Crew shorthand for everything that goes in the water: transducers, sonar heads, towfish, sound speed sensors and their cables. The matching term dry end covers the topside processing unit, acquisition computers and displays. When a system fails, the first question is whether the fault lies at the wet end or the dry end, because swapping a sonar head means divers or a haul-out.
Topside's fine, the fault is at the wet end, probably the cable into the sonar head.
Also heard as
- wet side
Related terms
Transducer
The device that turns electrical pulses into sound in the water and converts returning echoes back into signals.
Towfish
A streamlined body towed on a cable behind the vessel that carries side-scan or other sensors close to the seabed.
Pole mount
A sonar transducer fixed on a rigid pole over the side or bow of a boat instead of built into the hull.
MBES
Multibeam echo sounder: a sonar that measures a fan of depths across the track on every ping, covering a wide swath.