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Test Facilities for Transponders

01 Jan 2004

Sonardyne invites users to 'do more with their Super Sub-Mini (SSM) transponders' by acquiring new firmware for testing and configuring a host of proprietary subsea positioning transponders.

The 7.9-metre vessel, built by Cheetah Marine on the Isle of Wight, has a maximum speed of 28 knots and is fitted with £200,000 worth of equipment, including state of the art multibeam echosounders. According to David Snelson, the PLA's Chief Harbour Master, it will allow port surveyors to access parts of the Thames which are otherwise too shallow for larger craft to reach. He adds that it is also readily transportable for survey operations carried out on behalf of other organisations on the south east coast.

It will save thousands of pounds or dollars by removing the need to purchase a separate transponder test unit for use in workshops or aboard vessels, the company says.

The firmware upgrade is available on an EPROM that can be fitted in a simple workshop procedure. Once installed, an SSM can then be connected to a PC via a supplied RS-232 charging lead and used to interrogate, test and configure a secondary transponder. Also of benefit to customers with mixed inventories of medium frequency transponders, the new facility can be used to test Sonardyne PGT's, Compatts and older style Type 7656/7866 transponders as well as all the company's HPR300/400 compatible beacons.




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