5 ms·

Does this "Ping Sonar" thing do side scans? I actually don't really understand the mechanics/mathematics of sidescanning, but it produces some compelling image

by geokon 5y ago

Does this "Ping Sonar" thing do side scans? I actually don't really understand the mechanics/mathematics of sidescanning, but it produces some compelling images. I'm not sure if it's feasible at this price point though

foobarbecue 5y ago
They do sell a scanning one, but it's $2k instead of $300, and big enough to be a little more annoying to get into the surfboard. It'd be fun to have though!
- geokon 5y ago
  The 2K one is a mechanically rotating thing. I don't think that's sidescan - though I could be wrong.
  - foobarbecue 5y ago
    Ah right. I don't actually know how sidescan works -- phased array or sth?
    - geokon 5y ago
      Yeah, I was hoping someone would chime in and explain. I'm honestly not quite sure. This is one of those things where all the explanations are very hand-wavey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side-scan_sonar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side-scan_sonar "The intensity of the acoustic reflections from the seafloor of this fan-shaped beam is recorded in a series of cross-track slices. [..] Next the transducers evolved to fan-shaped beams to produce a better "sonogram" or sonar image" Okay.. but how does it actually accomplish that..? My initial guess was that it's one transmitter and then an small array of receivers (to make a phased array) - however subsequent descriptions seems to say it can be accomplished with one transceiver "The earliest side-scan sonars used a single conical-beam transducer" Maybe a synthetic aperture...? Though the descriptions don't seem to match that either - and it describes it being directly drawn on paper "The early paper records were produced with a sweeping plotter that burned the image into a scrolling paper record". I've also had zero luck trying to find the math behind synthetic apertures (radar/sonar)

5 ms·

Does this "Ping Sonar" thing do side scans? I actually don't really understand the mechanics/mathematics of sidescanning, but it produces some compelling image

by geokon 5y ago

foobarbecue 5y ago
They do sell a scanning one, but it's $2k instead of $300, and big enough to be a little more annoying to get into the surfboard. It'd be fun to have though!
- geokon 5y ago
  The 2K one is a mechanically rotating thing. I don't think that's sidescan - though I could be wrong.
  - foobarbecue 5y ago
    Ah right. I don't actually know how sidescan works -- phased array or sth?
    - geokon 5y ago
      Yeah, I was hoping someone would chime in and explain. I'm honestly not quite sure. This is one of those things where all the explanations are very hand-wavey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side-scan_sonar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side-scan_sonar "The intensity of the acoustic reflections from the seafloor of this fan-shaped beam is recorded in a series of cross-track slices. [..] Next the transducers evolved to fan-shaped beams to produce a better "sonogram" or sonar image" Okay.. but how does it actually accomplish that..? My initial guess was that it's one transmitter and then an small array of receivers (to make a phased array) - however subsequent descriptions seems to say it can be accomplished with one transceiver "The earliest side-scan sonars used a single conical-beam transducer" Maybe a synthetic aperture...? Though the descriptions don't seem to match that either - and it describes it being directly drawn on paper "The early paper records were produced with a sweeping plotter that burned the image into a scrolling paper record". I've also had zero luck trying to find the math behind synthetic apertures (radar/sonar)