Amongst ICAST’s abundant rods and lures—even a big, lively bowl of live worms—I came across this interesting development: Raymarine previewing an impressively redesigned A-Series, previously unannounced and currently invisible on line. There will be five new models, whose names correspond to screen sizes, sort of. When the series truly debuts in October, we’ll see a 5" A50d, a 5.7" A57d, and a 6.4" A70d (hey, the C70 is actually 6.4" too), all with HD fishfinders built in (unlike the superseded models), plus A50 and A70 plotter-only versions.
That’s a strange, but very impressive fishfinder scroll on the NavNet 3D MFD8 above, and bigger here. You see, Furuno claims that its new SC-30 satellite compass is so sensitive to a vessel’s altitude, which really only changes as it heaves up and down in seas, that NN3D can use that input to remove heave error from its fishfinder screen. I was pretty skeptical about that claim until the end of my NN3D cruise off Cape Cod, when Iker Pryzo uninstalled the SC-30 and showed us how simply pumping it up and down a couple of feet—shown below—registered immediately on the screen above. If it can respond to small, quick movements like that, it can surely detect swells and likely also compensate for pitch and roll, and thus stabilize side scanning sonar. Amazing!
Yeeeeha…today I’m driving down to Cape Cod so that on Thursday I can ride on Furuno’s test boat equipped with the geekalicious NN3D network of gear shown above, and bigger here. Hosting the demo will be Brice Pryszo, founder of MaxSea, and his son Iker, who now works at Furuno USA headquarters. I’ll be Spot sharing, taking pictures, pushing buttons, and asking questions. And I’m open to suggestions about just what to ask and look for.
Now that you know how I got the screenshots, here are examples of Lowrance’s new networkable Broadband Sonar as seen on the HD (hard drive) version of a GlobalMap 9200C. (The 9300c HD, oddly, doesn’t seem to be listed as a current product?) The full 800x600 screen above gives you some sense of the scene as we exited Miami looking for deep water and fish. (Yes, the Lowrance radar was running, but possibly wasn’t tuned, and certainly looked a lot better in the harbor at slower speeds.) What you can’t see is the dinky transducer (this one, I think) that was hung on the stern of the 330 World Cat demo boat (with, yeeha, twin 300 hp Suzukis). Remember that the LBS premise is amazing performance with only 250W of peak-to-peak power, “a whisper instead of a shout” as Navico likes to say.
Lowrance Broadband Sonar, a "disruptive technology"?
Jan 15, 2008
Lowrance’s Broadband Sonar was announced back in July, but—judging from the chatter on forums like BassBoat Central, BassPro Shops, and the Hull Truth—it’s just now getting to market. So there aren’t yet many consumer reports about its performance yet, but, man-o-man, the folks at Lowrance and mother company Navico are some excited about it. At METS CEO Jens-Thomas Pietralla called it “a fine piece of disruptive technology,” by which I think he meant that it has the combined performance and value to upset the whole world of fishfinding. His claim echoed (so to speak) an excited Lowrance rep I spoken with at the Fort Lauderdale Show.
Now online along with my PMY column about George Wallner, owner of Electra, is a write up of Interphase’s neat black box SE-200B FLS (forward looking sonar). The two related as Wallner, like me, is a fan of FLS, despite its limitations, and had a series of Interphase models on his former yacht Tumblehome. An SE-200 could have integrated nicely into Electra’s two helm system, but Wallner chose a Color Twinscope instead, feeling that a stand-alone unit would be less distracting to use, which usually happens to be when he’s maneuvering in thin waters. Click here for pictures and details of Electra’s systems that couldn’t fit in the PMY article. Today, it was announced that the SE-200 made the DAME awards short list, one of 34 products selected from 138 entered. I don’t even know what some of the electronics category entries are! But I’ll be at METS to find out, assuming I get through the FLIBS mad house, which starts for me in one hour. As you can see from the press schedule and show list, I’m going to be a busy boy.
If you check the bigger image, you’ll see the FM band button, a welcome first for a fixed VHF radio. But maybe better yet, I think, is the Lowrance style NMEA 2000 plug on the back.
I had a long phone interview with Garmin this morning and was mucho pleased to learn that the limited NMEA 2000 support in the 4 and 5000 series is only temporary. Garmin’s Marine Sales Manager Greg DeVries explained that the reason they took the approach they did—i.e. N2K engines only, as seen in the (simulated) screen above and its alternate—is that they’d “still be in development” if they hadn’t. He promised that “Going forward, we're absolutely going to embrace full NMEA 2000. It will just be a software upgrade for existing customers.” That makes what I first heard sit a whole lot better!
I got the test Garmin 545s and a new Raymarine A60 installed on Gizmo and took a test run around my local Lake Megunticook. I don’t think Navionics, Garmin, or any one else has electronic charts for this particular lake—or many lakes in Maine for that matter—so the plotter functions were pretty pointless. But I did get a taste of both their dual-frequency fishfinders. For starters I was rather shocked that neither seemed to interfere with the other, even when both were set to the same frequency, and even though the transducers are about 6” apart on the transom. They simultaneously held onto the bottom even at 20 knots too. Is this an aspect of the digital signal processing both claim to use?
Garmin wouldn’t let me photograph this in Miami—something about a patent application—but fishermen must be discovering it around the country right now. This screen shows the 3D underwater view, available only when you have a g2 Vision chart card in the slot. Plus, if you turn it on, every few seconds the active sonar image is overlaid on the 3D, as shown above. I did this in simulation mode but will try it on the water next week. Right now I’m in New York City to see my sweet daughter graduate Columbia Journalism School this afternoon. Proud papa! Oh yeah, Vision cards also let you see a more ‘traditional’ 2D bathy fishing chart, another thing Garmin hasn’t had time to advertise much:
It seems a bit unusual that the folks at Raymarine just announced a new A60 plotter/fishfinder that they didn’t mention at the Miami Boat Show, but I imagine they’re hustling to meet the Garmin juggernaut. After checking out the A60’s specs, and manuals (where I snipped the diagram below), I’d say it’s a worthy competitor to, say, the Garmin 545s. You get a slightly bigger display, 5.7” over 5”, a killer digital fishfinder, and Ray’s C/E-series soft key interface made even simpler as it’s stripped of radar, AIS, wind, and other elements the hardware doesn’t support. The A60 comes with a Navionics Silver card covering all U.S. waters in almost complete detail, plus you can use Gold or HotMaps fresh water cards. The Garmin, of course, has BlueCharts built in, plus you can get g2 Vision cards with hi res photos and 3D, even add XM weather, but is a 5” screen big enough for that sort of use? (Though note that the 545 sports high pixel density, 480 x 640 versus the A60’s 320 x 240.) At any rate, there’s already a discussion going at The Hull Truth comparing the Garmin with Raymarine’s A65, the similar 6.5” model that preceded this new one (at a significantly higher price). But, watch out, I think FlipFlop425’s post is wrong about the 545s having a digital fishfinder. (And, by the way, are any of the new Garmins shipping yet?)
PS 4/18: Yipe, I made mistakes above! It turns out that the internal fishfinder in the Garmin 545s does use digital signal processing, plus you can use its CANet port to connect to an up-to-2kW GSD 22 module. Also, it and the other smaller new Garmins are now shipping (with the 4000 and 5000 series soon to follow). Apologies to FlipFlop425 and also to Garmin’s media guy (whose Blackberry jukeboxed when it started working again early this morning!).
If you make wireless sensors so tough they can be dragged around attached to trawler nets, a good way to market that quality is to have brawny fishermen chuck them as far as possible. That’s just what Simrad does every year in Norway, and apparently it’s so much fun that they’ve introduced the competition to the U.S. (above). It’s pretty amazing what the whole Catch Monitoring system can do—showing a skipper how his gear is setting, what temp water it’s in and when it touches bottom, and how many fish are in it. Makes you wonder what this technology could do on the yachting side? But mind you that this is Simrad the commercial fishing company, not the spun-off Simrad Yachting, which is now under the Navico corporate umbrella.
I’m guessing that title got your attention? You see I’m trying to compare a Furuno FCV-620 fishfinder with the Raymarine DS500X which is already installed on Gizmo (and which the idiot thieves failed to strip off). Airmar kindly made me a patch cord so that the same transducer works with both machines (and the Navman 8120 I’m also testing). I can’t run them simultaneously (the DS500X is locked up in above photo), but can switch the transducer quickly. You can see in the bigger picture how noise-free both units are, apparently thanks to Digital Signal Processing, and note that both are in full auto mode. What I’m having a hard time determining is if one or the other is actually better at finding fish. So far the Raymarine IDs more fish on screen, but I suspect that it is being ‘optimistic’. It’s hard to get trained fish for this purpose, which is why someone suggested that a few ping pong balls held underwater with panty hose and a rock could simulate fish bladders. I’m not sure I’ll find time to try that, but would appreciate other suggestions on how to compare the units.
In the meantime, the difference in interfaces is much more obvious and quantifiable. I quite like the 620’s knobs for controlling manual gain and screen mode (below, bigger here), a much more tedious process on the DS500X. Knobs, as noted yesterday, are old fashioned, but they sure can be useful.
Super Cheater, do they make 'em like they used to?
May 30, 2006
Would you be surprised to learn that Audacity's electronics are minimal? Actually just a venerable Garmin 48 at the chart table and this fabulous Aqua Meter Super Cheater Tournament depth flasher in the aft companionway (bigger here). I had a flasher like this in the 70’s and they work darn well. Like an analog watch, it only takes a few brain cycles to keep track of depth on that big round dial (15 feet in this case). Plus it’s simple as pie; left button switches between the two ranges, right button controls gain and on/off. But it’s hard to see fish on these things and darn funny to think of one as a fisherman’s “Tournament Super Cheater”, but then again the similar Lowrance’s famous Fish-Lo-K-Tor was a million seller. Actually, there’s at least one company, Vexilar, still making flashers, though they look a little more sophisticated than this.
Memorial Day, "Don't let the bastards grind you down"
May 29, 2006
It’s Memorial Day here in the States, and frankly a tough one, given what peril and mess we’ve put our military into. But I will show the flag with pride. I took this particular shot, bigger here, a week ago in Rockport, Maine, as two dear friends held a party to say farewell to Audacity, a wooden schooner they’d owned for 28 years. I first met Max and Lavana in the spring of 1980 in St. George, Bermuda, as they were completing a North Atlantic circumnavigation, and it was a great pleasure to have them eventually move to my town. Inspirational too, as right up until last week they were still sailing this 51’ boat just the two of them, and doing all maintenance. Here they’re striking the colors for the last time and about to hand the flag to the new owner. It was very sweet moment.
One feature that the original owner of Audacity installed in 1971 is the carved aphorism below. It may be mock-Latin, but it too seems pertinent to the holiday.
Furuno has two new fishfinders, the FCV585 and FCV620, that seem interesting. For one thing, better seen in a big picture, they are styled more sleekly than normal Furuno gear. More important perhaps, they incorporate Digital Signal Processing (here’s Chuck Husick on DSP) for cleaner, easier to understand imagery. DSP also improves automatic control, but the Furuno press release proudly notes that the units retain the company’s “long-standing and highly revered direct access knobs”. I do not know if Furuno’s DSP is equivalent to Raymarine’s HD (High Definition Fish Imaging), but I do know that the latter has earned the respect of some fishermen. I also know that it’s darn hard to directly compare fishfinders (can’t run them at the same time, can’t fake fish), and guys will be yakking about the relative merits of these machines for years to come.
I first researched forward looking sonar (FLS) back in 2002, and later tested an EchoPilot Bronze on my 25’ Ralph. I really, really like the idea of being able to see underwater ahead of the boat (I like exploring, and Maine is ledge city), but so far have to agree with the general consensus that the available gear—from Interphase as well as EchoPilot—can’t see very far or with much detail. But now Furuno has introduced the FL-7000 FLS purportedly capable of seeing “up to” 1,600’ ahead of your boat (though the image above, bigger here, only shows a breakwater, or similarly easy target, about 15 meters ahead). Just putting its name on FLS will bring new attention to the category, and I imagine there’s some truth to Furuno’s claim that it’s spent years developing the “best FLS on the market”. It’s also the most expensive at something like $4,000 (though I haven’t seen that in print, and there’s nothing about it at Furuno’s site yet). The unit also has something called “Baitscope Mode” that I don’t comprehend yet, and is capable of using pitch and roll information to stabilize targets. And I’m told that the phased-array transducer, from Airmar, has tested successfully at speeds of 40 knots. Could the FL7000 protect a fast boat from, say, just-awash shipping containers? That would be something! Hopefully, I’ll learn more at Fort Lauderdale, still on as best I can tell.
PS 9:30 am: Fort Lauderdale not opening on Sat., maybe not at all.
Next week in Ft. Lauderdale I’ll get an on-the-water demo of the new Raymarine A65 along with its included Navionics Silver chart card…so details then, apparent strategies now:
* The A65 is a 6.5”, though full VGA, plotter/fishfinder (or plain plotter) that seems to incorporate Raymarine’s crisp digital sonar technology and some of the friendly soft key interface seen in the C and E Series. It does not support radar, a high speed bus, or even SeaTalk2/NMEA 2000, but it does seem to offer some bigger boat electronics goodness in a smaller package (and price, though I don’t have the exact numbers just yet).
* The A65 comes with a Navionics Silver CF card that includes full detail coverage of the entire US coast. My understanding is that this signals the beginning of Navionics’ three tier chart strategy—Silver, Gold, Platinum…good, better, best. All the details aren’t out but the idea is that users of at least some machines can upgrade through the tiers as desired; meanwhile Navionics can move features down through the tiers as competition dictates. Slick.
The total package seems like a big “hello” to Garmin’s 192/198 series, Lowrance’s NauticPath etc., and also, in a way, to NOAA’s imminent giving away of all U.S. raster charts. (And a note to readers from outside the States: sorry that your governments are not pushing vendors to provide more and better chart coverage for less money, but then again you don’t have a powerful politician trying to gag your met offices.)
How do they do that? The new JRC JLN-550 Speed Log at right is displaying not just 18k of forward speed over the ground (SOG), but is also showing that the bow is going to starboard at 1.8k and the stern to port at the same speed. The trick starts with a 4 beam 240 khz sonar transducer in the bow. The doppler shifting of the sonar pings off the bottom is used to get two axis SOG. The third axis (the stern motion) is calculated by adding rate-of-turn input from a gyro or ROT capable electronic compass. When bottom depths exceed 250 meters, the unit can switch to speed through the water (STW) using ultrasonics (2 mhz) to measure passing particles. Now this is big ship gear for sure—it starts at about $26,000, and the 265 pound transducer is termed “compact”—but accurate STW underway and multi axis SOG around docks would be very useful on medium size boats too. I’m hopeful. Airmar already has an ultrasonic speed transducer scaled for yachts (pdf brochure here). Now we just need a small, reasonably priced 4 beam sonar transducer.
Last week I mentioned (relatively) inexpensive side scanning sonar, and here’s what I’m talking about. This 7” diagonal Humminbird 981c, which retails at about $1,650, is a conventional 750 watt dual frequency (50/200kHz) fishfinder that’s also able to scan sideways about 240’ out and 100’ down at 262kHz. The image on the screen (bigger here) is the left side of a scan, showing a submerged barge (distorted by the scanning dynamics) and a pile of dumped logs. You can see from the numbers that the depth was only 11’ and the scan is only looking out 30’, but there are more screen shots on Humminbird’s side scan page that show pretty good detail at somewhat greater range. Of course, these are all company images; has anyone out there tried one of these?
I’ve gotten fascinated by side scanning sonar, largely because products are coming to market that are inexpensive and easy enough to interest sport fishermen and amateur Captain Cooks. I’ll have entries on those soon, but first let’s look at what can currently be done with commercial grade side scanning, usually done with a towfish. Above is the wreck of the 291’ SS Portland, which sank off Cape Cod with great loss of life during a blizzard on Nov. 26, 1898. The image, which is not a photo, was collected with a Klein 3000 towfish (below). In the larger version, fish are obvious near the bow, which, incidentally, is actually attached to the rest of the boat (the black area is typical side scan distortion created when the gear moves along the track shown as a line). Bigger images and a fascinating description of the Portland disaster are here, and lots more scans in Klein’s gallery section.
The croakers and rockfish just weren’t biting, but the research trip was terrific anyway. I’ll have more to say later about trying the latest incarnation of Maptech i3 and the Airmar factory tour, both very impressive, but today’s entry is about a little company you’ve never heard of called NSI (Nautical Solutions International). Google can’t find them but principals Mark Pringle and Floyd Phillips have been doing valuable, innovative (behind the scenes) work with 3D bathymetry since 1996. You may have seen it as contour modules in Maptech or Raymarine software, or as Bass Tracker on ESPN (and there’s more to come). Their web site is informative, but doesn’t show you how their office is right next to the marina where they keep two test boats ready to run year round. The latest, the Defiance 260 above, is totally tricked out with i3 gear; besides the big scanner, those are Weather Channel Marine and SkyMate satellite antennas up there. Such a deal: Maptech sponsors a great boat for showing off i3, which the lads at NSI also use to tweak the 3D fishfinder (and take a break from coding). Nice!
In a review on Yachtingnet Chuck Husick discusses the Lowrance LCX-104C fishfinder and chartplotting capabilities. It's a fairly neutral review, more of an extensive product description.
"Lowrance’s ASP (Advanced Signal Processing) noise rejection system automatically optimizes fishfinding performance under typical operating conditions. A small external LGC-12w GPS/WAAS receiver provides the navigational data. The LCX-104C runs Navionics digital cartography in conjunction with Lowrance’s MapCreate custom mapping software. Two MultiMedia Card (MMC) cartridge slots facilitate simultaneous use of a Navionics cartridge and a blank data-storage cartridge or one custom loaded with MapCreate cartography. The system’s NMEA 0183 output lets it interface with other display devices, as well as the boat’s autopilot."
A short article going back to 1957 when Carl Lowrance invented a small electronic box that flashed instant water depths and possible fish targets, and looking forward to a near future where anglers will find their lake depth screens will appear in 3-D effect to more easily visualize the haunts of fish.
"In my fishing boat the other day I turned on a state-of-the-art Lowrance 104 unit that combines sonar with GPS and mapping capabilities. It's the fishing version of shock and awe. On a split-screen as clear as color television, the Lowrance 104 showed the bottom depth, possible fish or bait targets and bottom hardness — and that's just one side of the screen."(Lowrance at Amazon.com)
"The X135 has 4000 watts peak-to-peak power for depths to 1,000 feet. It comes with “Fish I.D.” This feature automatically interprets sonar echoes and displays them as fish symbols. The “FasTrack” feature lets you speed your boat over the water and watch the bottom contours and depths while you hunt out the perfect spot."
Humminbird's SmartCast Fish Finder Watch has been out for a while, and I've written about it before. But here is another link to it since a new weblog called Wrist Dreams has found out about it as well. They also highlight some other watches for marine use.
"The sensor reads water depth up to 100' with a 90° sonar beam to find the sport where fish hide. All controls are operated from the one-touch wrist unit, including the fish proximity alarm, sensitivity level, depth range, and fish identifier. The remote sensor provides 400 hours of continuous usage, and automatically shuts off after it is removed from water to conserve battery life." (Humminbird's Smartcast at Amazon.com)
How do they do that? The new JRC 
In a 
and looking forward to a near future where anglers will find their lake depth screens will appear in 3-D effect to more easily visualize the haunts of fish.
Humminbird's SmartCast Fish Finder Watch has been out for a while, and I've written about it