we usually get a plus five day variance on our batteries. we anticipated them lasting longer. as the battery degrades the signal will go down. the frequency will change a little bit and then the ping cadence will slow down from the normal one ping a second. it is consistent. having heard the actual pings and having our team analyze it, the noise is definitely consistent with what our ping is designed to do when it hits the water. thomas, how big of a development is this? how could it change the calculation for searchers right now? i think the information that s coming from the australian ship is pretty significant. it is the fact that you have this period of one second or approximately one second and you re in the frequent band that s close to where you re supposed to be. the pingers are designed to be 37.5 kilohertz and the faa