Simrad TU40

According to Wikipedia, "an interference is that which modifies a signal in a disruptive manner, as it travels along a communication channel between its source and receiver. The term is often used to refer to the addition of unwanted signals to a useful signal."

Interference may occur whenever more than one hydroacoustic system is installed on a vessel. With only two systems, you can avoid interference if one can control the other system's transmissions. If your vessel has multiple systems, you can connect these to a common synchronisation system that controls all the transmissions.

The Simrad TU40 provides highly reliable transmission timing ("pinging") when you use multiple hydroacoustic systems on your vessel. The TU40 optimizes the timing of each transmission, ensuring that the systems that may interfere with each other transmit simultaneously, thus avoiding acoustic interference and degraded data.

The TU40 provides simple yet flexible scheduling control. The trigger schedule is optimized to reach the maximum ping rate without interference. The TU40 can externally trigger any echo sounder or sonar with a trigger input. It permits each hydroacoustic system to transmit ("ping") according to a logic trigger pattern established to avoid interference. You create this pattern by defining one or more hydroacoustic reference systems and giving these transmit priority. Systems operating in the same frequency range are permitted to transmit simultaneously.

The Simrad TU40 uses a dedicated Trigger Unit with twelve independent channels. All the channels are isolated, and the unit is compatible with most commercial hydroacoustic equipment, not only with Simrad equipment.

The Trigger Unit runs autonomously. You set it up from a commercial computer running the TU40 program. This application provides a user interface to monitor status and settings and transmit trigger schedules. Once you have completed the setup, you can close the TU40 program. You can even disconnect the computer from the Trigger Unit and put it to other use.