LinkQuest

Ultra Long-range FlowQuest 75 Acoustic Current Profilers Delivered to Spanish University

May 2021 -- LinkQuest recently delivered two ultra long-range FlowQuest 75 Acoustic Current Profilers to a well known university in Spain. The FlowQuest 75 acoustic current profiler is capable of reaching up to 900 meters in range with an accuracy of 1% +/- 5 mm/s. Those two systems, each installed with an optional pressure sensor, will be used in several research projects aimed to better understand the hydrodynamic circulation patterns in oceans around Spain. With its capability for significantly longer range and significantly reduced cost to end users, the FlowQuest 75 system is an ideal system for ultra long-range current and flow monitoring.

March 2021 -- LinkQuest's TrackLink 1500HA USBL tracking systems have always been very well received in Japan. LinkQuest recently delivered two more TrackLink 1500HA USBL tracking systems to two underwater construction companies in Japan. They further extend a trend of purchases of TrackLink systems from highly sophisticated Japanese users in recent years. With advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology, LinkQuest's TrackLink systems provide highly accurate and robust field performance in complicated underwater environments with severe multipath conditions. For more information, please visit lslx10.com or contact the company at sales@link-quest.com.

LinkQuest Completed Delivery of Acoustic Modems to a Large Offshore Wind Turbine Project

October 2020 -- LinkQuest recently completed the delivery of more than a dozen of UWM2000H acoustic modems to a large offshore wind turbine project in the European Union. The UWM2000H modems will be used for real-time observation of environmental parameters in a number of shallow-water offshore installations. For each installation, a surface modem installed on a buoy will communicate with a bottom modem interfacing to a data logger connected to various oceanographic sensors mounted on a seabed frame. Due to the movements of the surface buoy, the distance between the surface buoy and the seabed frame varies and can be quite long. The UWM2000H modem is specially designed to combat high multipaths (reflections) typically existing in the long-range shallow-water environments. These acoustic modems were selected for the project due to the robustness and superior performance in the challenging high multipath environments. With overwhelmingly superior field performance, large quantity production consistency and cost effectiveness, LinkQuest continues its dominance in the underwater acoustic modem market. For more information, please visit lslx10.com or contact the company at sales@link-quest.com.

March 2018 -- LinkQuest has a long-standing working relationship with Triton Submarines LLC, located in Vero Beach, Florida, a manufacturer of state-of-the-art personal luxury submarines for superyacht owners who want to explore the world beneath the waves. LinkQuest has delivered a number of TrackLink 1500 USBL tracking systems with integrated acoustic modem function to Triton Submarines over the past few years. Those TrackLink systems not only allow for surface ship-based personnel to track the positions of the manned submersibles but also allow for the crew inside the submersible to communicate with the ship-based personnel through the integrated acoustic communication function. The acoustic communication data are integrated and piggybacked with the USBL acoustic tracking signals. By doing so, acoustic interference is avoided and the user's experience is enhanced.

Recently, LinkQuest expanded the functions of the TrackLink 1500 systems to allow for surface ship-based personnel to track and communicate with multiple manned submersibles in the same area from a single transceiver on the ship. This new function allows operators of the submersibles to manage and use the submersibles in a more efficient way. Additionally, LinkQuest has also recently rolled out a new TN1510BH-AM transponder with high power acoustic modem transmission. The high power transponder has further improved the performance of the system over a long tracking and communication range.

March 2017 -- LinkQuest Inc., a leading manufacturer of precision acoustic instruments in the world, recently rolled out the FlowQuest 600 Micro acoustic current profiler. The FlowQuest 600 Micro acoustic current profiler operates at 600 KHz. It is similar to the standard FlowQuest 600 acoustic current profiler in terms of functions and performance, but is much smaller and lighter. The FlowQuest 600 Micro current profiler is 13 cm in diameter and 21.0 cm in length, and weighs less than 1.6 kgs in water. It will mainly be used for inland discharge measurements, but will also be useful for oceanographic applications when smaller size and lighter weight are beneficial.

September 2016 -- LinkQuest Inc., San Diego, California, recently added a broadband option to its FlowScout 2000 acoustic flow meter product. With this option, the FlowScout 2000 system is capable of measuring current speeds reliably starting from a distance of 16 cm, with a cell size of 2 cm and up to a maximum number of 100 cells. Since its debut in 2008, the FlowScout 2000 acoustic flow meters have been widely deployed for measuring flows in irrigation channels and rivers for water resource management and environment monitoring applications. The standard FlowScout 2000 acoustic flow meter is capable of reaching up to 18 meters in range. Its minimum cell size is 25 cm. With the new user-selectable broadband option, the FlowScout 2000 system will further extend its applications to rivers and irrigation channels with large water level fluctuations, small and shallow creeks and irrigation channels, and small diameter water pipes.

LinkQuest Inc., a leading manufacturer of precision acoustic instruments in the world, recently added a state-of-the-art multibeam echosounder product into its extensive product family of highly sophisticated acoustic instruments. The EchoSweep 300 Multibeam Echosounder is a high-resolution, highly robust and cost-effective swath bathymetric system for mapping of sea floor, inland waterways and reservoirs. The EchoSweep 300 system is capable of reaching up to 280 meters in range with 140 beams. It operates at 260 KHz and has a swath coverage of 140 degrees. The EchoSweep 300 Multibeam Echosounder maps the sea floor accurately by a sweep of very narrow acoustic beams. It can map the sea floor faster and in more detail than a single-beam echosounder, thereby significantly reducing the user's survey time and cost. The EchoSweep 300 system is a useful tool for hydrographic and bathymetric surveys, underwater inspections, dredging, pipeline inspection, cable-laying, and many other underwater applications.

July 2015 -- Even with recent downturn in the oil prices and general difficult market condition in the global offshore oil business, LinkQuest Inc. continues making a success of its SoundLink underwater acoustic modems for offshore oilfield applications. In recent months, LinkQuest has shipped close to 100 underwater acoustic modems for worldwide offshore oilfield deployments. LinkQuest's industry-leading underwater acoustic modems are based on proprietary Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum Technology and have been extensively used in the offshore oil fields worldwide over the years. LinkQuest produces a large number of acoustic modem models, carefully designed for optimal performance under various application scenarios and environment conditions. Based on LinkQuest's rich practical experience in offshore oilfield applications and competence in theoretical analysis, LinkQuest has closely worked with its customers to select specific acoustic modem models most suitable for the customers' applications, aiming to optimize system performance, increase overall system reliability and enhance cost effectiveness. Recently, a large number of high-frequency UWM2000 and 2000H modems were shipped for downhole pressure testing and monitoring and FPSO mooring line monitoring in offshore oil field projects. Low-frequency UWM3000 modems and medium-frequency UWM4000 and UWM4010 modems were shipped for seabed seismic monitoring of offshore oil and gas field reservoirs in large-scale deployments, real-time deepwater multi-sensor data monitoring and deepwater real-time AUV data communication. With overwhelmingly superior field performance, large quantity production consistency and cost effectiveness, LinkQuest continues its dominance in the underwater acoustic modem market.

November 2014 -- LinkQuest recently delivered a TrackLink 1500HA USBL tracking system to Akasaka Tech Co. in Japan via its distributor SEA Corp (www.seanet.co.jp). It is the third TrackLink 1500HA system purchased by Akasaka Tech and extends a trend of purchases of TrackLink systems from highly sophisticated Japanese users in recent years. With advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology, LinkQuest's TrackLink systems provide highly accurate and robust field performance in complicated underwater environments with severe multipath conditions. Akasaka Tech Co. will utilize the TrackLink 1500HA system for diver navigation and safety monitoring. In various underwater projects, the divers will need to accurately place objects at the sea bed. Akasaka Tech has developed special software to capture the information of divers' locations, display them in a customized way and alert the operators when the divers enter restricted areas. Akasaka Tech Co. will also use the TrackLink system to obtain the exact location and the direction of the target during underwater installations by mounting more than one transponder on the target.

LinkQuest Delivers a TrackLink 5000HA System to Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research

February 2014 -- LinkQuest recently delivered a TrackLink 5000HA long-range USBL acoustic tracking system to Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research (IOLR). After delivery, the system was immediately installed and commissioned successfully by IOLR. The TrackLink 5000HA system is a long-range USBL tracking system capable of reaching a range of 5000 meters. IOLR is a non-profit governmental research institute that primarily monitors and conducts research of the marine and fresh water environments. Currently, IOLR plans to use the TrackLink 5000HA USBL system with towed geophysical equipment in the research of the Levant continental margin (SE Mediterranean), especially assessing the risks of submarine slides on the continental slope. The geophysical equipment will also be used by the Israeli universities and students for conducting their own research. The TrackLink 5000HA system will also be used with IOLR's sampling equipment of the water column and the shallow sub-bottom. It will be connected to CTD, Box core, Piston core and towed nets. These types of sampling activities are mainly conducted during IOLR's yearly monitoring studies of the water quality, marine organisms and sub-surface of the Levant margin. Currently the TrackLink 5000HA system is installed on a pole (see picture) on IOLR's old R.V. "Shikmona". In the near future, it will be installed in the hull on IOLR's new 39 meter research vessel and be also used with a ROV and AUV's that the School of Marine Sciences in the University of Haifa plans to purchase. With advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology and highly accurate and robust field performance, LinkQuest's TrackLink systems are the world's best selling USBL positioning systems, widely used by research organizations, universities, government agencies and commercial companies worldwide.

LinkQuest Delivers the Third TrackLink 10000 System to National Oceanography Centre of UK

December 2012 -- LinkQuest has recently delivered a TrackLink 10000 ultra long-range USBL acoustic tracking system with integrated acoustic modem function to the National Oceanography Centre, United Kingdom. This is the third TrackLink 10000 system delivered to the Centre so far. The TrackLink 10000 system is an ultra long-range USBL tracking system capable of reaching a range of 11,000 meters using a directional transponder and a range of 7,000 meters using an omni-directional transponder. The acoustic modem function is fully integrated with the USBL tracking function so that the typical acoustic interference between communication and positioning systems is avoided. National Oceanography Centre is going to use the newly purchased TrackLink 10000 system to support the positioning and tracking of the Autosub6000 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Autosub6000 is provided as a facility to the UK oceanographic science community for a variety of seabed survey operations using SONAR, photography and bio-geochemical sensors.

With advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology and highly accurate and robust field performance, LinkQuest's TrackLink systems are the world's best selling USBL positioning systems. For more information, please visit lslx10.com or contact the company at sales@link-quest.com.

June 2012 -- LinkQuest Inc. has been busy recently producing around 500 underwater acoustic modems for offshore oil field applications. LinkQuest's industry-leading underwater acoustic modems have been extensively used in the offshore oil fields worldwide. Over the years, rich experience has been garnered with regard to the application details, noise and multipath conditions, and acoustic instrument interference avoidance. LinkQuest produces a large number of acoustic modem models, designed for optimal performance under various application scenarios. Based on LinkQuest's extensive experience in offshore oilfield applications and competence in theoretical analysis, LinkQuest has closely worked with its customers to select specific acoustic modem models most suitable for the application, aiming to optimize system performance and increase overall system reliability. Recently, a large number of long-range deepwater acoustic modems were selected for seabed seismic monitoring applications. These modems will be used to interface with seismic sensors to monitor and explore offshore oil and gas field reservoirs in large-scale deployments. Dozens of UWM2000 and UWM4000 modems were selected for communication between surface ship/platform and downhole oilfield tools in offshore oil field projects. Several dozens of UWM2000H omni-directional and directional acoustic modems were also selected for monitoring critical sensor information from FPSO. With overwhelmingly superior field performance, large quantity production consistency and cost effectiveness, LinkQuest continues its dominance in the underwater acoustic modem market.

February 2012 -- LinkQuest has recently received an order for 44 PMGS (Precision Marine Geodetic System) transponders and a PMGS surface station from the Japan Coast Guard. This special investment in the PMGS systems is based on the impressive measurement results obtained by Japanese scientists after the Magnitude 9.0 earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011. Up to 24 meters of horizontal seafloor movement was detected. These new transponders will form several new arrays at Japan's ocean floors, further expanding the coverage of the areas of interest. They will be periodically monitored by research vessels in years to come. The complete Precision Marine Geodetic Systems (PMGS) are capable of detecting the movement of the ocean floor with 0.5 centimeter of accuracy for ranges up to 7,000 meters. These newly ordered PMGS transponders, combined with more than 100 systems already deployed in the field, will continue to play a key role in monitoring undersea earthquakes and Tsunamis caused by movement of sea plates on Japan's ocean floors.

May 2011 -- LinkQuest's Precision Marine Geodetic Systems (PMGS) are specially designed for seafloor movement monitoring. They are capable of accurate positioning within 0.5 cm for up to 7000 meters in range. LinkQuest has been working with the Japan Marine Safety Agency (JMSA) and Japan Coast Guard since November 1999, and more than 100 PMGS transponders have been deployed on Japan's sea floors, covering large areas of interests. Some of these PMGS transponders were deployed about 10 years ago along the fault responsible for the Magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. The direct measurements conducted by Japanese scientists revealed horizontal seafloor movement of up to 24 meters and a vertical seafloor movement of up to 3 meters. These measurements provided important scientific data to modeling and analysis of the earthquakes and Tsunamis in the area.

Measurement of the movement of the seafloor is very important to modeling, monitoring and analysis of earthquakes and Tsunamis. LinkQuest is continuing to work with the Japan Coast Guard to deploy more PMGS transponders in Japan's offshore areas with more PMGS transponders planned for shipment this year.

New Product: LinkQuest Rolls Out FlowScout 600 Long-range Acoustic Flow Meter

August 2010 -- LinkQuest Inc., San Diego, California, recently rolled out the FlowScout 600 acoustic flow meter based on innovative acoustic Doppler technology. The single-beam FlowScout 600 acoustic flow meter is capable of reaching up to 110 meters in range with an accuracy of up to 0.5% +/- 2.0 mm/s. The operating frequency of the FlowScout 600 system is 600 kHz. The standard depth rating of the system is 100 meters. The FlowScout system is typically used to precisely measure water velocities in water channels and rivers. It can be easily installed on an irrigation channel bank, a bridge abutment, or a river bank. LinkQuest has invested extensively in state-of-the-art R&D and production technologies to reduce the overall system cost, and has ensured high cost effectiveness of the FlowScout 600 system for very large scale deployments for water resource management and environmental monitoring. With its highly competitive cost and high accuracy, the FlowScout 600 system is a perfect choice for long-term real-time monitoring of water flow and velocities in water channels, rivers, ports, harbors and estuaries.

June 2010 -- LinkQuest has recently added yet another new member in its FlowQuest acoustic current profiler family. The new FlowQuest 600H long-range horizontal Acoustic Current Profiler precisely measures water velocities and water level in horizontally-oriented installations. It can be easily installed on an irrigation channel bank, a bridge abutment, a river bank or a fixed platform. The specified range of the system is 120 meters with velocity accuracy of 0.25% +/- 2 mm/s and surface tracking (water level) accuracy of 0.25% +/- 1 mm/s. With its capability of significantly longer range, high accuracy and highly competitive cost, the FlowQuest 600H system is a perfect choice for long-term real-time monitoring of flow, velocities and water levels in water channels, rivers, ports, harbors, estuaries and oceans.

February 2010 -- LinkQuest Inc., San Diego, California, recently extended its popular FlowQuest acoustic current profiler line to include the small and lightweight FlowQuest 2000 system. The FlowQuest 2000 system operates at 2 MHz with a blank distance as short as 10 cm. The system is about 12.6 cm in diameter, 21.0 cm in length and weighs less than 1.4 kgs in water. The FlowQuest 2000 system is capable of reaching up to 20 meters in range with an accuracy of up to 0.25% +/- 2.5 mm/s. The standard depth rating of the system is 800 meters with options for 100, 1500, 3000 and 6000 meters. This system also has an optional discharge measurement function. The FlowQuest 2000 acoustic current profiler is ideal for measuring discharge, currents and flows in shallow waters or for short range applications. It is particularly useful when a minimum blank distance is desirable.

January 2010 -- LinkQuest has received a record number of orders for its FlowQuest line of acoustic current profilers in 2009. Recently, an extensive line of models were purchased by worldwide customers for a large number of diverse applications. The Universidad de Cadiz of Spain purchased two 1500-meter rated FlowQuest 75 ultra long-range acoustic current profilers for oceanographic applications. The FlowQuest 75 current profiler operates at 75 kHz and is capable of reaching 900 meters of range. Electec N.V. at St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, has installed a FlowQuest 1000H system for horizontal current measurement in a harbor where the dock master monitors the current speed and water depth during docking of large cruise ships. The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, China, has purchased a second FlowQuest 150 long-range acoustic current profiler along with SoundLink underwater acoustic modems for a moored oceanographic application. LinkQuest has also supplied Kookmin University of South Korea with a FlowQuest 600 current profiler with WaveQuest directional wave measurement function for measuring currents and waves in coastal waters near South Korea. The Institute of Coastal and Offshore Engineering of Vietnam has purchased a FlowQuest 1000 system for measuring coastal currents and waves, and for performing discharge measurement. Sales of the single-beam FlowScout 2000 acoustic flow meters have also picked up from several countries. These systems have been extensively used for measuring flows in irrigation channels and rivers for water resource management.

September 2009 -- LinkQuest has been busy producing its industry-leading underwater acoustic modems in the summer of 2009 and has set a company record to ship 290 SoundLink acoustic modems within 30 days. LinkQuest has shipped a large number of long-range deepwater acoustic modems for seabed seismic monitoring applications. These modems will be used to interface with seismic sensors to monitor offshore oil and gas field reservoirs in large-scale deployments. LinkQuest has also delivered a dozen of UWM4000 modems for communication between surface ship/platform and downhole oilfield tools in offshore oil field projects. Another dozen of acoustic modems have been shipped with LinkQuest's FlowQuest Acoustic Current Profilers. These modems will be used to periodically upload current ensemble data from the FlowQuest systems without the need to retrieve the FlowQuest systems or monitor the current, tide and wave measurements in real time. A large number of UWM2000, UWM2000H and UWM4000 modems have also been shipped for AUV high speed data communication, submersible command and control, acoustic uploading and other diverse applications in this period. With overwhelmingly superior field performance, large quantity production consistency and cost effectiveness, LinkQuest further extends its dominance in the underwater acoustic modem market.

August 2009 -- LinkQuest is pleased to announce the expansion of its facility at 6749 Top Gun Street to 20,000 square feet. Now occupying most of a state-of-the-art two-story building at the heart of the high tech region in San Diego, California, LinkQuest has increased its space for R&D, manufacturing and training by more than 40%. This expansion to include a neighboring area in the same building is a direct result from significant growth of the company in the past two years and the tremendous opportunity to meet high demand for its best-selling SoundLink underwater acoustic modems, TrackLink USBL tracking systems, FlowQuest acoustic current profilers and NavQuest Doppler velocity logs in the worldwide market. The new facility will also be used for research and development of new products.

March 2009 -- LinkQuest's best-selling TrackLink USBL tracking systems have been maintaining high popularity worldwide. Recently, many commercial companies and government organizations have purchased TrackLink 1500 systems. LinkQuest has delivered a third TrackLink 1500HA system to Fugro Survey B.V. at Netherlands. This system will primarily be used for offshore oil and gas field operations in long-range high-multipath environments where the TrackLink system's Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology outperforms markedly. LinkQuest has also recently delivered a TrackLink 1500HA USBL tracking system to Fisheries & Oceans Canada at New Brunswick. This Canadian government organization will use the system as a general purpose underwater tracking tool in its operations. A TrackLink 1500LC system was delivered to Maritech, Greece. It is the second system which the company has purchased within three months. A TrackLink 1500LC and a TrackLink 1500HA system were also recently delivered to Saab Seaeye in UK. The TrackLink 1500LC system will be integrated into a Seaeye Falcon ROV purchased by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for search and rescue operations. Many more systems were also delivered to domestic and overseas customers.

December 2008 -- LinkQuest has now sold its FlowQuest discharge measurement profilers to 10 countries since the product introduction less than a year ago. These systems have been used by various commercial companies, government organizations, research institutes and universities to measure discharge in rivers, estuaries, natural streams and constructed channels in 4 continents. Most recently, The Institute of Geography and Institute of Marine Resources and Environment of Vietnam purchased two FlowQuest 600 acoustic current profilers with discharge measurement function. These systems will be used for measurement of water discharge for surveys in rivers and seas in Vietnam, particularly in flood seasons. With very fast ping rate, automatically adjusted cell size, no ambiguity error and solid bottom tracking capability, the Discharge Measurement function in FlowQuest profilers is capable of more accurately measuring both normal and unsteady (or tidally affected) flow. It is also dramatically faster than conventional discharge measurement systems and has improved accuracy.

September 2008 -- The sale of LinkQuest's FlowQuest line of acoustic current profilers has grown rapidly since its introduction. An extensive line of models has been used for a large number of diverse applications worldwide. LinkQuest recently provided Columbia University with a FlowQuest 600 system with WaveQuest directional wave measurement option, bottom tracking option, and Data Fusion function interfacing to a third party sensor and a FlowQuest 300 system with bottom tracking option and Data Fusion function. These systems, along with previously purchased FlowQuest 600 systems, will initially be used in current and wave studies in Indonesian Seas. All profilers are equipped with LinkQuest's acoustic modems for deployment assistance and periodic data collection. LinkQuest has also provided a vessel-mounted FlowQuest 75 ultra long-range acoustic current profiler to a U.S. organization for deepwater water surveying from a surface ship. Taiwan's National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, and a Taiwanese national university, have recently purchased several FlowQuest 300, FlowQuest 600 and FlowQuest 1000 systems for current circulation and directional wave measurement studies. Elcome Marine Services in India has purchased a FlowQuest 600 system for offshore current measurement projects. LinkQuest has also recently provided a FlowQuest 150 vessel-mounted long-range profiler to the Instituto de Investigaciones Pesqueras of Spain for offshore current survey and a FlowQuest 600 acoustic current profiler to C.I.M.A. S.L. in Canary Island.

July 2008 -- LinkQuest Inc., San Diego, California, recently rolled out the FlowScout 2000 acoustic flow meter based on innovative acoustic Doppler technology. The FlowScout 2000 acoustic flow meter is capable of reaching up to 18 meters in range with an accuracy of up to 0.5% +/- 2.0 mm/s. The operating frequency of the FlowScout 2000 system is 2 MHz. The standard depth rating of the system is 100 meters. The FlowScout system is typically used to precisely measure water velocities in water channels and pipes. It can be easily installed on an irrigation channel bank, a bridge abutment, a river bank or inside a pipe. LinkQuest has invested extensively in state-of-the-art R&D and production technologies to reduce the overall system cost, and has ensured high cost effectiveness of the FlowScout 2000 system for very large scale deployments for water resource and waste water management. With its highly competitive cost and high accuracy, the FlowScout 2000 system is a perfect choice for long-term real-time monitoring of water flow and velocities in water channels, water pipes, rivers, ports, harbors and estuaries.

February 2008 -- TrackLink USBL tracking systems are the world's best selling USBL positioning systems. The deepwater models, TrackLink 5000 and 10000 systems, have gained acceptance from more highly regarded clients worldwide. NOAA has recently taken delivery of a TrackLink 10000 system to be installed on its newly converted research vessel Okeano Explorer. This TrackLink system, capable of reaching a range of 11 km, will be used to track an ultra-deepwater ROV and its TMS system. National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Southampton, UK, has recently ordered a TrackLink 10000 system which will be used for AUV tracking and communication. This system has an integrated acoustic modem function that can be used to send commands to and receive data from the AUV. This integrated acoustic communication and positioning approach eliminates the acoustic interference typically existing between an acoustic communication and a positioning system, and increases the overall system reliability and usability. This is the second TrackLink 10000 ultra-deepwater USBL tracking system purchased by NOC. The first system, installed on the Autosub 6000 AUV, performed well in the system trials. Recently, the University of Hawaii also purchased a second TrackLink 5000HA system for tracking deepwater towed systems. The first system has been used to track deepwater manned submersibles, Pisces V and Pisces IV, accurately and reliably in the past three years.

Based on the advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum Technology and modern DSP technology, the TrackLink systems offer highly accurate, robust and cost-effective integrated USBL tracking and communication solutions to meet worldwide demand. For more information, please visit lslx10.com or contact the company at sales@link-quest.com.

New Product: FlowQuest Systems now Perform Directional Wave Spectrum Measurement

January 2008 -- LinkQuest's FlowQuest acoustic current profilers now have the WaveQuest Directional Wave Spectrum Measurement function which can be used to measure wave directions, periods and heights. This function is offered as an option with the FlowQuest 600 and 1000 acoustic current profilers. The WaveQuest directional wave spectrum measurement function generates complete wave parameters in both time and frequency domains including various kind of wave heights, wave frequencies and wave periods, such as Hmax, H3, H10, Fpeak, Tmean, Tmax, etc. The directional wave spectrum generated by the wave measurement provides a full wave spectrum. Each frequency in the wave spectrum has its stochastic mean direction. The measured waves and the direction spectrums are displayed in the FlowQuest Studio Windows software. LinkQuest's wave measurement function is based on the effects of the reflected acoustic signals following the wave movement. This function shares the same electronics and transducer with current measurement. All sophisticated calculation is done inside the FlowQuest system. No external processing device is needed. The data output is concise and can be easily transported over satellite, radio, cellular or acoustic links.

January 2008 -- LinkQuest's NavQuest 600 Micro DVL (Doppler Velocity Log) has gained worldwide high popularity in year 2007. Since its commercial launch less than a year ago, the Micro DVL, with depth rating from 800 to 7000 meters, has been sold to more than 10 countries to large organizations such as Fugro and NOAA and small university research groups alike. Applications include deepwater AUV navigation, shallow water AUV navigation, ROV station keeping, ROV velocity, altitude and current speed monitoring, manned submersible navigation, and diver navigation. The NavQuest 600 Micro DVL is the world's smallest and lightest Doppler Velocity Log. In its standard configuration with pressure housing, NavQuest 600 Micro DVL is about 12.6 cm in diameter, 17.0 cm in length and weighs less than 1.2 kg in water. In the OEM configuration without pressure housing, the NavQuest 600 Micro DVL is about 12 cm in length and weighs less than 0.8 kg. It is by far the smallest and lightest Doppler Velocity Log in the market. With such compact build, the NavQuest 600 Micro DVL is still capable of reaching up to 110 meters in maximum altitude (range), significantly more than competing products working in similar operation frequencies. The smallest minimum altitude is up to 0.3 m which allows users to operate their submersibles much closer to the bottom than any competing DVLs working in similar frequencies.

December 2007 -- LinkQuest's FlowQuest acoustic current profilers now have the Discharge Measurement function which can be used to measure the discharge in rivers, estuaries, natural streams and constructed channels. This function comes in the form of an option for the FlowQuest 600 and 1000 acoustic current profilers.

For the discharge measurement application, the standard FlowQuest 600 or 1000 acoustic current profiler is steadily deployed on a moving vessel such as a catamaran, a small floating platform or a small boat with the transducer pointing downward. The profiler measures the water velocities, the ship's velocities, the depth and other related information required for discharge measurement by doing current ensemble and bottom tracking pings alternatively. Advanced algorithms are utilized to calculate the sectional discharge and the total discharge in real-time. The sectional discharge, total discharge, the ship's trace, the bottom depth and related velocities are displayed in the FlowQuest software. The FlowQuest Discharge Measurement software can also be used for user friendly off-line analysis. The user can select different measurement starting and ending points and different models to revise and optimize the discharge calculation results. With very fast ping rate, automatically adjusted cell size and no ambiguity error, the Discharge Measurement function in the FlowQuest profilers is capable of more accurately measuring both normal and unsteady (or tidally affected) flow. It is also dramatically faster than conventional discharge measurement systems and has improved accuracy.

September 2007 -- LinkQuest has recently added yet another new member in its FlowQuest acoustic current profiler family. The new FlowQuest 1000H horizontal Acoustic Current Profiler precisely measures water velocities and water level in horizontally-oriented installations. It can be easily installed on an irrigation channel bank, a bridge abutment or a river bank. The specified range of the system is 40 meters with velocity accuracy of 0.25% +/- 2 mm/s and surface tracking (water level) accuracy of 0.25% +/- 1 mm/s. With its capability of significantly longer range, high accuracy and highly competitive cost, the FlowQuest 1000H system is a perfect choice for long-term real-time monitoring of flow, velocities and water levels in water channels, rivers, ports, harbors and estuaries.

August 2007 -- Summer of 2007 is a particular hot season for LinkQuest's underwater acoustic modems. LinkQuest is manufacturing and shipping hundreds of long-range deepwater acoustic modems for seabed seismic monitoring applications. These modems will be used to interface with seismic sensors to monitor offshore oil and gas field reservoir. Once deployed, they will form the largest underwater acoustic communication network, surpassing the scale of large LinkQuest acoustic modem networks previously deployed for similar purposes and for long-term fishery and environmental monitoring projects. LinkQuest has also delivered a substantial number of UWM1000, UWM2000 and UWM2000H modems for offshore oil field projects and environmental monitoring applications interfacing to sensors such as precision CTD, current profilers and nutrition analyzers in North Sea, East Asia and Alaska. LinkQuest has also shipped many modems to be used in conjunction with LinkQuest's FlowQuest acoustic current profilers. The acoustic modems will be used to periodically upload the current ensemble data from the FlowQuest systems without the need to retrieve the FlowQuest systems. Kongsberg Maritime has also ordered UWM4010 deepwater acoustic modems for installation on yet another Hugin 3000 deepwater AUV. So far LinkQuest has provided UWM4010 modems to every Hugin deepwater AUV deployed. Together, these LinkQuest modems have uploaded hundreds of gigabytes of images and AUV status data in the past few years. With overwhelmingly superior field performance, large quantity production consistency and cost effectiveness, LinkQuest further extends its dominance in the underwater acoustic modem market.

New Product: FlowQuest 75 Ultra Long-range (900 Meters) Acoustic Current Profiler

May 2007 -- LinkQuest Inc., San Diego, California, recently rolled out the ultra long-range FlowQuest 75 acoustic current profiler, extending the same innovative and high performance acoustic Doppler technology to 75 kHz of operating frequency with ultra high power transmission. The FlowQuest 75 acoustic current profiler is capable of reaching up to 900 meters in range with an accuracy of 1% +/- 5 mm/s, making it one of two acoustic current profilers available in the market capable of reaching such a long distance. The standard depth rating of the system is 800 meters with options for 1500, 3000 and 6000 meters. With its capability for significantly longer range, significantly reduced cost to end users and the Data Fusion function for interfacing to multiple third-party sensors, the FlowQuest 75 system is an ideal system for ultra long-range current and flow monitoring. The FlowQuest 75 current profiler has also been seamlessly integrated with LinkQuest's best-selling deepwater underwater acoustic modems. These modems provide a highly reliable acoustic data link for uploading data from the FlowQuest recorder or real-time monitoring of currents.

May 2007 -- LinkQuest is pleased to announce it has moved its corporate headquarter to 6749 Top Gun Street, San Diego, California, effective May 2007. Occupying a significant portion of a state-of-the-art two-story building at the heart of the high tech region in San Diego, LinkQuest has more than doubled its space for R&D, manufacturing and training. This expansion is a direct result from significant growth of the company in the past few years and the tremendous opportunity to meet further increased demand for its best-selling underwater acoustic modems, acoustic tracking systems, acoustic current profilers and Doppler velocity logs in the worldwide market. This new location is less than 3 miles from the previous location at 6339 Nancy Ridge Drive, San Diego. The telephone and fax numbers for the company remain unchanged.

February 2007 -- LinkQuest Inc., San Diego, California, recently rolled out the NavQuest 600 Micro DVL, the world's smallest Doppler Velocity Log. In its standard configuration with pressure housing, NavQuest 600 Micro DVL is about 12.6 cm in diameter, 17.0 cm in length and weights less than 1.2 kg in water. In the OEM configuration without pressure housing, the NavQuest 600 Micro DVL weighs less than 0.8 kg. It is by far the smallest and lightest Doppler Velocity Log in the market. The NavQuest 600 Micro DVL is capable of reaching up to 110 meters in maximum altitude (range) with an accuracy of 0.2% +/- 1 mm/s. LinkQuest's innovative acoustic Doppler technology also achieves the smallest minimum altitude of up to 0.3 m which allows robust navigation very close to the seabed. The standard depth rating of the Micro DVL is 800 meters with options for 1500, 3000 and 6000 meters. The NavQuest 600 Micro DVL is an excellent choice for precision navigation and positioning of smaller underwater vehicles with space and weight being a premium.

December 2006 -- LinkQuest's best-selling TrackLink USBL tracking systems have been extensively used in the offshore oil and gas industry for positioning of ROVs, divers, towfish and undersea structures. Recently, the offshore oil and gas industry has further accelerated its investment in the TrackLink systems. LinkQuest has recently delivered another TrackLink 5000HA USBL tracking system to Fugro Chance. It is the fourth TrackLink 5000HA system delivered to Fugro within a year and brings the total number of TrackLink systems purchased by Fugro companies worldwide to over 20 units. Acergy Group has purchased a TrackLink 1500HA system for offshore applications in the Gulf of Mexico. Quest Veritas and Continental Shelf Associates Inc. have also purchased several TrackLink 1500 USBL systems for tracking towed systems, divers and ROVs. Leading equipment rental company, Survey Equipment Services, has purchased more TrackLink systems to add to its leasing pool to satisfy high demand for the TrackLink systems in North America and Europe. Furthermore, ROV manufacturers Seaeye Marine, Seabotix and Shark Marine have also supplied a number of TrackLink systems to their customers in the offshore oil and gas industry worldwide recently.

November 2006 -- Following the successful release of its FlowQuest 300 and 600 acoustic current profilers, LinkQuest Inc., San Diego, California, recently rolled out the long-range FlowQuest 150 current profiler, extending the same innovative and high performance acoustic Doppler technology to lower operating frequency with higher power transmission. The FlowQuest 150 acoustic current profiler is capable of reaching up to 500 meters in range with an accuracy of 1% +/- 5 mm/s, making it one of the very few acoustic current profilers available in the market capable of reaching such a long distance. The standard depth rating of the system is 800 meters with options for 1500, 3000 and 6000 meters. With its capability for significantly longer range, significantly reduced cost to end users and the Data Fusion function for interfacing to multiple third-party sensors, the FlowQuest system is an ideal system for deepwater current and flow monitoring. The FlowQuest 150 current profiler has also been seamlessly integrated with LinkQuest's best-selling deepwater underwater acoustic modems. These modems provide a highly reliable acoustic data link for uploading data from the FlowQuest recorder or real-time monitoring of currents.

October 2006 -- LinkQuest Inc. has shipped hundreds of its underwater acoustic modems for applications worldwide in recent months, extending the market dominance of its best-selling acoustic modem based on Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum (BASS) technology. LinkQuest has shipped a large number of underwater acoustic modems for long-term fishery and environmental monitoring projects, forming some of the largest undersea acoustic communication networks in the history. Long-range UWM3000 modems were installed for India's large Tsunami monitoring network, sending critical sensor data from the deep sea to surface buoys in real-time. Fugro, Seatronics, Ashtead and other commercial companies have purchased a large number of UWM2000, UWM3000 and UWM4000 modems for offshore oil filed applications. Numerous government organizations, large research institutions and universities, including USGS, NOAA, UK's Southampton Oceanography Centre, South Korea's KORDI, Germany's Baltic Sea Research Institute and National University of Singapore, have also placed orders for various models of underwater acoustic modems.

With advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum (BASS) technology and unprecedented number of deployments worldwide, LinkQuest's underwater acoustic modems are the world's best proven solutions for underwater acoustic communications. For more information, please visit lslx10.com or contact the company at sales@link-quest.com.

September 2006 -- LinkQuest Inc., San Diego, California, recently rolled out the NavQuest line of Doppler Velocity Logs based on innovative acoustic Doppler technology. The NavQuest 300 and 600 Doppler Velocity Logs are capable of reaching up to 300 meters in maximum altitude (range) with an accuracy of up to 0.2% +/- 1 mm/s. The innovative technology also achieves the smallest minimum altitude of up to 0.3 m which allows robust navigation very close to the seabed. The standard depth rating of the systems is 800 meters with options for 1500, 3000 and 6000 meters. The NavQuest Doppler Velocity Logs are ideal for precision navigation and positioning of underwater vehicles. With their capability for fast and accurate velocity output, significantly longer range, smaller minimum altitude when compared against similar products and significantly reduced cost to end users, the NavQuest Doppler Velocity Logs are excellent choices for underwater precision navigation applications.

August 2006 -- LinkQuest Inc., San Diego, California, recently rolled out the FlowQuest line of acoustic current profilers based on innovative acoustic Doppler technology. The FlowQuest 300 and 600 acoustic current profilers are capable of reaching up to 230 meters in range with an accuracy of up to 0.25% +/- 2.5 mm/s. The standard depth rating of the systems is 800 meters with options for 1500, 3000 and 6000 meters. These systems are ideal for measuring currents and flows in oceans, harbors, lakes and rivers. With their capability for significantly longer range, standard deepwater depth rating and the Data Fusion function for interfacing to multiple third-party sensors, the FlowQuest system is not just a current profiler but also serves as a focal point for underwater deployments. The FlowQuest current profilers have also been seamlessly integrated with LinkQuest's best-selling underwater acoustic modems. These modems provide a highly reliable acoustic data link for uploading data from the FlowQuest recorder or real-time monitoring of currents.

June 2006 -- LinkQuest's TrackLink USBL systems are highly accurate and robust USBL systems based on advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum (BASS) technology. With superior performance manifested in large number of deployments all over the world, the market acceptance of these best-selling USBL systems have been growing even stronger. In recent months, LinkQuest have sold about 10 TrackLink systems to Fugro companies worldwide. Fugro UAE, Fugro Marsat in Brazil and Fugro Chance have all purchased TrackLink 1500 systems. Fugro Geonics in India has purchased four TrackLink 1500 systems within a short period of time. Several organizations in Australia, in collaboration with Fugro Survey Pty Ltd., have purchased a few TrackLink 1500 systems. Fugro Seafloor Surveys has purchased a TrackLink 5000HA systems with high speed acoustic modem function for acoustic navigation and communication of its deepwater AUV. Fugro Chance has also purchased a TrackLink 5000HA system along with the high power acoustic modem function for simultaneous tracking and real-time continuous telemetry of heading, pitch, roll, depth and load cell information in deepwater construction projects.

With advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology and significant cost reduction to end customers, LinkQuest's TrackLink systems are the world's best selling USBL positioning systems. For more information, please visit lslx10.com or contact the company at sales@link-quest.com.

April 2006 -- Following installation on the Kongsberg Hugin 3000 AUV operated by Fugro Survey, LinkQuest underwater acoustic modems were installed on yet another Hugin 3000 AUV, the second one purchased by Fugro Survey recently. This follows the installation and long-term successful operations of the UWM4010 modems on first and second Hugin 3000 AUVs and the Hugin 4500 AUV operated by C&C Technologies and the Hugin 3000 AUV operated by AS Geoconsult. The deepwater acoustic modems have been used for simultaneous real-time monitoring of AUV multibeam, side scan sonar, subbottom profiler and AUV status. In the past 5 years, over 120 Gbytes data have been transported from the AUVs to their support ships using the UWM4010 acoustic modems. The reliability and the high data quality of the acoustic modem have been consistently proven in AUV surveys all over the world.

With this new order and various other recent orders for AUV modems, LinkQuest extends its position as the world's dominant supplier of underwater acoustic modems for communication with AUVs. For more information, please visit lslx10.com or contact the company at sales@link-quest.com.

October 2005 -- In early 2004, LinkQuest Inc. supplied a set of UWM1000 modems to Sound Ocean Systems Inc. (SOSI), Seattle, Washington. SOSI has integrated the acoustic modems with an acoustic current profiler, SOSI's surface buoy and bottom platform for Bodega Marine Laboratory. This real-time current monitoring system was installed in Bodega Bay of Northern California, a particularly challenging environment for acoustic communication due to the disturbance caused by high winds on the northern coast of California. Recently, the system has surpassed one year of operation. Tens of megabytes of valuable current data have been collected without encountering a single problem.

At the meantime, the UWM2000 system installed by USGS for monitoring Lower Hudson river's discharge and sediment flux has entered its 4th year of continuous operation. Reliable communication has been achieved consistently in a challenging shallow-water horizontal environment. It is estimated that over 100 megabytes of data have been collected over this period.

Numerous other systems have also been in operation all over the world for long-term real-time underwater monitoring projects with a huge amount of accumulated data. The robustness, the high data rate and the power efficiency of the advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum (BASS) technology used in LinkQuest's acoustic modems have made these deployments routine successes.

July 2005 -- TrackLink USBL tracking systems are the world's best selling USBL positioning systems. The deepwater models TrackLink 5000 and 10000 systems have gained further popularity recently. Hawaii Undersea Research Lab recently took delivery of a TrackLink 5000HA system with 3 TN5010A transponders for tracking deepwater manned submersibles Pisces V and Pisces IV. This system has been extensively used to track the submersibles in HURL's recent expedition to South Pacific Ocean for study of undersea volcanos. The Seabed Technology and Research Center at the University of Mississippi has purchased a TrackLink 5000HA system to track towed seismic receivers in its survey projects in Gulf of Mexico. Deep Ocean Expeditions has also taken delivery of a TrackLink 5000HA system. This system will be used to track its fleet of deepwater manned submersibles. Additionally, LinkQuest has shipped an Ultra-deepwater TrackLink 10000 system to support a deepwater expedition in Atlantic Ocean. Existing customers of the deepwater TrackLink systems have also purchased more transponders and spares recently.

Based on the advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum Technology and modern DSP technology, the TrackLink systems offer highly accurate, robust and cost-effective integrated USBL tracking and communication solutions to meet worldwide demand.

May 2005 -- LinkQuest manufactures the world's best selling underwater acoustic modems and TrackLink USBL systems based on advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum (BASS) technology. The high quality and user friendliness of the products are recognized by customers worldwide. The level of customer satisfaction is manifested by a large number of repeated orders from existing customers.

Recently, LinkQuest received an order for four UWM3000 acoustic modems from Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory of UK. These modems will be used along with existing UWM3000 acoustic modems for coastal environment monitoring projects. Kongsberg Maritime has ordered two UWM2000 acoustic modems to be used on the NATO Rescue AUV. LinkQuest has provided acoustic modems to almost all Kongsberg Hugin AUVs in service. Leading AUV manufacturer Hafmynd has recently taken delivery of more UWM2000H acoustic modems to be installed on its Gavia AUVs. Two more UWM3000 acoustic modems have also been shipped to Baltic Sea Research Institute of Germany. Additionally, NOAA, US Navy NAVO and offshore instrumentation companies in Europe have also purchased more acoustic modems for new deployments or expansion of existing deployments.

For TrackLink USBL systems, Deep Ocean Expeditions LLC recently purchased a deepwater TrackLink 5000HA system after it purchased a TrackLink 1500 system last year. Leading equipment hire company Survey Equipment Services (SES) Inc., Houston, Texas, has recently taken delivery of its fourth and fifth TrackLink 1500HA USBL positioning systems. These systems will be used by SES to expand its existing pool of TrackLink 1500 systems to satisfy strong customer demands in North America and Europe. Leading ROV manufacturers SeaBotix and Seaeye have also placed more orders for the TrackLink 1500 systems.

March 2005 -- Leading equipment hire company Survey Equipment Services (SES) Inc., Houston, Texas, has recently taken delivery of its fourth TrackLink 1500HA USBL positioning system from LinkQuest Inc. The purchase has been made by SES to expand its existing pool of TrackLink 1500 systems to satisfy strong customer demand in North and South Americas.

Paul Hewson, President of SES, stated: "Our customers are very delighted with the performance and reliability of the Tracklink USBL systems. The TrackLink systems are highly robust and accurate. They are very easy to use and are operator friendly. Our latest purchase was to satisfy a fast growing demand for TrackLink rental systems and we anticipate further TrackLink rental systems being purchased in the next month or so."

Based on the advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum Technology and modern DSP technology, the TrackLink systems offer highly accurate, robust and cost-effective USBL positioning solutions to meet worldwide demand. These systems are compact, light weight and intuitive to use which minimizes the time leasing customers need to spend on installing and operating a USBL tracking system. For more information, please visit lslx10.com or www.ses-services.com.

January 2005 -- LinkQuest Inc. recently announced the sale of two deepwater TrackLink 5000 USBL systems to International Submarine Engineering Ltd, Port Coquitlam, Canada. A TrackLink 5000HA system will be installed on the Explorer AUV purchased by the University of Southern Mississippi with funds from NOAA. This AUV will support NOAA's need to explore, map and characterize deep-ocean habitats, from polar seas to deep-sea oil and gas seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. A second TrackLink 5000 system will be installed on another deepwater AUV produced by ISE for the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.

The TrackLink 5000 systems utilize advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology. They are well suited for deepwater AUV positioning, navigation and communication. The TrackLink 5000 systems can reach operational range of 4000 to 5000 meters depending on the selection of transponders. These TrackLink 5000 systems have proven track records in deepwater operations and have been used to track various underwater vehicles up to the water depth of 3850 meters in IFE's recent expedition "Return to Titanic". Both TrackLink systems sold to ISE include state-of-the-art integrated high speed underwater acoustic modems. These modems were installed on several Hugin 3000 deepwater AUV's and the Echo Ranger AUV. A single pair of modems used on a Hugin 3000 AUV set a world record in uploading more than 30 Gbytes of AUV status and image data during three years of operation.

December 2004 -- TrackLink 1500 acoustic tracking systems are the world's best selling USBL positioning systems. Recently, LinkQuest Inc. has released TN1505 series of small and light weight transponders to facilitate more convenient and flexible installation on small ROVs and towed systems. The TN1505A transponder is about 9.8" in length and 2.5" in diameter (25 cm x 6.4 cm). The TN1505B transponder is about 12" in length and 2.5" in diameter. It includes an alkaline battery pack which can last one year in operation and 80 hours in continuous responding time. The TN1505C transponder is similar to TN1505B transponder but includes a Lithium battery pack which can last two years in operation and 240 hours in continuous responding time.

All models utilize the field-proven highly robust Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology. They also have a remote transducer option. With this option, the transducer is connected to the electronics housing by a cable. All models can be configured to act as responders using the TrackLink Navigator Windows software. All internally powered transponders can also be powered externally. If the external power is cut off, the transponder will automatically switch to use the internal battery.

November 2004 -- LinkQuest has recently released the TrackLink 1500I acoustic tracking system, an inverted USBL (Ultra Short BaseLine) acoustic positioning system. Based on popular TrackLink 1500 systems, the depth rating of the 1500I USBL transceiver is increased to 1000 feet while all position calculation and calibration functions are included in the transceiver pressure housing. No external computer is needed for tracking. This inverted USBL system can be used for applications where the entire system needs to be submerged in deep water. With field proven Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum (BASS) technology, the TrackLink 1500I inverted USBL system is capable of reaching long range by rejecting strong acoustic reflections from water surface and water bottom bounces. The special transducer technology used in the transceiver allows the system to be installed flush with the underwater vehicle hull. This system is well suited for AUV/UUV docking, homing and navigation. The first TrackLink 1500I system has been delivered to Lockheed Martin for AUV docking and homing at water depth of up to 1000 feet.

October 2004 -- LinkQuest Inc recently received an order from Kongsberg Maritime for a set of UWM4010 deepwater acoustic modems with spares. It is the fourth time LinkQuest's acoustic modems are equipped on Kongsberg's Hugin AUVs. The first set of UWM4010 modems, equipped on the first commercial deepwater AUV (Hugin 3000) operated by C&C Technologies, set a world record for uploading more than 30 Gbytes of image, status and sensor data in the past three years. The reliability and the high data quality of the acoustic modem have been consistently proven in AUV surveys all over the world. Simultaneous real time monitoring of AUV multibeam, side scan sonar, subbottom profiler and AUV status has proven to be very beneficial. Based on this feedback, real time adjustments can be made to swath width, AUV height, pulse length and survey route.

The ordered UWM4010 deepwater acoustic modems will be installed on a Hugin 3000 AUV Kongsberg is building for a new client. Delivery of the UWM4010 modems was completed in October ahead of schedule.

September 2004 -- LinkQuest's PinPoint LBL acoustic positioning systems utilize the same core Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology used in LinkQuest's other industry leading acoustic communication and positioning products. The PinPoint systems use sophisticated and proven acoustic ranging techniques simplified from the PMGS/HPMGS systems with accuracy of better than 0.5 cm. These systems have very strong capability of rejecting multipaths and ship noise. PinPoint 1500 systems are particularly well suited for acoustic positioning for ship hull, bottom and dam inspections. This system is highly accurate and robust in narrowly confined harbors, between the ship and the docks, below the ship's bottom, and in front of the concrete dams. These systems also perform extremely well under severe ship noise conditions typically found in harbors.

LinkQuest recently worked with Deep Ocean Engineering of San Leandro, California to demonstrate LinkQuest's PinPoint 1500 acoustic positioning system to US Navy at the US Naval Station, San Diego, California. A Phantom HD2 ROV, installed with a PinPoint transceiver, was used to inspect the USNS Mercy hospital ship docked in the Naval Station. Two PinPoint transponders hanging from concrete docks at the pier were used as positioning base stations.

USNS Mercy is a 69,000 ton/894 foot long oil tanker converted US Navy hospital ship. This ship was docked at naval pier 1. The port of the ship was about 2.5 meters from the dock. The bow of the ship was about 15 to 20 meters from the dock. The starboard of the port was about 150 meters from the dock. The water depth was about 5 to 8 meters in the harbor during the demonstration.

The PinPoint positioning system was used to guide the ROV to inspect the port of the ship at fixed depth. A Naval EOD support boat circled around 30 to 50 meters from the bow and starboard of the ship to test the performance of the PinPoint system under severe ship noise condition. The PinPoint system provided highly robust and accurate positioning of the ROV under these conditions. The repeatability of the positioning system was also validated by piloting the ROV and revisiting points marked by X, Y, Z values on the plot in the positioning software. The ROV returned to the same physical location repeatedly without error. The ROV was also used to inspect the bottom of the USNS Mercy where the ship bottom was about 2 meters above the sea bed. The PinPoint system provided excellent position fix.

As a final test of the extraordinary robustness of the PinPoint system, the PinPoint system is used to track the Phantom ROV 2 meters underwater at the ship's port where the gap between the ship's hull and the concrete dock is merely 2.5 meters. There were also a few large floats in the gap. The PinPoint system tracked the ROV reliably during the inspection demo at the port.

August 2004 -- LinkQuest recently released the UWM2200 modem. Based on the same core Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technologies with extensive additions of new innovative techniques, the UWM2200 modems doubled the data rate of LinkQuest's state-of-the-art acoustic modems to 19,200 baud in standard mode and 38,400 baud in optional mode. Operating at 53 to 89 kHz, the UWM2200 can reach a working range of 1000 meters. Depth rating is 1000 meters in standard mode and 2000 meters in optional mode.

LinkQuest has recently delivered a customized version of the UWM2200 modems to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The modem set was chosen by NASA due to its unprecedented data rate and the same robustness as the widely deployed UWM1000/2000 modems. These modems will be used to send real-time vehicle status and images from NASA's Autonomous Underwater Vehicle while a TrackLink USBL system tracks the vehicle.

LinkQuest expects the new UWM2200 modems to further expand its dominance in the acoustic modem market. Detailed discussions for extensive field deployments of UWM2200 modems are on-going.

July 2004 -- LinkQuest's TrackLink USBL tracking systems utilize highly robust and accurate Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology. The TrackLink 1500 systems have been widely deployed all over the world to track ROVs, AUVs, manned submersibles, towed systems and divers up to water depth of 1500 meters. Recently, the deepwater TrackLink 5000 systems have been gaining customer acceptance. The TrackLink 5000 systems are designed to track undersea targets up to a range of 5000 meters with high power transponders. Its robustness and accuracy have been demonstrated in Dr. Robert Ballard's well-publicized recent expedition, Return to Titanic.

Dr. Ballard's Institute for Exploration recently purchased a TrackLink 5000 system with 3 TN5010C transponders. These transponders use directional transducers with 60 degrees of beamwidth. The transmitter power level of the transponder is 16 dB lower than the high power TN5015 series of transponders. The TrackLink 5000 system was used to simultaneously track ROV HERCULES and the towsled ARGUS during the two and a half week expedition. The tracking system worked smoothly since day one in the deepwater Atlantic ocean. It was used to track the vehicles at water depths of 3850 meters from NOAA's ship Ronald H. Brown. The system's accuracy was confirmed during the expedition. Jim Newman, who was in charge of ROV operations for the mission, commented: "We are very happy with the TL5000 USBL tracking system. It has functioned just as advertised."

With advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology and significant cost reduction to end customers, LinkQuest's TrackLink systems have been consistently exceeding user's expectations of USBL systems.

The scientific expedition, led by Dr. Ballard to assess the causes of deterioration of the wreck of Titanic, was conducted in June 2004 with partners from NOAA's Office of Exploration, Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, The University of Rhode Island's new Institute for Archeological Oceanography, the National Geographic Society and National Geographic Channel and the JASON Project. For more on the Return to Titanic mission go toThe scientific expedition, led by Dr. Ballard to assess the causes of deterioration of the wreck of Titanic, was conducted in June 2004 with partners from NOAA's Office of Exploration, Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, The University of Rhode Island's new Institute for Archeological Oceanography, the National Geographic Society and National Geographic Channel and the JASON Project. For more on the Return to Titanic mission go to mysticaquarium.org or returntotitanic.org.

May 2004 -- LinkQuest's TrackLink USBL systems have expanded their worldwide popularity as manifested by a series of significant orders. Dr. Robert Ballard's Institute for Exploration has recently purchased a TrackLink 5000 system with 3 TN5010C transponders. This system has been used to track a ROV at water depth of up to 3900 meters in a recent expedition with excellent results. Australia's CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) has awarded LinkQuest a contract for a TrackLink 1500HA system with 4 transponders after open tendering. Hydro Quebec of Canada purchased another TrackLink 1500HA system for acoustic positioning in dam inspections. Lockheed Martin and NASA have recently awarded LinkQuest contracts to supply TrackLink systems for AUV tracking and navigation. Codevintec of Italy has purchased a TrackLink 1500MA system to include the system in its leasing pool. LinkQuest has also delivered 4 TrackLink systems to US Defense Intelligence Agency to track the LBV ROVs manufactured by SeaBotix of San Diego, California.

With advanced Broadband Acoustic Spread Spectrum technology and significant cost reduction to end customers, LinkQuest's TrackLink systems have quickly become the world's best selling USBL positioning systems.

April 2004 -- LinkQuest Inc. has spent significant research effort in underwater acoustic modems tailored for long-range shallow water environments in the past years. The modems were designed to work reliably in very complicated, fast-changing environments. The newly designed UWM2000H and UWM3000H modems have been deployed since early 2003 and results from field deployments have confirmed that the design goals were met even at extreme operating conditions. These modems have been operating robustly in long-range, shallow water environment, immune to severe multipaths in common ocean, coastal and harbor deployments all over the world. In an extreme example, the UWM3000H modems worked reliably up to 3000 meters in range at water depth of 5 to 6 meters.

LinkQuest has provided the horizontal modems to US Navy Coastal Systems Station Panama City for communicating with underwater sensors. It has also provided the modems to US Navy Keyport Division and Simrad for command and control of AUVs. The UWM2000H modems have also been used in frigid waters near Iceland. NOAA AOML has used the UWM3000H modems to communicate with ADCPs in warm Florida coastal waters. Recently, Advanced Marine Pte Ltd in Singapore ordered two UWM2000H modems for projects in shallow costal waters of Singapore. NOAA AOML purchased UWM2000H modems for real-time coral reef monitoring projects. Discussion is on-going with NOAA CO-OPS for deployments in its real-time current and wave monitoring projects in US harbors. With horizontal modems' unique capability of working reliably independent of the complicated shallow water acoustic channels, LinkQuest expects deployments to grow significantly this year all over the world.

March 2004 -- LinkQuest Inc. receives more than $160,000 worth of orders at OI2004. It receives an order from Japan Marine Safety Agency for 6 precision transponders, capable of achieving 0.5 cm ranging accuracy, to augment an existing 60+ node subsea network for monitoring and predicting undersea Tsunami and earthquakes. Underwater Video Systems, LinkQuest's distributor in Australia, brought in two orders for high speed modems. One order is from Defence Science and Technology Organization. Another one is from New South Wales EPA for use with its Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler. LinkQuest has also received two orders for its TrackLink USBL systems from SeaBotix Inc. These systems will be used to track LBV ROVs operated by Norweigian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and Australian Marine Ecology.

January 2004 -- NOAA's National Ocean Service, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) has installed a real-time wave/current measurement system in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland in July 2003. It uses a bottom-mounted RD Instruments' ADCP to measure complete frequency-direction wave spectra along with the current profiles. The acoustic modem, with its wireless connection, is a desirable method for data communication between the ADCP and the surface buoy. It eliminates the need for underwater cables which are expensive to install and maintain. However, the huge amount of data generated from the wave measurement could pose a serious challenge to the acoustic modem's robustness and power requirement. The total amount of data for a single year when wave measurement is done every hour will be more than 1.5 Gbytes!

LinkQuest Inc worked closely with CO-OPS in this project and provided them with LinkQuest's standard UWM1000 modems. The UWM1000 modem operates at 9600 baud with one 1 watt of transmitter power. Further modification to the system was carried out to improve the communication efficiency based on the specific output mechanism of the wave data from the ADCP. With extensive help from CO-OPS' Dr. Eddie Shih, James Sprenke and their colleagues, LinkQuest delivered the final system in June 2003 for field deployment. This real-time wave/current measurement system has been working reliably since late July using the original battery pack with 12 DD Lithium cells. It is estimated that over 700 mbytes of wave data, along with current data, have been transported over the acoustic link. It is believed that this system sets a world record for the amount of data transferred by acoustic modems in real time environmental monitoring systems.

Armed with the experience from the field deployment, LinkQuest is currently helping the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Italy's ENEA and Portugal's Instituto of Hidrografico with their deployments of similar systems.

December 2003 -- After delivering ten TrackLink USBL systems in November 2003, LinkQuest Inc. of San Diego, California, closes the year with more TrackLink sales. Recently, it has received an order from Nekton Research LLC of Durham, North Carolina, for a TrackLink 1500MA system with integrated two-way acoustic communication capability. This system will be used to track the AUV (manufactured by Nekton) while the operator performs command and control of the vehicle. The tracking system is required to work reliably in a 150x100 meter quarry where acoustic signal is highly reverberated due to rock walls and bottom. LinkQuest's TrackLink system passed the test successfully in November and Nekton Research issued the order immediately following the test. Separately, MacArtney A/S of Denmark issued an order to LinkQuest for a system to be installed on its client's Seaeye Falcon ROV. LinkQuest has also received an order from Dasco Equipment Inc. of Canada. The TrackLink system will be used to track Dasco's newly purchased Sub-Atlantic Navajo ROV and its existing fleet of VideoRay ROVs. One more contract is expected to be finalized before the end of the year.

Based on the advanced Acoustic Broadband Spread Spectrum Technology and modern DSP technology, the TrackLink systems offer highly accurate, robust and cost-effective solutions to meet high demands from worldwide customers.

November 2003 -- LinkQuest has been delivering a significant number of its USBL tracking systems to worldwide customers recently. In October alone, LinkQuest has received orders for 10 TrackLink systems. SeaBotix of San Diego, California (www.seabotix.com) has ordered 6 TrackLink 1500LC systems to be equipped on its LBV remotely operated vehicles. These ROVs will be delivered to a US Navy EOD unit in Europe in November. SeaBotix has also ordered another TrackLink 1500LC system at the end of the month. This system will be used by USGS in the Great Lakes to track its newly purchased LBV. Elcome Marine Services of India has ordered two TrackLink 1500MA systems along with 4 transponders. These systems will be used to track sidescan sonars and sub-bottom profilers in the work of ELCOME Surveys Private Limited (ESPL), New Bombay, India. Deep Ocean Engineering of San Leandro, California (www.deepocean.com), has ordered a TrackLink 1500MA system for its Spanish customer. Delivery is expected in mid-November.

Based on the advanced Acoustic Broadband Spread Spectrum Technology and modern DSP technology, the TrackLink systems offer highly accurate, robust and cost-effective solutions to meet worldwide demand.

September 2003 -- LinkQuest recently released the TrackLink 5000 series of USBL tracking systems. Based on the popular TrackLink 1500 series of USBL tracking systems, these systems are designed to work at the medium operating frequency of 17 kHz. The working range of these systems is extended to 5000 meters with high-power directional transponders. Three models of the TrackLink 5000 systems are ready for worldwide distribution. The TrackLink 5000LC system is a low cost system with a positioning accuracy of 3 degrees. The TrackLink 5000MA system is a medium accuracy system with a positioning accuracy of 1 degree. The TrackLink 5000HA system is a high accuracy system with a positioning accuracy of 0.25 degree. The cost of a basic system, including a hydrophone array, a responder, the tracking software, a cable and a transit case, starts from $29,900.

Capitalizing on its benchmark Acoustic Broadband Spread Spectrum Technology, LinkQuest rolls out these highly robust long range USBL tracking systems with superior rejection to ship noise and multipaths. TrackLink 5000 systems also include integrated communication functions which share the same hardware and transducer with the USBL tracking system. This unique feature significantly reduces the total system size, weight and power consumption. It also eliminates acoustic interference that typically exists between acoustic communication and positioning systems. Additional benefits of TrackLink 5000 systems include the smaller size and the lighter weight of the hydrophone array. These additional features significantly decrease the installation time and cost for deployments.

August 2003 -- LinkQuest's high speed underwater acoustic modems have been widely used in oceanographic deployments in past several years. The superior performance of the systems makes the UWM series of modems the number one choice in the world. In order to further promote the acoustic modem as a standard tool in oceanographic deployments, LinkQuest has invested significant amount of effort in reducing the cost of the systems. As a result, the prices of selected models have been reduced by 6 to 18%. Models affected are UWM3000 and UWM4000 modems.

The UWM4000 modems have been extensively used in deep ocean deployments. Applications include current monitoring by Fugro GEOS on more than a dozen DP vessels and oil platforms, riser vibration and tension monitoring and high speed data upload on several Hugin 3000 deepwater AUVs and Boeing/Fugro's Echo Ranger AUV. The UWM3000 modems, with its omni-directional and low operating frequency, have gained significant popularity. Applications include large undersea networks, command and control of several Seahorse AUVs operated by US Navy and real-time environment monitoring in West Africa, Baltic Sea and North Sea.

June 2003 -- LinkQuest's TrackLink series of USBL tracking systems have been delivered to worldwide customers recently. Seascape Diving of the Netherlands (www.seascape.nl) has taken the delivery of a TrackLink 1500MA system which is being used to track a Seaeye ROV. A TrackLink 1500LC system is delivered to Undersea Graphics Inc. of California. This system has been installed on the company's manned survey submersible. The tracking system will improve the survey quality for the firm's ocean surveys in the West Coast of USA and Hawaii. A TrackLink 1500LC system is delivered to Advanced Marine Pte Ltd in Singapore (www.advanced-marine.com.sg). The company will be using the TrackLink system to track an in-house ROV and lease the tracking system to customers in Southeast Asia. Survey Equipment Services in Houston, Texas (www.ses-services.com) recently added a TrackLink 1500MA system with multiple high power omni-directional transponders to its large lease pool.

Based on the advanced Acoustic Broadband Spread Spectrum Technology and modern DSP technology, TrackLink systems offer accurate, more robust and cost-effective solutions to meet worldwide demands.

LinkQuest Acoustic Modems Incorporate Data Fusion Functions

May 2003-- With wide spread usage of LinkQuest's high-speed underwater acoustic modems all over the world, there are growing needs for the modems to be able to interface to multiple underwater sensors/devicess and to provide permanent data storage. LinkQuest's high-speed underwater acoustic modems have recently incorporated data fusion functions. All of LinkQuest's modems can now interface to up to 8 underwater sensors or devices using the RS232 interface. These systems can also sample up to 16 analog inputs simultaneously and provide up to 1 Gbytes of permanent storage on a compact flash disk.

Using this platform, LinkQuest Inc. delivered two sets of UWM2000 modem systems to Fugro Chance Inc. early 2003. These systems interface to a DigiQuartz depth sensor, a load cell and a compass and pitch/roll sensor. The sensor data are stored on a compact flash data logger at the subsea modem while being transmitted acoustically to the surface modem. Fugro Chance has successfully used these systems in a pipeline recovery project in Indonesia and an underwater construction project in February and March 2003. According to Jim Waters, project manager of Fugro Chance Inc., "LinkQuest's system worked really great. It never missed a byte. These modems combined with Fugro Chance's Depthload Windows program are quite impressive."

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Upload 100 Megabytes Of ADCP Data Using Acoustic Modems

February 2003 -- LinkQuest's 9600 baud underwater acoustic modems have enabled a new way of uploading large amount of data from self contained profiling ADCP units, without retrieving the sensors from the deployment site. Uploading the data from a surface ship using acoustic modems has proven to be practical and reliable. LinkQuest's high-speed modems allow the user to collect two to three megabytes of data within 1 hour to 1-?hours of onsite retrieval. Recently, Walsh Environmental Inc of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, sets a new record by uploading 100 megabytes of ADCP data at three sea floor mounted ADCP sites since September 2002.

LinkQuest provided three subsea UWM1000 modems to Walsh Environmental Inc. Each of these modems is connected to an RDI Workhorse ADCP. Walsh Environmental has deployed these ADCP's in coastal Louisiana at water depth from 10 to 15 meters. The instruments were deployed in September 2002. Oceanographers visit two of the sites every two weeks to upload about 2 megabytes of current data at each site and visit the third site every four weeks to upload about 3- 4 megabytes of data. By sending commands from LinkQueståK½s Windows software through the surface modem, hung from a vessel, the oceanographers uploaded the data easily, without retrieving the ADCP's. The parameters of the ADCP were also flexibly adjusted during the visits. In total, about 100 megabytes of data were collected during the six-month period. The maximum size of data collected in a single visit is about 8 megabytes. According to Joel Chaky, staff scientist of Walsh Environmental Inc, "LinkQuest's UWM1000 modems provided us a reliable, flexible and cost effective way to upload data from the ADCP's. We are very happy with the quality of data collected acoustically and the UWM1000 modems have performed flawlessly. The staff and technical support at LinkQuest is exemplary."

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TrackLink USBL System Excels In Connolly-Pacific's Construction Project

November 2002--LinkQuest has successfully completed a 3-month job providing TrackLink USBL acoustic positioning to Connolly-Pacific's underwater construction project in the coastal Pacific Ocean near Newport Beach, California. Connolly-Pacific surveyed the 1.3 km long sewage pipeline owned by Orange County, California and laid 53,000 tons of rocks along side the pipeline to secure its positions. LinkQuest's TrackLink 1500 MA system provided all acoustic positioning functions such as diver tracking, DOE Phantom ROV tracking and tracking of various underwater structures along with the pipeline during the construction.

The TrackLink system was used in a two-day diver survey to track the positions of the pipeline accurately in June 2002. Combined with the result of the multi-beam echo sounder survey conducted in the previous week, Connolly-Pacific proceeded confidently with the construction project with full knowledge of the present positions of the pipeline constructed more than 35 years ago. During the construction, the TrackLink transponders were installed on the steel sled and the pipeline. The steel sled was used to cover the pipeline when rocks were placed using hoppers and trimmie tubes from the construction barge. Tracking the sled accurately and reliably is critical to the success of the project. If positions obtained from the TrackLink system is incorrect, the rocks may strike the sewage pipeline causing major damage which may result in sewage spill to nearby popular beaches. According to K. Craig Keener of CRA-Northwest, The primary contractor of Connolly-Pacific for positioning and survey, "LinkQuest's TrackLink system has worked reliably and accurately. We are happy with its performance and the support we received from LinkQuest."

Click here for more details

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LinkQuest Acoustic Modems For Singapore Project

October 2002--LinkQuest Inc. announces the order of 13 units of its UWM1000 acoustic modems from the Acoustic Research Laboratory, Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore. The UWM1000 acoustic modem operates at a data rate of 9600 baud and achieves a low bit error rate of less than 10. These modems will be used as a generic tool to transport data from a multi-sensor data acquisition system. With these high-speed and power efficient acoustic modems, the research staffs aboard the research vessels will be able to upload valuable sensor data from seabed equipment frequently and at will, without the expansive effort of physically retrieving the instruments.

LinkQuest's UWM1000 modems are selected in an open tender due to its superior technical performance, competitive cost and the quality of the technical support provided by LinkQuest's staff. Advanced Marine Pte Ltd, LinkQuest's representative in the region, also provided valuable help.

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LinkQuest Extends Its Leadership In AUV Modem Market

July 2002--LinkQuest Inc. recently extended its leadership in AUV acoustic modem market by supplying its high speed acoustic modems to Simrad and the US Navy. LinkQuest's UWM4010 deepwater high speed modems are being installed on Simrad's Hugin 3000 survey AUV. This vehicle was purchased by AS Geoconsult of Norway for commercial survey work. This is the second time that LinkQuest's acoustic modems are deployed on Hugin 3000 AUVs. LinkQuest worked with Simrad closely in past two years on the world's first deepwater commercial survey AUV operated by C&C Technologies. The UWM4010 modem on the Hugin3000 vehicle made a world record by uploading more than 5 gigabytes of high quality image and AUV status data in less than a year.

LinkQuest recently received an order to supply UWM3000 modems to a Seahorse AUV built by the Applied Research Lab of the Pennsylvania State University. The ARL is contracted to deliver the Seahorse AUV to the US Navy. This is the second time that LinkQUest's acoustic modems are purchased for the Seahorse AUVs.

LinkQuest has delivered more than a dozen acoustic modems to some of the world's most advanced AUVs in less than a year. More cooperations and on-going discussions with AUV manufacturers and users all over the world are currently under way.

Click the picture to enlarge

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LinkQuest Rolls Out High Accuracy TrackLink Systems

June 2002--Following its successful rollout of TrackLink 1500LC low cost USBL acoustic tracking system, LinkQuest recently released the TrackLink 1500HA (High Accuracy) and the TrackLink 1500 MA (Medium Accuracy) tracking systems. Utilizing its advanced Acoustic Broadband Spread Spectrum Technology (ABSST), LinkQuest rolls out these highly robust systems with improved accuracy. The TrackLink 1500HA system is a high accuracy USBL tracking system. This system achieves an accuracy of 0.25 degree. The TrackLink 1500MA system is a cost-effective, medium accuracy tracking system which achieves an accuracy of 1 degree. These systems have the capability of rejecting severe ship noise and multipath conditions and they can operate up to 1500 meters of range under typical ship noise conditions. Both systems have the option to integrate internal VRU to compensate for the ship's pitch and roll. Competitively priced, they provide significant price advantages against comparable systems in the market.

TrackLink systems have integrated high speed communication functions that share the same hardware and transducer with the USBL tracking system. This unique feature significantly reduces the total system size, weight and power consumption of the system. It also eliminates acoustic interference that typically exists between acoustic communication and positioning systems. This unique feature makes the TrackLink systems the only integrated acoustic tracking and high speed communication system in the industry.

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World's First High Speed Acoustic Communication On A DP Drill Vessel

April 2002--LinkQuest Inc.'s UWM4000 high speed acoustic modems have been successfully deployed on DP vessel Scarabeo5 in North Sea recently. It is believed to be the first time in history that a high speed acoustic modem achieves long-term robust communication on a dynamically-positioned drill vessel.

Deployed with a 3000 meter rated RDI 75kHz Broadband ADCP at 1500 meters of water depth, UWM4000 modems were used by Fugro GEOS to monitor the ocean currents close to the seabed in real-time. In combination with Fugro GEOS's RigADCP system suspended from the drill ship, the entire water column can now be profiled in real-time.

DP drill vessels generate enormously high noise from their thrusters. The acoustic noise poses a particular challenge to underwater acoustic communication. Concerns were also raised regarding the modems' potential interference to the DP vessel's LBL/USBL acoustic positioning systems. LinkQuest worked around the clock with Fugro GEOS staffs to resolve all these issues. Large numbers of noise measurements and extensive tests were carried out. Follow-up analyses of noise and field data yielded further recommendation of a proper acoustic baffle for the surface modem. Under intensive cooperative effort, LinkQuest and Fugro GEOS made history by achieving 25 days of non-interruptive communication of the current profiles on Scarabeo5. The deployment also proved the UWM4000 modems poses no interference to the acoustic positioning systems.

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TrackLink USBL Tracking System Selected By SeaBotix

February 2002--SeaBotix of San Diego, California selects LinkQuest's TrackLink USBL tracking systems for its LBV ROV. LBV is a low cost, full function ROV which is simple to operate, inexpensive to own and extremely capable. USBL acoustic tracking, which only requires the installation of one transceiver on the ship and no sea bed transponder deployment, is a preferred method for tracking the ROV by LBV customers. Upon reviewing available options in the market, SeaBotix selects LinkQuest's TrackLink 1500LC USBL system as an option to track the LBV ROV. TrackLink 1500LC system is a low cost yet highly robust USBL acoustic tracking system. It is based on modern Acoustic Broadband Spread Spectrum Technology which offers better rejection to ship noise and multipaths. Seamlessly integrated with the LBV vehicle, the TrackLink system offers the ROV operators an inexpensive and convenient way to track the vehicle and other underwater targets. The TrackLink sytem will be displayed in Seabotix's Booth at the UI2002 show. For more information, please contact sales@link-quest.com or sales@seabotix.com.

Click the pictures for more information

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TrackLink USBL Tracking System Breaks The $15,000 Cost Barrier

February 2002--LinkQuest recently released the TrackLink 1500LC USBL tracking system. The basic system, including the transceiver, a transponder and the tracking software, breaks the $15,000 price barrier. Capitalizing on its benchmark Acoustic Broadband Spread Spectrum Technology, LinkQuest rolls out this highly robust system with superior rejection to ship noise and multipaths. This low cost system has a positioning accuracy of 3 degrees. The working range is up to 1500 meters under typical ship noise conditions. The TrackLink system also includes integrated communication functions which share the same hardware and transducer with the USBL tracking system. This unique feature significantly reduces the total system size, weight and power consumption. It also eliminates acoustic interference that typically exists between acoustic communication and positioning systems. It makes the TrackLink system the only integrated acoustic tracking and high-speed communication system in the industry.

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LinkQuest's Acoustic Modems Contribute To C&C Technologies' Commercial AUV Success

January 2002--LinkQuest's high-speed acoustic modems made impressive contribution to the success of commercial surveys conducted by C&C Technologies' Hugin3000 survey AUV, according to a company spokesman. Using acoustic modem to monitor status of the AUV and upload images from sensors continuously for very large amount of data is an uncharted territory. Nevertheless, LinkQuest 4010 deepwater modems performed flawlessly after initial fine tuning and modification, thanks to the technical expertise and cooperation from C&C Technologies and Konsberg Simrad. Simultaneous real time monitoring of AUV multibeam, side scan sonar, and subbottom profiler has proven to be very beneficial from a quality assurance standpoint. Based on this feedback, real time adjustments can be made such as changing swath width, AUV height, pulse length or the survey route.

Phil Devall, technical manager of C&C Technologies' AUV project, commented "C&C Technologies is very pleased with the overall performance of LinkQuest's modems. Our client is very impressed with our data presentation because of our ability to retrieve data acoustically. This is made possible through LinkQuest's modems." In the past year, several gigabytes of data has been uploaded in real-time during commercial deepwater AUV surveys. This makes the LinkQuest 4010 high-speed modem the only AUV data link modem with long term robust field performance under extremely heavy data usage.

More details can be found on C&C Technologies' web page: http://www.cctechnol.com/auv.php?id=12

Click the pictures to enlarge

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User Acceptance Of Acoustic Modems Gains Momentum

November 2001--LinkQuest's high speed acoustic modems set the new benchmark for underwater acoustic communication. Recent deliveries to significant number of diversified customers indicate the acceptance in the ocean community is gaining momentum. Among recent deliveries, two sets of UWM1000 widebeam modems were shipped to the University of Maryland for real-time monitoring of CTD and ocean currents in costal areas. UWM4000 modems were provided to the Dunstaffnage Marine Lab of United Kingdom for image transfer from deepsea underwater cameras. US Naval Oceanographic Office purchased the UWM3000 omni-directional modems for command, control and status uploading of its Seahorse AUV. A commercial instrument company used UWM2000 modems to interface to its subsea instrument deployed at 800 meters of water depth. The high speed modem allows the vessel of opportunity to upload the sensor data without ever retrieving the sensor. With an extensive line of acoustic modems tailored for various applications and their superior technical performance, LinkQuest's acoustic modems have become the preferred choice for commercial, scientific and navy users all over the world.

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LinkQuest Delivers 20 Precision Transponders To Japan

June 2001 -- LinkQuest delivers 20 more precision transponders to the Japan Coast Guard recently. These transponders will form several arrays at Japan's ocean floors 2000 meters below sea surface. They will be periodically monitored by research vessels equipped with recently upgraded surface stations. The complete Precision Marine Geodetic Systems (PMGS) are capable of detecting the movement of the ocean floor with 0.5 centimeter of accuracy for ranges up to 7,000 meters. These newly delivered transponders, combined with earlier deployment in 1999 and large scale deployment in 2000, play a key role in monitoring undersea earthquakes and Tsunamis caused by movement of sea plates on Japan's ocean floors.

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LinkQuest's Acoustic Modems Purchased For Boeing's Commercial Deepwater AUV

February 2001 - LinkQuest Inc. is pleased to announce that it has received an order from the Boeing Company to deliver high power command and control acoustic modems and high speed data telemetry acoustic modems (models UWM3010 and UWM4010) for deployment on its commercial AUV. The vehicle will be used by the team formed by Boeing, Fugro and Oceaneering to provide advanced underwater survey services. LinkQuest's UWM3010 and UWM4010 modems are based on popular general purpose modems UWM3000 and UWM4000 and are specifically tailored for high power and highly reliable command and control of the AUV and high speed data link for image and data transfer from the AUV to surface support ship. LinkQuest has been working closely with major commercial AUV manufacturers around the world and emerges as the premier provider of underwater acoustic modems to the fast growing AUV market.

Click the picture for more information

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LinkQuest Supports Shell's Deepwater Current Data Trial

January 2001--LinkQuest joins force with RD Instruments Inc. and Flotation Technologies Inc. to support Shell's deepwater current data trial. LinkQuest's deepwater UWM4000 acoustic modems, purchased by Shell at the latter part of the year 2000, are integrated with a RD Instruments Workhourse Long Ranger in a Flotation Technologies Buoy. The complete system will be used by Shell to obtain real-time current profiles throughout the water column in water depths of up to 2000 meters. Details of the trial can be found at

http://www.rdinstruments.com/news_specials/fullcurrent.html

http://www.rdinstruments.com/pressrel/pr011001.html

Conference Paper and Magazine Article:

"Real Time Deep Water Current Profiling System", IEEE Oceans 2001

"Real Time Ocean Current Data from 3000m and Beyond", Offshore Engineer, April 2002 http://www.rdinstruments.com/pdfs/offshore_eng402.pdf

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LinkQuest Receives Acoustic Modem Order From Fugro GEOS

December 2000 -- LinkQuest Inc. is pleased to announce that it has received an order from Fugro GEOS for its high speed acoustic modems. The UWM4000 modems, with a customized housing rated up to 6000 meters and integrated battery housing, will be used to support GEOS's effort in monitoring sensor data around offshore oil platforms in real-time. A main objective is to use LinkQuest's modems, integrated with ADCPs, to monitor the ocean currents around deepwater oil platforms. Deployment will commence immediately after delivery in April 2001.

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Precision Marine Geodetic Systems (PMGS) Excel In The Field

November 2000--LinkQuest's Precision Marine Geodetic Systems (PMGS) provide accurate acoustic positioning over a long range. The system, designed for demanding applications such as seafloor movement monitoring, offshore vessel and survey positioning, and defense operations, is capable of maintaining positioning accuracy within 0.5 centimeter for up to 7,000 meters in range. According to LinkQuest's Dr. Xiaolong Yu, the Japan Marine Safety Agency (JMSA) has been deploying the company's PMGS systems for its seafloor geodesy project since November 1999. Large numbers of precision transponders have been deployed on the seafloor of the Kumano Trough at a depth of 2,000 meters. Several scientific research trips have been made to these sites to position the seafloor movement at 5,000 meters of range. Preliminary results were very successful.

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The Rollout of New Deepwater Acoustic Modems

May 2000--LinkQuest recently rolled out two models of the much awaited deepwater acoustic modems. Based on the field-proven "Broadband Spread Spectrum Technology" used in all lines of LinkQuest's modems, the new deepwater modems further extend the applicable range and depth. Model UWM4000 operates at 4800 to 9600 baud, reaching a range of 4000 meters and depths of up to 6000 meters. Model UWM3000, utilizing an omni-directional transducer for improved flexibility in deployments, operates from 2500 to 5000 baud. Its operating range is 3000 meters with a maximum depth of up to 6000 meters. Both modems maintain a bit error rate of less than 10 in standard mode.

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Acoustic Modems Excel In Shell Deployment

February 2000--LinkQuest Inc. has successfully completed deployment of its high-speed underwater acoustic modems for Shell in the Gulf of Mexico in high-noise offshore drilling environment. Shell used LinkQuest's acoustic modems instead of cable to upload current profiles from sub-sea ADCP in real-time.

From November 3rd 1999 to December 19th 1999, LinkQuest's UWM2000 acoustic modem was deployed with a 300 kHz RDI Workhorse ADCP at 900 meters below sea surface from an actively drilling platform, Ocean Worker, in the Gulf of Mexico. The surface modem, connected to a PC on the platform, was hung about 30 meters below sea surface from the platform. Due to the robustness of the modem, system installation was easily accomplished with the help of an ROV.

The ADCP was configured to send current profile every 15 minutes. Overall, more than 4000 current ensembles (2.5 mbytes) of data were sent from the Workhorse ADCP. While data were sent through the acoustic link in real-time, the ADCP recorder also kept a record of all the current ensembles. By comparing the logged current ensembles at the surface PC obtained through the acoustic link and the current ensembles in the ADCP recorder, it is concluded that there was no loss of any current ensemble and no error in the data.

More Details

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LinkQuest's Acoustic Modems Purchased For World's First Deepwater Commercial AUV Operated by C&C's Technologies

December 1999--LinkQuest Inc., assisted by its Gulf of Mexico representative Survey Equipment Services, received an order from C&C Technologies of Lafayette, Louisiana to deliver high speed underwater acoustic modems customized for the special requirements of deployment on AUV/UUVs. The modems will be used on the HUGIN vehicle built by Kongsberg Simrad to send sensor data to the surface vessel to assist the deep water survey work.

LinkQuest's new deepwater acoustic modems operates at the (user) data rate from 4000 to 8000 bits/s at 3000 meters of water depth. The modem also has advantages in size, weight, and low power consumption which makes it particularly suitable for AUV/UUVs.

Click the pictures to enlarge

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UWM2000 Acoustic Modems Deployed On Shell's Ocean Worker Platform

November 1999--LinkQuest Inc. successfully deployed its high speed acoustic modems (model number UWM2000) on Shell's Ocean Worker platform in Gulf of Mexico. The modems were used for real-time monitoring of bottom currents near the platform. The subsea acoustic modem was deployed with an RDI Workhorse ADCP at 900 meters below the platform using an ROV. The surface modem was connected to a PC equipped with manufacturer's current profile display software for the ADCP. The current profiler was updated every 15 minutes through the acoustic link. LinkQuest's acoustic modems provided wireline quality real-time communication in this high-noise environment.

The wireless communication approach has advantages over cables in terms of both reliability and cost in this highly demanding environment. The use of acoustic modems also eliminates the risk of interference on underwater operation and other underwater instruments from long cables.

Deployment Pictures

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LinkQuest Receives Acoustic Modem Order From Global Marine Systems Ltd.

November 1999--LinkQuest received an order for its 9600 baud underwater acoustic modems (Model No. UWM2000) from Global Marine Systems Ltd, the world leader in the provision of submarine cable installation and maintenance. Global Marine Systems will use the underwater acoustic modems on its mechanical burial assessment system. Valuable sensor data will be sent to the surface cable ship in real-time.

To evaluate the performance of acoustic modems under ship noise environment, Global Marine Systems has attended trials from several major acoustic modem manufacturers in the world. In the trial conducted by LinkQuest, it was demonstrated that the 9600 baud UWM2000 modem was capable of collecting more than 1 mbytes of data from a cruising ship at high data rate with no bit error. Upon successful completion of the trial, Global Marine Systems Ltd. selected LinkQuest's acoustic modem based on its outstanding performance in robustness, data rate, power consumption, weight and size.

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Trial Report With Global Marine Systems Ltd.

September 1999--LinkQuest conducted a trial for Global Marine Systems of UK 15 miles west of Mission Bay, San Diego. In the trial, a modem was deployed 500 meters below ocean surface from a buoy. A power boat, installed with a modem 2 meters below ocean surface tied with a 30-pound weight, is used to collect data from the bottom modem.

The boat was driven around the buoy at a speed of 2 knots to collect 1.25 Mbytes of data. No error was found in the collected data. The payload (user) data rate achieved was 6600 bits/second.

These modems are designed such that if the communication link between two modems are temporarily broken due to poor channel conditions or excessive beamwidth angle between the directional transducers, no data will be lost. To demonstrate the robustness of the modem during the trial, the boat was deliberately steered outside the beamwidth coverage of the bottom modem. A few minutes later, the boat was steered back to within the beamwidth coverage and all the data were collected without loss or error.

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LinkQuest Receives Acoustic Modem Order From JAMSTEC

June 1999 -- LinkQuest Inc. is pleased to announce the order of 3 units of its UWM2000 acoustic modem from JAMSTEC (Japan Marine Science and Technology Center). The UWM2000 acoustic modem operates at the data rate of 9600 Baud with low bit error rate of less than 10 and up to 1000 meters of depth. The modems will be used with RD Instruments' 75 kHz ADCP. JAMSTEC plans to deploy the system in Fall 1999. In the deployment, the current profiles will be stored in ADCP's recorder. A boat will be visiting the deployment site every month to collect about 2 mbytes of data using the acoustic modems. This innovative approach saves the effort of repeated retrieval and redeployment of the ADCP and enables JAMSTEC to get the data more frequently and easily. The acoustic modems also allow the researchers to verify the proper deployment status of the ADCP before they leave the mooring site. The high data rate, low power consumption and improved reliability of LinkQuest's acoustic modems make the benefits a possibility.

Deployment Pictures

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LinkQuest's Successful Acoustic Modem Trial With NOAA/PMEL

May 1999 -- LinkQuest Inc. conducted a successful trial with NOAA/PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Lab) using its 9600 baud underwater acoustic modems on May 12th, 1999 aboard R/V Point Sur.

LinkQuest's acoustic modems model UWM2000 were tested from the dynamically positioned vessel under 15 to 20 knot wind 40 miles west of Monterey, California. The surface modem was hung 2 meters below the surface from the the vessel. The bottom modem was positioned 1000 meters below the vessel. After collecting 0.5 Mbytes of data, no error was detected.

Throughout the test period, the motion of the dynamically positioned vessel and wave caused the surface modem, with no weight attached, to move outside of the directional beamwidth from time to time. The vessel's engine noise also contributed to the severity of the test environment. Despite the harsh environment, all the data was recovered without loss and error, and the modems achieved an average payload (user data) rate of 4800 bits/second.

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An Ocean Test Report Of LinkQuest's Acoustic Modem Model UWM2000

April 1999 -- LinkQuest Inc. released a report on a successful ocean test conducted in the Pacific Ocean 20 miles west of Mission Bay, San Diego, California on April 17, 1999. The test successfully demonstrated the speed and robustness of the modem, model UWM2000. The test also verified the significant engineering margins at working conditions.

The test was conducted on a 25-foot Seaway Powerboat. The surface modem was hung from the boat one meter below the surface facing down. It is also connected to a notebook computer through an RS232 port for checking any bit error in data transmissions. The bottom modem was hung from the boat with the modem facing up at a distance of 600 meters below the surface modem. The depth of the water is 850 meters. Each transmission session begins with the surface modem requesting the bottom modem to transmit 250kbytes of pseudorandom data (a batch) to the surface modem. The surface notebook computer checked possible data errors while receiving the data from the acoustic modem.

A total of 10 batches of data (250kbytes each and 2.5mbytes total) were sent from the bottom modem to the surface modem. In all 10 batches of transmissions no bit errors were detected and the average payload data rate was 6850 bits/second.

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LinkQuest, Inc. 1999 Last Updated August 2021

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