The AQUAclick porpoise click logger
The AQUAclick 100 is a click recorder which monitors sonar activity from high frequency Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) clicks. It is used to assess porpoise abundance in a given locality.
 The instrument is tuned to the porpoise sonar frequency of 130 kHz, with sufficient bandwidth to allow for porpoise sonar variations. Using a high sensitivity receiving transducer it detects the acoustic signals which are filtered to remove unwanted noise. There is further analogue and digital signal processing, after which Aquatec’s AQUAlogger technology is used to log the click events in non-volatile storage. The parameters stored are: click occurrence time, click duration, and click sound level. After deployment, the logged data can be uploaded via high speed USB, allowing it to be analysed using the ClickView software provided.
Specification
| Acoustic Receiver |
Centre frequency: 130 kHz
Bandwidth: 40 kHz
Adjustable gain to set sensitivity level
4th order bandpass passive filter for noise elimination
|
| Click Recorder |
Time resolution of click logging: 1 microsecond
Storage capacity: 8 MB, or approximately 800,000 clicks
Click amplitude level: more than 8 distinct levels over approx 30 dB range for post deployment analysis
Detection of on-axis porpoise click from close range to >200m distance, based on 150dB re 1 microPa @ 1 m |
| On/Off Control |
Salt water switch or software control |
| Dimensions |
240 mm long x 88 mm diameter |
| Weight |
Approx 1 kg in air
Approx 300 g in water
[depending on battery configuration] |
| Attachment |
Two fixing holes in housing, plus cage |
| Operating Depth |
100 m max |
| Battery |
NiMh rechargeable
Typically 2 weeks operation in water
2 hrs fast charge with separate charger |
| Communications |
USB 1.1 |
| Software |
AQUAtalk software to upload data and deploy logger
ClickView software to view and analyse logged files |
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