TRAX4 is a real-time program that graphically displays the output of an acoustic receiver. It was originally developed in 1994 at the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography and has been upgraded by Chaplin Marine Instruments (CMI). It is typically used with a tunable, narrow-band receiver so that signals of a specific frequency can be isolated and displayed versus time. The program runs in MS-DOS mode on any IBM PC/AT® compatible computer. The display emulates that of a traditional line scan recorder, i.e., an endless roll of paper moving under a sweeping pen. TRAX4 was designed to track submersible instruments that emit periodic acoustic pulses, e.g., transponders, releases, acoustic beacons, subsea altimeters, inverted echo sounders. A permanent and continuously updated display of the submerged instrument's emissions allows the user to record the instrument's response to acoustic commands and to determine the movement of the instrument relative to the surface vessel. TRAX4 requires a tunable acoustic receiver with a detector output that can be converted to RS-232 levels (+/- 9Volts). Single channel TRAX4 uses the CTS input signal on the host computer's serial port; pin 8 for 9-pin connectors, pin 5 for 25 pin connectors. Deck units such as the Edgetech 8011, EG&G 8011 and Benthos DS-7000 have a 0-5Volt output… TRAX4 easily interfaces with these units using the TRAX-PORT module available from CMI (see Hardware Accessories below).

TRAX-PORT Adapter - For users interfacing with Benthos DS-7000 or Edgetech (EG&G 8011) deck boxes, there is an inexpensive device available to convert the TTL level signal (0-5Volt) from these units to the RS-232 level required by your TRAX4 host computer. The device is powered by the computer serial port and has a blinking LED to indicate signal activity.