USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Michael A Bergeron

Michael R Williams

Kimberly M Cipolla

Steven E Crocker

William H Slater

Ronald R Smalley

Jason R Bernier

Joseph A Carreiro

Daniel R Nashold

Mark R Grden

Ryan Amaral

Brian W Duarte

Amarilis Blankenship

Ernest J Briggs

A method is provided to measure the complex sensitivity of hydrophone data channels across a range of frequencies by using a water-filled tank with proximate boundaries. A hydrophone array and reference hydrophone are helically affixed to a test fixture resting on a rotation platform. When the test fixture is submerged in the tank; the platform rotates about a contour of the platform in intervals for a predetermined time interval before indexing to the next angle. Signals transmitted by an acoustic projector in the tank are received on the hydrophones of the line array and the calibrated reference hydrophone. Electrical signals from the reference hydrophone are transmitted over an electrical cable and received by the acoustic data processor for use in calibrating the hydrophone line array. Electrical signals from the hydrophones of the hydrophone line array are also transmitted to the data processor.

System and method for the calibration of a hydrophone line array in a water-filled tank

The present invention relates to a tether retraction device having particular utility with multi-line towed arrays. A system for retrieving and deploying a multi-line towed array having a plurality of array lines has at least one tether joinable between two of the plurality of array lines. A tether retraction device is incorporated into at least one of the array lines for retracting the tether. Each tether retraction device has a tether take-up spool, and a spring driven drive means which causes the tether to wind onto the take-up spool when the array is towed at slow speeds and allows deployment of the tether from the take-up spool when tension in the tether caused by tow forces exceeds the spring force applied by the spring driven drive means.

Tether retraction device

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Coventry, RI, United States of America

Michael A Bergeron