Kongsberg Debuts New Multibeam Echo Sounder with Range, Swath Enhancements

December 1, 2020

The new EM 304 MKII echo sounder from KONGSBERG boasts long range precision with a wide swath. Photo: Kongsberg
The new EM 304 MKII echo sounder from KONGSBERG boasts long range precision with a wide swath. Photo: Kongsberg

Kongsberg Maritime launched the EM 304 MKII deep-water multibeam echo sounders. Underpinned by a brand new KONGSBERG-designed wideband transmitter working in the 20-32kHz band with a nominal frequency of 26kHz, the new mapping system improves upon the performance of the MKI model, boosting range from a previous maximum of 8,000m to full ocean depth, and increasing swath performance by up to 75%.

In addition, the EM 304 MKII is designed to deliver 0.3° x 0.5° resolution, and the EM 304 MKII is compatible with a novel KONGSBERG-developed datagram format. This supports several innovative features such as extended backscatter calibration, and more features are already in development.

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