LOW COST TOOL FOR REMOTE MONITORING

WHAT IS IT?

DolphinEar '500' (DE500) is a combination of hydrophone, pre-amplifier and mobile telephone interface.  It plugs into the accessory connector of any handheld mobile telephone and allows the user to dial up and listen to the hydrophone from any
telephone in the world. This audio stream can be connected directly into a computer for storage on hard disk, or it can be recorded in a conventional manner on DAT, mini-disc, or standard tape equipment. Any standard low cost digital phone (such as GSM, PCS, CDMA, etc.), or older style analogue phones, may be used. It does not require a special data connection. The user simply dials the telephone number of the hydrophone to initiate a monitoring session.

WHY DO YOU NEED IT?

'DE500' lets you monitor underwater sounds from a wide geographic locations from your desk or lab.  You can conduct bio-acoustic surveys of an entire coastline, if necessary, in less time than it takes to drive to a research boat and prepare it for launch.

WANT TO HEAR IT?  * * * L I V E   D E M O * * *

We have a 'live demo' available.  Contact us for the telephone number (we are limiting access to this demo so it is not overwhelmed with calls!) This DE500 is tethered next to our research vessel, which, at the moment, is in port on the Mediterranean island of  Cyprus.  That means sounds are limited mostly to snapping shrimp, boat noises and miscellaneous underwater sounds typical of ports and marinas.  It's not the ideal location for demonstrating the excellent quality of the DE500 sound, but, it will give you an idea of how the system works. Listen, in particular, to the snapping shrimp clicks. These have a wide frequency spectrum and their clarity shows the quality you can expect.

USE WITH RADIOS:

While we are emphasizing the use of mobile cellular telephones, the DE500 can also be connected to a VHF/UHF radio system. While the range will be limited to line-of-sight, typically less than 10 nautical miles, the frequency response of the system will be improved.  The DE500 connects to the microphone input (or can be
wired into the radio) and outputs a continuous audio stream with a bandwidth that extends from a few Hz to beyond 22000 Hz.

USE WITH MOBILE TELEPHONES:

Mobile telephone impose bandwidth limitations that at first glance seem like major limitations.  This is NOT the case in reality. Virtually all of the important long distance sound monitoring done with hydrophones occurs at frequencies below 3000 Hz.  The DE500 with it's audio preprocessing system provide an end-to-end frequency range of 20-3500 Hz when using digital mobile telephones, like GSM handhelds.  This bandwidth makes it ideal for monitoring cetacean vocalizations, dolphin whistles, long distance whale calls, fish sounds, boat and ship noise,
underwater acoustic modems, SURTASS LFAS signals, diver pingers, and a myriad of other sounds.

To hear what you can expect from the DE500 system, have a look at our SOUND SAMPLES section.  We present typical sounds from whales, dolphins (including echo location clicks), fish, boats, and other sounds that have been reduced in bandwidth (20-3500 Hz) to simulate what you will hear when using the DE500.  You will be impressed by the excellent quality that is virtually indistinguishable from wide bandwidth hydrophone systems.