Desert Star Knowledge Base

Search the Knowledgebase	Browse by Category
[Advanced Search]

Which Desert Star system is best suited for tracking divers?

Would you like to...

Print this page

There are three systems to consider: AquaMap, PILOT and the DiveTracker Sport or Scout homing system. Your application determines which one is most suitable for your application:

DiveTracker Sport or Scout:
The Sport and Scout homing systems are simple acoustic homing systems consisting of a transmitter and a receiver unit. Typically, DiveTracker is used for diver navigation. The transmitter is placed on an anchor line, or some underwater location and the receiver provides direction and approximate distance that allows the diver to 'home in' on the transmitter. Yet, the system is also suitable for basic diver tracking. The transmitter can be placed on the diver, and the receiver unit can then be used to find the diver. Both the Sport and Scout transmitters have an ON/OFF switch, so several divers can be equipped with locating transmitters as long as only one activates the transmitter at any time. Sport & Scout are not well suited for any precise positioning functions as they only provide a homing signal.

PILOT:
PILOT is a good solution to track up to ten divers, providing a precise location and depth for each. The system consists of a surface station with three cabled 'over the side' sonar transducers, plus a transponder for each diver. Current diver location and track are displayed on the surface station PC screen (DiveBase software). The PILOT surface station can be mounted on boats, on a dock or most other locations. A good starting configuration is system PT-1 or PT-2. Add a TLT-1 transponder for each diver.

AquaMap:
AquaMap is our precision sea-floor navigation system. In the context of diver tracking, this system is used primarily for functions such as supervising dive students at a specific training site, or monitoring diver excursions around an underwater habitat. It requires deployment of typically three or four sea floor mounted 'baseline stations', typically near the corners of the operating area. These baseline stations provide an excellent baseline for the acoustic triangulations, and as a result positions with an accuracy of better than one meter (and sometimes as little as 0.1m) are available throughout the area covered by the stations. A surface station (STM-1 or STM-10) is added for diver tracking,. Up to ten divers are supported. AquaMap offers better precision than PILOT, but operations are limited to the area where the baseline stations are mounted.