System to locate objects submerged underwater uses active/passive sonar techniques in which a transmitter is attached to the object to be recovered and a receiver is used for search. The system is rugged, has a long term operating life, and furnishes a precise bearing on the object

Lovelady, R. W.

Mc Fall, J. C., Jr.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

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July 1966	 Brief 66-10315 
NASA TECH BRIEF 
NASA Tech Briefs are issued to summarize specific innovations derived from the U. S. space 
program and to encourage their commercial application. Copies are available to the public from 
the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Springfield, Virginia 22151. 
System Locates Randomly Placed Remote Objects 
The problem: 
The precise location of objects submerged under-
water. To be effective the location system must be 
simple to operate, extremely rugged, corrosion re-
sistant, have long operating life, low maintenance 
requirement, be easily portable, and furnish a precise 
bearing on the object to be recovered at ranges from 
a few inches to three nautical miles.
The solution: 
A location system utilizing active/passive sonar 
techniques in which the active element (a transmitter) 
is attached to the object to be recovered and the 
passive element (a receiver) is used for search from 
either a surface craft or by SCUBA equipped divers. 
How it's done: 
The transmitter attached to the object to be re-
(continued overleaf) 
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covered is activated upon a planned event such as 
water entry and continues to transmit an omnidirec-
tional pulse sound at a frequency of about 38 kc for a 
period of about 500 hours. The receiver is highly 
sensitive to pointing direction and is used first over 
the side of a surface craft on a rod which is rotated 
by the operator to determine a bearing from the 
maximum audio signal in the receiver. Upon signal 
detection, the receiver bearings are followed until the 
surface craft passes over the object to be recovered 
(easily detectable by bearing reversal). The receiver 
head is then removed from the rod and mounted on 
the handheld receiver for use by a SCUBA equipped 
diver. The diver proceeds to the object by following 
bearings obtained in pointing the handheld receiver 
toward the transmitter attached to the object. 
Notes: 
1. The transmitter is shock mount packaged in a 
cylindrical stainless steel case 1 1/4 inches in dia-
meter with a length of 3 3/4 inches. The transmitter 
is completely self-contained and weighs less than 
10 ounces including power supply. The receiver 
system is easily handcarried to the recovery site 
in a small instrument case.
2. Numerous applications have been made of this - 
location system in recovery systems for research 
payloads; in addition, the system has been used 
in booster recovery, position marking, aircraft data 
recorder recovery, maintenance of security in mili-
tary applications, back up recovery mode in drop 
tests, camera pod recovery, and radiation source 
payload recovery system. Potential applications 
are being explored in the area of deep ocean re-
trieval, weapons systems, water transportation of 
dangerous chemical and gases, commercial and 
military aircraft. 
3. Inquiries concerning this invention may be di-
rected to: 
Technology Utilization Officer 
Langley Research Center 
Langley Station 
Hampton, Virginia 23365 
Reference: B66-10315 
Patent status: 
No patent action is contemplated by NASA. 
Source: John C. McFall, Jr., and Ray W. Lovelady 
(Langley-209)


System locates randomly placed remote objects

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