Imaging Sonar
Omniscan 450 SS Side-Scan Imaging Sonar
Omniscan 450 SS - transducer and electronics board
The Omniscan 450 SS is built for side scan. Its longer transducer geometry buys better along-track resolution and more range - up to 150 m per side.
A transducer bar, and a board you house yourself
Every figure on this page lives somewhere on the kit. Hover or tap a number to trace it to the hardware.
- 01Mounting20–25° downwardCerulean’s recommended tilt. Recommended fastener M6; mount threads M5×0.8.
- 02Transducer0.5° × 50°450 kHz side scan, up to 150 m per side. Far field 9 m.
- 03ElectronicsSeparate PCBANeeds your own watertight housing. 10–30 V; 5 W idle, 10 W max while pinging.
- 04Cable1 m shieldedThrough the supplied WetLink penetrator, M10-4.5MM-HC.
- 05Depth rating300 m transducer50 m with the M14 bulkhead adapter. 300 g in air, 130 g in water.
- 06Interface100BaseT Ethernet1 m cable with 4-pin JST GH connectors, which also carries a pair for power.
Every Omniscan 450 SS Configuration
Both are the same 300 m side-scan sonar at the same price. The only difference is the mount.
Key specifications15 rows▾
| Frequency (nominal) | 450 kHz |
| Maximum range | 150 m |
| Beam width | 0.5° |
| Beam height | 50° |
| Vertical beam angle | 0° |
| Far field | 9 m |
| Range resolution | up to 1/1200th of range |
| Maximum ping rate | 20 Hz to 30 m range; 10 Hz at 50 m; 5 Hz at 140 m |
| Max operating depth | 300 m transducer; 50 m with the M14 bulkhead adapter |
| Weight in air | 300 g |
| Weight in water | 130 g |
| Power | 10–30 V; 5 W idle, 10 W max while pinging |
| Data interface | 100BaseT Ethernet |
| Internal Ethernet switch | No |
| Electronics | Separate PCBA - needs your own watertight housing |
Maximum range is the range at which Cerulean has comfortably identified targets. SonarView will let you set the range out to 200 m.
Far field is the range beyond which the beam-width figure holds. Closer in, the effective beam is wider and sidelobes are larger.
Beam width is the nominal theoretical two-way (transmit and receive) 3 dB beam width.
Ping rate is limited by the speed of sound once range exceeds about 30 m: a ping must complete its round trip before the next can be sent. The figures above are published by Blue Robotics; Cerulean’s own datasheet quotes only the 20 Hz maximum. This behaviour is common to all side-scan sonar.
The 50 m depth figure applies when the M14 bulkhead adapter is fitted, which is the standard Blue Robotics BlueBoat hull fitting. Cerulean publish 300 m for the transducer without qualification. If you are planning a deep deployment, confirm the configuration with us first.
Far field is quoted as 9 m by Cerulean and 15 m by Blue Robotics for the same unit, and both describe it the same way. We publish the manufacturer’s figure and will correct it here if Cerulean tell us otherwise. If the number matters to your job, ask us and we will put the question to them.
The weights above are Cerulean’s documentation figures. Cerulean’s own product page gives 180 g in air for the transducer alone and describes it as slightly buoyant in water. The two Cerulean sources disagree; we publish the documentation figure and have not established which of them includes the electronics module.
Published by Cerulean - specification page. The ping-rate figures, the 5 W idle draw and the 50 m rating with the M14 bulkhead adapter are published by Blue Robotics - technical data
What's in the box▾
Cerulean’s own packing list for this product.
What’s in the box
- Omniscan 450 SS transducer with 1 m shielded cable
- Omniscan 450 electronics module
- 1 m Ethernet cable with 4-pin JST GH connectors (fits the Blue Robotics Ethernet switch); the cable also carries a pair for power
- 4-pin JST GH to RJ45 (female) adapter
- WetLink Penetrator for the SS transducer
- 8 × M3×12 mm standoffs and 4 × M3×6 screws for the electronics module
Buying this for a BlueBoat? What we quote is the Cerulean route: the BlueBoat edition of the sonar plus the Omniscan 450 SS BlueBoat Integration Kit (BR-102295, from €300), one of each per side. Blue Robotics also sell a part numbered BR-102105, which is not the same thing - it is a complete dual-channel package holding two transducers, two boards, hull bushings and an SD card. Tell us whether you want one side or both and we will quote the part number, rather than letting the SKU decide for you.
Downloads▾
What the 20 Hz actually buys you
Every Omniscan is quoted at 20 Hz maximum ping rate, and that figure only holds to about 30 m. Beyond that, physics takes over: sound travels at roughly 1,500 m/s, so a ping set to 150 m has to cover 300 m out and back before the next one goes. That is a fifth of a second - five pings per second, not twenty.
What this means in practice is a three-way trade between swath width, boat speed and along-track detail. At 1 m/s, 20 pings per second puts a ping every 5 cm along your track; 5 pings per second puts one every 20 cm. Set a longer range to cover more ground per line and you thin out the sampling by the same factor.
For searching, that is usually the right trade - you are trying to notice anomalies, not identify them. For documenting a target you have already found, shorten the range and slow the boat down.
This is not a limitation of this sonar. It is true of every side-scan sonar ever built. We mention it because knowing it changes how you plan a survey, and most datasheets leave it out.
The 20 / 10 / 5 pings-per-second figures are published by Blue Robotics - technical data. Cerulean’s datasheet quotes only the 20 Hz maximum. The 5 cm and 20 cm ping spacings are our own arithmetic from those figures at 1 m/s, not a published specification.
Side-scan, multibeam or 3D: which sonar does a small survey USV need?Omniscan 450 SS, and what it produces
Photographs of the hardware, and screens from SonarView.
Mounting angle, hole sizes, and two ways to break it
The transducer wants an approximately 20° downward tilt. Cerulean refine that in their application notes: 20–25° is about optimal for getting the longest range relative to your height above the bottom. If you are working nearer targets from a greater altitude, steepen it.
Cerulean also caution against reading the beam figures too literally. The quoted widths are at the −3 dB point and there is useful acoustic energy well beyond that. Some energy going straight down is a good thing - it gives you a depth sense, and the bottom is a strong reflector, so it does not take much.
Installation figures
Published by Blue Robotics, absent from Cerulean’s datasheet. Useful if you are cutting your own hull fitting.
| Recommended thru-hole diameter | 14.2 mm |
|---|---|
| Recommended fastener | M6 |
| Mount threads | M5×0.8 |
| Adapter thread | M14×1.5, 25 mm long |
| Installation torque | 3.5 Nm |
| Bulkhead wrench flats | 16 mm (adapter: 28 mm) |
| WetLink Penetrator | M10-4.5MM-HC |
| O-rings | AS568-117 and AS568-013, Buna-N 70A |
| Wetted materials | Buna-N, Molykote 111, 7075-T6 anodised aluminium, urethane potting |
Two things that will damage it
- Do not lift or carry the unit by the transducer. Cerulean flag this at the highest warning level in their documentation - the array contains long, thin ceramic elements and bending the housing can break them.
- Do not leave it pinging in air. The transducer heats up out of water. Several minutes at a time is fine for a bench test; longer is not.
We mention both because they are the two failure modes that are not covered by warranty and are entirely avoidable.
Mounting angle and the handling warning: Cerulean - mechanical mounting and application tips. Installation figures and the do-not-ping-dry warning: Blue Robotics - technical data and integration guide.
HS code and country of origin
| HS code | 9015.80.8080 |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | USA |
We quote in EUR with duty and import handling included, so the number on your quote is the number you pay. These are here because customers ask for them, and because a distributor that will not tell you the HS code is not saving you any work.
Published by Blue Robotics - product page.
Building on something that is not a Blue Robotics vehicle?
Worth knowing up front: there is no direct ArduPilot integration. Cerulean’s hardware talks to SonarView, and SonarView runs inside BlueOS on a Raspberry Pi. On a BlueBoat or a BlueROV2 that is already there and costs you nothing. On a bespoke vehicle it is a genuine integration task - talk to us before you order and we will tell you honestly whether it is a sensible fit.
You also need an Ethernet switch on a BlueBoat. The boat has no spare port, and a switch is included in neither the Cerulean kit nor the Blue Robotics one. We put one on the quote.
The ArduPilot point is Tony White of Blue Robotics, answering a prospective AUV integrator on the Blue Robotics community forum in June 2026. The Ethernet switch is in Blue Robotics’ integration guide.
Common questions
Answers Cerulean and Blue Robotics publish, plus operators’ reports from the Blue Robotics community forum - each linked back to the source it came from.
Why is the SS transducer longer than the FS one?
The longer array narrows the beam to 0.5° against the FS’s 0.8°, and takes maximum range to 150 m against 120 m. The electronics are the same in both - the transducer is what differs. Source
Can one SS image both sides at once?
No. One unit images one side. Port and starboard coverage on the same pass means two units, one facing each way. Source
Does it arrive in its own housing?
No, and this is the practical difference from the FS. The SS ships as a transducer plus a separate electronics PCBA with standoffs and a WetLink penetrator - you supply the watertight housing. The FS arrives sealed. Source
Is there a BlueBoat version?
Yes - OS450SS-BB, at the same price as the standard unit. The BlueBoat integration kit (BR-102295) is a separate order. Source
What else do I need before a mosaic will stitch?
A position source. On the surface that is GPS; underwater it is a DVL, a USBL, or Omniscan’s own Doppler motion tracking using two units. Without one you get individual pings, not a map. Source
Why does the ping rate drop at longer ranges?
Because a ping has to complete its round trip before the next one can be sent, and sound moves at about 1,500 m/s. Blue Robotics publish 20 pings per second to 30 m, 10 at 50 m and 5 at 140 m. Cerulean’s datasheet quotes only the 20 Hz maximum. Every side-scan sonar behaves this way - it is a property of water, not of this product. Source
What is the real depth rating on a BlueBoat?
Cerulean rate the transducer to 300 m. Blue Robotics state 50 m when the M14 bulkhead adapter is fitted, and that adapter is the standard BlueBoat hull fitting. For surface work the distinction does not arise. If you are planning to take this transducer deep, tell us the configuration and we will confirm the figure with Cerulean before you order. Source
My first sonar log is all noise. Is the unit faulty?
Probably not - check the wiring first. Because the SS ships as a transducer plus a separate board that you wire and house yourself, connector and harness faults are the most common cause of a noise-only image, and they are what the Blue Robotics forum threads on this consistently resolve to. Check the transducer connection at the board, confirm you can hear the unit pinging, and contact us or Cerulean support if it persists. Source
Request an Omniscan 450 SS quote
Tell us the vehicle and the water depth and we will confirm the exact part number - and say so if a different model suits the job better.
Anything you have added to your quote list is carried into this form automatically.