c 00 00 32 11 6e 92 0a 00 00 56 0a 00 .4.l..2. n....V..
0020 01 66 ff 16 ff de 00 20 00 00 52 32 44 53 31 30 .f..... ..R2DS10
head
0030 30 31 30 31 00 00 00 00 00 00 46 35 bd 01 00 00 0101.... ..;.~...
0040 00 00 ..

0000 00 e0 81 2e be 88 00 50 c2 90 40 49 08 00 45 00 .......P ..@ I..E.

0010 00 34 02 75 00 00 32 11 70 7c 0a 00 00 63 0a 00 .4.u..2. p|...c..
0020 01 66 ff 7a ff de 00 20 00 00 52 32 44 53 31 30 .f.z... ..R2DS10
0030 30 30 34 34 00 00 00 00 00 00 46 35 bd 01 00 00 0044.... ..;.~...
0040 00 00 .. Device status Ethernet packet example received from the SIM

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14.13 Data Playback Using Bit-Twist
14.13.1 Introduction
Note, the topics covered in this document require knowledge of Ethernet communication.

To test a data collection system, you can either use the actual hardware (sonar head) or use data
captured from the sonar head. Using Wireshark, uplink data from the sonar head can be captured,
filtered, and saved. Bit Twist, a console application, allows you to playback data. R2Sonic can supply
sample Ethernet captures of the sonar head uplink data. You may need to edit the destination MAC
and IP addresses of the captured data with Bit-Twiste, a console application. Wireshark and Bit-
Twist both require Winpcap which is included in the Wireshark installation.

In the examples, the following IP addresses are used:

Sonar head: 10.0.0.86

Data collection computer: 10.0.1.102

The following programs are required:

To capture, filter, and save Ethernet data:

Wireshark: http://www.wireshark.org/
To playback and edit captured Ethernet data:
Bit-Twist: http://bittwist.sourceforge.net/
Using a 32-bit version of Wireshark will allow you to use a packet decoder for the sonar data
formats.

If you don’t want or need to install Wireshark, get Winpcap at:

Winpcap: http://www.winpcap.org/

14.13.2 Capturing Data

To capture data from the sonar head, use Wireshark. Set the max ping rate of the sonar to 1 to 5
pings per second so you won’t create huge capture files.

• Capture sonar data. For high data rate traffic, set the following Wireshark Capture Options.
These options are found under the button (usually left most) “List the available capture
interfaces…”. These setting will remain for the session.
Buffer size: 50 megabytes
Uncheck “Update list of packets in real time”

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Figure 125: Wireshark Capture Options

This will reduce the processing load on Wireshark significantly.

•After capture, filter the data so only the desired sonar head data is displayed. A filter expression
like

“not(icmp.type == 3 or ip.src == 10.0.1.102)”

can be used to filter data coming from the data acquisition computer.

•Save using Save As, data type as “Wireshark/tcpdump/…- libpcap (*.pcap,*.cap)” (Wireshark
default). Select “Displayed” in Packet Range. You can select a data range in the Packet Range such
that the data packets aren’t truncated.

14.13.3 Editing Data

The MAC and IP addresses in the packets must match the data acquisition computer’s MAC and IP
addresses assigned to the network interface card (NIC). The data acquisition computer’s MAC and IP
addresses can be determined using ipconfig /all from the command line.

Editing the MAC and IP addresses must be done as separate operations using bittwiste.exe. The
following examples show the syntax for editing the destination MAC and IP address in the .pcap files
created by Wireshark.

Example to change destination MAC address using bittwiste.exe:

bittwiste -I in.pcap -O out.pcap -T eth -d 00:E0:12:7F:D2:1A

Example to change destination IP address using bittwiste.exe:

bittwiste -I in.pcap -O out.pcap -T ip -d 10.0.1.102

Where in.pcap is the input file and out.pcap is the output file.

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14.13.4 Data Playback
To playback data, use bittwist.exe. You can playback data on the same computer that the data
collection program resides on by simply connecting the sonar Ethernet port to an Ethernet switch.
The Ethernet switch is only to placate the NIC. You can also send data from a remote computer to
the data acquisition computer.

You need to determine the Ethernet interface number. Choose the interface that is connected to the
sonar system. To display Ethernet interfaces:

bittwist –d

To playback data:
bittwist -i 2 -l 0 out.pcap

This sends out.pcap to Ethernet interface 2 (-i 2) and loops continuously (-l 0). Use Ctrl-C to exit the
program.

If you don’t want to loop, use:

bittwist -i 2 out.pcap

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Appendix IX – Drawings
Drawing Index

Figure 120: Sonic 2024/2022 Projector ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 167

Figure 121: Sonic 2024 Receive Module ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 168
Figure 122: Sonic 2022 Receive Module ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 169
Figure 123: Sonic 2024 Mounting Bracket Drawing 1 ................................................................................................................................................................. 170
Figure 124: Sonic 2024 Mounting Bracket Drawing 2 ................................................................................................................................................................. 171
Figure 125: Sonic 2022 Mounting Bracket Drawing 1 ................................................................................................................................................................. 172
Figure 126: Sonic 2022 Mounting Bracket Drawing 2 ................................................................................................................................................................. 173
Figure 127: Sonic 2024/2022 Mounting Bracket Flange .............................................................................................................................................................. 174
Figure 128: SIM Box Drawing ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 175
Figure 129: R2Sonic Deck lead minimum connector passage dimensions .................................................................................................................................. 176

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 Figure 126: Sonic 2024/2022 Projector

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 Figure 127: Sonic 2024 Receive Module

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 Figure 128: Sonic 2022 Receive Module

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 Figure 129: Sonic 2024 Mounting Bracket Drawing 1

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 Figure 130: Sonic 2024 Mounting Bracket Drawing 2

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 Figure 131: Sonic 2022 Mounting Bracket Drawing 1

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 Figure 132: Sonic 2022 Mounting Bracket Drawing 2

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 Figure 133: Sonic 2024/2022 Mounting Bracket Flange

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 Figure 134: SIM Box Drawing

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 Figure 135: R2Sonic Deck lead minimum connector passage dimensions

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