Blueview Sonar

[Raymond]

Has anyone used a 900 kHz Blueview sonar on a WROV? If so how did it perform in comparison to other sonars? How does it handle in suspension filled waters?

The video on line look great, but most are from micro ROVs.

[K2]

Used Didson, Reson and Blueview on various workclass subs in all types of conditions, all excellent. Great not to have to wait for a ‘sweep’ to paint a subsea picture as with usual sonars. Ideal for all kind of subsea applications especially where the sub moves fast and other dynamic objects are in the water with you.

K2

[Black Dog]

I’ve used the Blueview P900-2250-45 (Dual Frequency) sonar system a few times for windfarm and UXO work.

Nice piece of kit. It the size of a large camera and easily mounted on a pan & tilt.
We used it where our through water visibility approx half a meter. With it mounted on the P&T you can tilt it down and adjust the software settings to produce good results.
The real time update is excellent and you can fly quickly up to objects in zero viz. Only problem is you need a bit of viz to be able to identify the UXO’s!

In very heavy suspension it can interfere with the picture – you can see the clouds on the Blueview.

[HelpMaBoab]

We used both the Blueview and Gemini, Gemini was the favourite with the ROV crews.
The 300m Gemini version is very compact compared to the Blueview.

They are both good though, the constant update took a wee bit of time to get used to, as we are used to mechanical scanning sonars.

[Raymond]

Thanks guys for the feedback, sounds like it is a good piece of kit.

One last question; do you really need it, or is it a nice to have item?

[Craig Thorngren]

Raymond,

One thing I would recommend is getting the 130 degree field of view version if it is within your budget. If it isn’t, then make sure your P&T is fairly quick so you can pan left and right for great situational awareness.

As for ‘really needing it’ or ‘nice to have’ it really depends on the visibility you have vs. what you need. I mean if you 5M visibility and need to see 10M, it’s a must have. On the other hand if you have 20M vis and only need 10 it is a nice to have.

Chief

[Raymond]

Cheers Chief.

thanks to everyone that replied.

Raymond

[Author]

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