Ping Sonar Altimeter and Echosounder

Auto-altitude

An echosounder, like the Ping, is one of the simplest forms of underwater sonar. It operates by using a piezoelectric transducer to send an ultrasonic acoustic pulse into the water and then listens back for echoes to return. With that information, it’s able to determine the distance to the strongest echo, which is usually the ocean floor or a large object. It can also provide the full echo-response (echo strength versus time) which can be plotted like the display of a fish finder sonar.

The Ping uses a 115 kHz transducer frequency, away from those used on most boat echo sounders to avoid interference. It has a measurement range of 50 meters (164 feet) and a measurement beamwidth of 30 degrees, perfect for applications on a rocking boat or for obstacle avoidance. An advanced bottom-tracking algorithm runs on the device to determine the distance to the seafloor, even in complicated situations with multiple echoes.

Using the Ping together with the Blueye X3 allows for a new control mode called auto-altitude which allows you to keep a constant distance to the seabed even if the water depth is changing while you move around.