Sub-Bottom Profiler

[Salvor6]

Has anyone ever used a sub-bottom profiler on the 1715 fleet? Would that show you whats under the sand before you blow a hole? It seems like it would save a lot of time and eliminate a lot of empty holes.

 

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[old man]

Pete, I've used one. Although it was not on the 1715 wrecks. Yes it will show you what is under the sand down to bedrock. In my experience you won't get a clear picture of the object, but it will tell you there is something buried under the sand or mud.

 

[maipenrai]

Sorry, but what is a "sub-bottom profiler"? Do you mean sonar or side scan sonar? What size objects will it see?

 

[diverdan]

Sub-bottom profiler is a type of sonar that will penetrate through sand and show you a graph of whats down there. The expensive ones will show you objects to 10cm.

 

[maipenrai]

So, if your searching for coins, say under 10ft of sand or mud, then it wouldnt pick them up, unless they were stacked together? What about cost? I looked at a few sites, but nothing about price.

 

[Darren in NC]

Sub-bottom profilers are not a shortcut. The lanes must be spaced very tightly together - a tough thing to do on a lake, much less close to an ocean shore. The interpretation is broad and it mainly is good for identifying a shipwreck, not for individual objects.

 

[Salvor6]

Here is a list of sub-bottom profiler manufacturers:

Knudsen Engineering, Canada, Knudsen Engineering Limited - Echosounders, Echosounder Sub Bottom Chirp, Sub bottom profilers, Survey and Oceanographic Equipment

Edgetech, U.S.A., Side Scan Sonar | Acoustic Releases | Hygrometers | EdgeTech | ORE Offshore

SyQuest, U.S.A., SyQwest Incorporated, Echo Sounders, Chirp Profilers,Thermal Display Units & more...

General Acoustics, Germany, GENERAL ACOUSTICS Echosounding, Sub-Bottom Profiler, Water Level Gauges and ADCP Interpolation

Atlas Hydrographic, Germany, ATLAS HYDROGRAPHIC GmbH: ATLAS HYDROGRAPHIC GmbH

Innomar Technology, Germany, Home - Innomar: sub-bottom profiler, sediment echosounder, sidescan sonar, survey equipment

Meridata Finland Ltd., Finland, Meridata Finland Ltd - Marine Geophysical Survey Systems

Syquest has the cheapest unit at $12,000. I'm still waiting on a quote from Knudsen Eng. for the price to lease their unit. The manufacturers won't advertise their outrageous price they are asking for about $100 worth of electronics. The sidescan manufacturers do the same thing but companies like Humminbird and Lowrance came out with cheap ($2000 vs $20,000) units that are competing with the big name rip offs.
A sub-bottom profiler will not scan a wide area. It looks at whats just below the towfish. The best resolution is 10cm so it will not show individual coins but will show a clump of coins. The readout is fuzzy (like ground penetrating radar) and its difficult to identify objects without a lot of experience but this is the best they can do for now.

 

[Red_desert]

Seems like any type of sonar device would need fairly calm water, the least amount of wave action.

 

[maipenrai]

Thanks Salvor, for all the info. Dont know if it will come to any use, but its good knowing this stuff is out there. A bit out of my price range, since im usually hunting smaller stuff, not whole ships.

 

[old man]

Salvor6, Pete, there,s another sub bottim co. in Rhode Island that rents them. They are fairly reasonabe in cost. I forget the name of the company, but if they are still in business. You should be able to find them on the internet.

 

[pvet7521]

I was looking for the Story's Flats silver ingots back in 91' called Edgetech,being that Harold was down on site in 85 and ran his pinger. I told them I was interested in buying a unit but wanted a test drive first , they sent down an operator and machine for 5 hrs , we ran up and down that river. Any object that was a different composition than the surrounding sediment showed up, like any other piece of equipment u need to no how to use it and interperate the readings but it has its place along with the mag and side scan

 

[Darren in NC]

Salvor6, Pete, there,s another sub bottim co. in Rhode Island that rents them. They are fairly reasonabe in cost. I forget the name of the company, but if they are still in business. You should be able to find them on the internet.

Ed, I think you're referring to the Stratabox unit. They are a good low-cost option. They are included in Pete's list, but the company is named SyQwest.

 

[old man]

Darren, You hit the nail on the head. That was the name of the unit

 

[Salvor6]

Thanks guys. I already checked out the Stratabox. It is $12,000.

 

[Bum Luck]

I've actually seen the old chart Lowrance X-16 do a creditable job under the bottom, mud seems to be better. It had great resolution, so I never sold mine; still have it, and plenty of paper.

The higher the frequency, the better resolution, but the worse the penetration. That's the trade-off. I'd guess the expensive units would process the signal better, the other variable.

 

[old man]

Has anyone ever used a sub-bottom profiler on the 1715 fleet? Would that show you whats under the sand before you blow a hole? It seems like it would save a lot of time and eliminate a lot of empty holes.

Pete, in the course of your research did you find any info on a high frequency sub bottom profiler that doesn't penetrate the sand as deep, but does give a clearer image of any artifacts under the sand??

 

[Salvor6]

Pete, in the course of your research did you find any info on a high frequency sub bottom profiler that doesn't penetrate the sand as deep, but does give a clearer image of any artifacts under the sand??

No. All the sub-bottom profilers I looked at had fuzzy images of whats below the sand. Sort of like Ground Penetrating Radar. The best sonar I saw was the Starfish.