Acoustical pulses of variable length and repetition rate are generated by an electronic system composed of instruments which are commercially available, except for a gate unit. The system is designed to permit acoustic transmission and reflection experiments in a controlled water medium within the confines of a laboratory‐size wooden tank. Pulses of sine wave between 60 kc and 1 Mc are used. An acoustical source constructed of a barium‐titanate spherical cap generates an acoustical pressure field as high as 2.1×104μbar (86.7 dbre1 μbar at 1 m) at 230 kc at a distance of 1 m which is sensed by miniature hydrophones with lead titanate‐zirconate disk elements as small as 0.063 by 0.009 in. The ceramic is enclosed by metal to overcome problems encountered previously with waterproof coatings incapable of keeping water from the ceramic for long periods of immersion. Pressure sensitivity of the probe hydrophone with preamplifier (49.6‐db gain) is 10.3×10−6v/μbar (−99.8 dbre1 v/μbar) at 230 kc.