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A comment on Analysis of suspected MH370 pings recorded by Ocean Shield. Parent comment

Re:Analysis of suspected MH370 pings recorded by Ocean Shield by kevinchen on Wednesday April 09, 2014 @08:42PM (#7563538)
I worked on a project involving this type of underwater audio beacon, and everyone called it a "pinger." So it's not just the media.
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Re:Analysis of suspected MH370 pings recorded by Ocean Shield by prescindor on Thursday April 10, 2014 @01:36AM (#7564362)
The GP's point is well-taken. The company that produces this particular widget calls it an "underwater locator beacon",[1] not a "pinger".

To "ping" implies you are the locator, not the locatee, whether you are sitting in front of a terminal window or are running the active sonar[2] on a boat. You send a signal out and await a response, be it a reply (as in the case of the ping command) or an echo (as in the case of sonar).

[1]http://www.radiantpowercorp.com/dk-series-underwater-locator...

[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonar#Active_sonar

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