A
Anonymous
Guest
We have a 33' long aluminum research vessel that was built in 1994 and is getting refurbished in the next year. We have a Furuno FCV 1200BB sonar that is still using the original transducers from 1994: 88Khz (CA88F-126H) & 200Khz (CA200B-8B). The existing transducers were mounted on the transom with custom aluminum brackets in 1994. I am trying to decide whether to replace the transducers and if so with what and how they should be mounted. I was hoping that there are newer transducers that might provide better resolution of targets at depth.
We do not really use this system to look at fish much. We mostly use this system to look at the depth of man-made items within the water column of Crater Lake. Either instruments that we have hanging underneath the boat on a winch or items on moorings anchored to the bottom of the lake. The lake is almost 2000 feet deep (the deepest in the US) so we have to be able to look deep. For example, we may deploy a rope mooring in 2000 feet of water that has a series of 20 temperature sensors, floats, anchors, chain, etc. and we need to be able to look at the mooring in detail to see if part of the mooring tangled on the way down. So spatial resolution is important to us at depth. We also use it in shallower water at times (hence the 200 KHz).
Having good clarity while underway is not super important for us because we are usually just drifting when using the Furuno. So, the transom mounts have not been a real big problem. However, this is our chance to change the mounting of the transducers if we want to as the boat will be out of the water at a boat builder for the project.
My main questions are:
-should i stay with 88 & 200 KHz
-what wattage is best for our application
-what beam angle
-will changing to in-hull mounting significantly change the output of the transducers when we are not moving
We do not really use this system to look at fish much. We mostly use this system to look at the depth of man-made items within the water column of Crater Lake. Either instruments that we have hanging underneath the boat on a winch or items on moorings anchored to the bottom of the lake. The lake is almost 2000 feet deep (the deepest in the US) so we have to be able to look deep. For example, we may deploy a rope mooring in 2000 feet of water that has a series of 20 temperature sensors, floats, anchors, chain, etc. and we need to be able to look at the mooring in detail to see if part of the mooring tangled on the way down. So spatial resolution is important to us at depth. We also use it in shallower water at times (hence the 200 KHz).
Having good clarity while underway is not super important for us because we are usually just drifting when using the Furuno. So, the transom mounts have not been a real big problem. However, this is our chance to change the mounting of the transducers if we want to as the boat will be out of the water at a boat builder for the project.
My main questions are:
-should i stay with 88 & 200 KHz
-what wattage is best for our application
-what beam angle
-will changing to in-hull mounting significantly change the output of the transducers when we are not moving