SEGMENT REPORTING (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	$ 5,052	$ 5,051	$ 15,187	$ 12,253
Intersegment Revenue	0	0	0	0
Segment gross profit (loss)	1,673	1,807	4,462	4,327
Segment depreciation and amortization	370	221	1,026	621
Segment share based compensation expense	282	0	282	0
Segment net income (loss) before income taxes	(3,819)	(941)	(9,390)	(3,288)
Energy & Security Sonar Solutions Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	2,988	1,622	9,170	5,654
Intersegment Revenue	0	0	0	0
Segment gross profit (loss)	984	329	3,281	1,715
Segment depreciation and amortization	57	64	173	162
Segment share based compensation expense	0	0	0	0
Segment net income (loss) before income taxes	38	(512)	619	(782)
GridSense segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	977	2,544	2,884	4,684
Intersegment Revenue	0	0	0	0
Segment gross profit (loss)	423	1,237	1,240	2,233
Segment depreciation and amortization	99	98	288	278
Segment share based compensation expense	0	0	0	0
Segment net income (loss) before income taxes	(1,499)	271	(3,556)	(787)
USSI segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	234	635	1,317	883
Intersegment Revenue	0	0	0	0
Segment gross profit (loss)	(168)	190	(773)	(107)
Segment depreciation and amortization	85	51	238	160
Segment share based compensation expense	282	0	282	0
Segment net income (loss) before income taxes	(2,230)	(645)	(6,032)	(1,899)
Power Generation Monitoring segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	328	0	629	0
Intersegment Revenue	0	0	0	0
Segment gross profit (loss)	139	0	188	0
Segment depreciation and amortization	89	0	221	0
Segment share based compensation expense	0	0	0	0
Segment net income (loss) before income taxes	(275)	0	(503)	0
All Other Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue from External Customers	525	250	1,187	1,032
Intersegment Revenue	0	0	0	0
Segment gross profit (loss)	295	51	526	486
Segment depreciation and amortization	40	8	106	21
Segment share based compensation expense	0	0	0	0
Segment net income (loss) before income taxes	$ 147	$ (55)	$ 82	$ 180