[dazren31]

Hello.Haven't posted much but here goes!

My brother and i are in the process of having a new 24ft wilson flyer(the latest version) built ,hopefully ready this month.We've aquired 2 excellent bmw 190 hp diesel engines(1 for spare)and have just got hold of a volvo duo prop outdrive.We'll be doing all the fitting work ourselves

We've got a few fisher friends and one in particular has just invested in a side imaging fishfinder.From what i've read and seen they look very impressive and the supplier told him theres a wait for them due to certain people using them to locate items on the sea bed dropped by other people from abroad !

Just wondered if anyone knows of these or any other feedback/stories on radars/gps/chartplotters etc.Also where to get pre-stretched anchor rope at a decent price?

We're on the lookout for a fishing license too, just incase,you never know:secret:

we'll be fishing out of Eastbourne harbour.

Thanks for ANY help

 

[gibberfish]

I have been looking at these too, over the last couple of years. Probably more worth while use of funds than buying an over the top chart plotter.

 

[Cascars]

Jimmy Green Marine are about the cheapest I have found for anchor rope. As for the side imaging fishfinders, I want one but will have to wait, my spending has already reached epidemic proportions on the boat this year.

 

[alankirby]

From the reports i have read the side imaging part of the fishfinder (the Humminbird one I guess) is only any good in shallow water, up to 100 feet.
The demo i saw running on one looked good, but out at sea might be different.
Would be ok i guess for a few of the inshore wrecks, but useless once you get into deep water, then you have to use the normal fishfinder features.
I`ll try to find were i read about them :g:

Alan

 

[alankirby]

Just had a look at the spec on the Humminbird 987cx SI

http://www.busse-yachtshop.de/dae_humminbird-987cx-si-combo.html

It Say the Depth Capability: 780m 2D Mode, 25m Side Imaging Mode.
25m is 82 feet so won`t even pick up a lot of the inshore wrecks on the side imaging.
Don`t think i would bother with it for the sussex coast (I fish out of Brighton).
Might be fun on the the reefs/rocky marks though, but only if i had money to burn.

Alan

 

[TomBettle]

think Alan has knocked it on the head.
Why on earth have a side imaging sounder?

At the end of the day, your plotter puts you within a few feet of your chosen mark.
Then you tie it in with your fish finder to pinpoint exactly where you need to drift or anchor.

In my very humble opinion it is no mor than a gimmick.
I have a boat in stock with a fwd looking sonar which one may say has half a use in as much as it will tell you of chaning sea bed anomalies ahead, but again the chartplotter has depth functions etc on it, so apart from seeing a container floating in the water (probably won't as the sonar will ping under it.) I think they are a waste of money.

 

[gibberfish]

The images from side scan sonar can be almost "photographic" but probably only on the more expensive units. I would love to see a good 3D image of the wrecks I fish.

 

[Manxman]

I must admit I'd like to be able to see the wrecks we fish over in 3D, the equipment is to expensive just for angling purposes, the commercial boys use it tho', here's a couple of links to show you just how good it is

http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=5561&section=1023&action=display


http://www.piscatus.modnet.com.au/

 

[Norrie]

Hiya, And heres a link to the Sound of Mull, we fish one or two wrecks there...

http://www.nasportsmouth.org.uk/projects/somap.php

Also of the South Coast work they do...

http://www.nasportsmouth.org.uk/projects/portland_map2004.php

I have fished the Hood, and its great to see it in 3D !!


Seemingly the Lochaline Dive Centre were down at London last week, at a Dive show.....and look what they found doing a sidescan survey....

http://www.lochalinedivecentre.co.uk/lochaline.html




Lochaline Dive Centre

The Sound of Mull Archaeological Project (SOMAP) allows you to participate in state-of-the-art underwater archaeological site investigation, using a full range of remote sensing equipment and diver surveys for archaeological assessment and evaluation tasks.

One of the more bizarre targets turned out to be a Ford Orion 1.4 LX (late 20th Century vintage!) in the middle of Scallastle Bay - excellent work Barry & Sanford! "

 

[Cascars]

I must admit I'd like to be able to see the wrecks we fish over in 3D, the equipment is to expensive just for angling purposes, the commercial boys use it tho', here's a couple of links to show you just how good it is

http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=5561&section=1023&action=display


http://www.piscatus.modnet.com.au/

I know whats on my shopping list now when I win the lottery . Seriously though maybe we will get pictures like that in a few years on standard fishfinders. Heres hoping anyway.

 

[bouncingwilf]

Er - looked at these myself a year ago but when you realise how slow you have to go in even calm shallow waters to get anything like a usable picture you realise that their use is stricltly limited. One of these days I'll build myself a towed array so I can find proper wrecks.

 

[Johnarnie]

I just came across this thread. In particular I noted the comment regarding speed at which you must travel. It is not true you need to travel slowly to get a good image of the bottom. If you have sited the transducer well and the water is calm then you will have no problem travelling at speed. I havce used one in the United States travelling at 33 mph without any problem.

If cost is an issue then there is a new side image model availibale, the 797. This has the same technology but comes with a slightly smaller display (high definition display)

Until recently I was the UK Brand Maganger for Humminbird so if I can answer any questions please ask.

Er - looked at these myself a year ago but when you realise how slow you have to go in even calm shallow waters to get anything like a usable picture you realise that their use is stricltly limited. One of these days I'll build myself a towed array so I can find proper wrecks.

 

[Johnarnie]

You can use the Humminbird Side Imaging down to 170 feet without any problem. I know of people who have used them down to 230 feet without any great loss of resolution.

From the reports i have read the side imaging part of the fishfinder (the Humminbird one I guess) is only any good in shallow water, up to 100 feet.
The demo i saw running on one looked good, but out at sea might be different.
Would be ok i guess for a few of the inshore wrecks, but useless once you get into deep water, then you have to use the normal fishfinder features.
I`ll try to find were i read about them :g:

Alan

 

[alankirby]

You can use the Humminbird Side Imaging down to 170 feet without any problem. I know of people who have used them down to 230 feet without any great loss of resolution.

According to the spec on the new Humminbird site..... http://www.sideimaging.com/

For the 997c SI Combo unit it gives max depth 150ft SI & 1500ft 2D
150ft still not good enough for most of the wrecks I fish.

If they do go deeper than that with the side imaging then I would be interested but I would have to see it with my own eyes before I parted with any money.

Alan

 

[Davy Holt]

For the 997c SI Combo unit it gives max depth 150ft SI & 1500ft 2D
150ft still not good enough for most ofthe wrecks I fish.

not much use to me either.. I can almost get 150' under my keels with my bow still touching the pier

 

[John Raider]

Iv got a garmin 550 with the bluechart card,it gives you a 3d (fish eye view)of above and below waterline,only£600!!look on garmin website

 

[Johnarnie]

I know of a company that has built a tow fish on which to attach the transducer. That way the depth capability is much greater. It may be worth you contacting the guy, who si based in Aberdeen. His names is Ian Mcdonald, and the company is Buccaneer. His number is 01224 828555. He has sold a number of the side imaging units and I beleive he has got some screen snapshots he could e mail to you.

Iv got a garmin 550 with the bluechart card,it gives you a 3d (fish eye view)of above and below waterline,only£600!!look on garmin website

 

[loftyd]

As Tom implied I think you need to decide whether you're fishing or surveying in some of this.

I looked at the Hummingbird kit a while back, and it's clearly capable of giving great images. However I can't see how it could handle anything other than flat calm conditions without creating a lot of distortion in the image (think how "wavy" a 2D sonar can be in any chop). I think Hummingbird also mention the need to make slow turns to reduce distortion.

The only place I regularly get flat calm water is in the sea lochs, and unfortunately not many of them are under 150 feet deep, so the Hummingbird unit isn't much use to me.

Using a towed array sonar gets round the choppy seas problem, but I can't see how it's practical for most fishing situations in the UK (willing to be corrected here, as I'd love to get decent 3D images).

I've eventually settled for a combined chartplotter/sonar unit which logs pretty comprehensively to a standard SD card (as used by digital cameras, etc.). I can replay the log on a PC, or import it to software like DrDepth to create more detailed charts. No pretty pictures, but you can build up a useful store of knowledge without spending all your time literally going round in circles.