Preliminary Product
The Bowtech Products BP-MR-ALTIMETER Multi-Return Altimeter fulfills many of the sonar data capture requirements of the oceanographic and scientific communities.
This unit differs from most Altimeters of the ”first-return” type by digitising the receiver output at high speed into a FIFO memory. The range to the sea-bed is then calculated in the digital domain by the mathematical processing algorithm programmed into the internal RISC microcontroller.
The sampling parameters of the model 11001 are set-up prior to the unit being deployed by linking the unit to a P.C. via an RS232 cable. The parameters are stored internally in the microcontrollers FLASH memory without any power required.
The Altimeter may be interfaced to other equipment using either its analogue or digital outputs. The analogue output is generated from a 12-bit digital to analogue converter and may be software selected for either 5v or 10v full-scale. The digital data to 1mm resolution is available from both RS232 and RS485 outputs.
Whilst cable connected to a P.C. the Altimeter can uplink the raw FIFO data in the same manner as an imaging sonar as shown in the inset pictures.
