US Navy Buys Diver Communications System from UK Company

Divex, a subsidiary of James Fisher and Sons plc specialized in commercial and defense diving products, has been awarded a contract to supply the US Navy with their diver communications system, the HeliCom™ Matrix.

The UK-based company has received an order from the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) through its American partner, Chase Supply Inc.

The HeliCom™ Matrix is a fully digital diver communication system that provides communications for the chamber complex and wet test chamber. The US Navy will use it for deep trials and at its training facility in Panama City, Florida.

Launched in 2010, the HeliCom™ Matrix is the first of its type; a helium speech unscrambling communication system which retains all of the original voice pattern to ensure clear, concise and intelligible communication is provided for divers operating in extreme depths and conditions. With improved speech intelligibility comes improved safety for the divers and this was a major contributing factor during the design phase.

The HeliCom™ Matrix achieves superior, crystal-clear diver helium voice communication through advanced DSP (digital signal processing) helium speech decoding techniques. The helium speech from the pressurised divers and the chamber occupants are mixed in an audio mixer before decoding to the selected gas and environmental settings by a digital signal processing circuit (DSP).

The system also offers automatic unscrambling that removes the need for user interaction to control the depth at which the unscrambler is operating, providing greater accuracy and ease of use.

The Divex HeliCom™ Matrix was first installed in 2011 onboard the DSV Skandi Singapore where it continues to operate successfully with no issues or failures reported. The HeliCom™ Matrix is also to be installed onboard BP’s new Caspian Sea Subsea Construction Vessel, for which Divex have been awarded a multi million pound contract to provide a 300 metre depth, 18 man twin bell saturation diving system.

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Press release; Image: Divex