I am considering the installation of a forward viewing sonar to detech submerged objects while sailing at night. Has anyone had any experience with the Interphase color twinscope?
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Forward Looking
Have tested several forward lookers. They can normally only "see" ahead only about three times the depth of the water. This is because a gently sloping bottom does not return enough of the signal. They are great to see rocks or dock walls which suddenly rise up from deep water and probably also for floating containers, but we found the usable range was so short that there was not enough time to stop the boat.
Have tested several forward lookers. They can normally only "see" ahead only about three times the depth of the water. This is because a gently sloping bottom does not return enough of the signal. They are great to see rocks or dock walls which suddenly rise up from deep water and probably also for floating containers, but we found the usable range was so short that there was not enough time to stop the boat.
I have two of the little suckers.
Interphase of course. The twinscope is for seeing sideways too. I just have the look-ahead 'Probe' models. One at the nav station below and one at the pedestal. I've not experienced anything that would prove Donalex wrong.
Interphase of course. The twinscope is for seeing sideways too. I just have the look-ahead 'Probe' models. One at the nav station below and one at the pedestal. I've not experienced anything that would prove Donalex wrong.
Fred
Where did you mount the transducer? I have considered putting a forward looking TV camera down there too. Any thoughts or suggestions on that?
Where did you mount the transducer? I have considered putting a forward looking TV camera down there too. Any thoughts or suggestions on that?
Patrick, two things
The first is that a photo of the installed transducer is on line. See #80. Second, in all fairness to Interphase, the Probe is slow because of the rules of physics. It is doing so much, that time is required to avoid interference between each ping. A solution for the slow scan might be to use a feature that I haven't played with yet. Just aim the beam straight ahead and hold it at the surface. (pick any range out to 1200') There are nine 'pingers'. Eight of them scan forward sequentially and one is always pinging straight down like a conventional sounder, so you know where the bottom is under the keel. This model even has 'white line' and fish finding and GPS plotter. The controls are 'soft', meaning they are software driven only. So that any feature that can be thought of at a later date can be programmed into the previous units. I should have played with them more than I did this summer but we had Maptech on the PC too, so we always knew what was ahead, terrain wise. And moving only during daylight hours meant we could easily see hazards like logs. The Navpod mounted unit saved us from running aground once too. We were going into an unfamiliar anchorage in the Gulf Islands of BC. When I tried to enter on the wrong side of a 'marker' island, the shallow water was easy to see on the sounder. In fact, this was the first year on vacation that we didn't touch bottom that I can recall.
The first is that a photo of the installed transducer is on line. See #80. Second, in all fairness to Interphase, the Probe is slow because of the rules of physics. It is doing so much, that time is required to avoid interference between each ping. A solution for the slow scan might be to use a feature that I haven't played with yet. Just aim the beam straight ahead and hold it at the surface. (pick any range out to 1200') There are nine 'pingers'. Eight of them scan forward sequentially and one is always pinging straight down like a conventional sounder, so you know where the bottom is under the keel. This model even has 'white line' and fish finding and GPS plotter. The controls are 'soft', meaning they are software driven only. So that any feature that can be thought of at a later date can be programmed into the previous units. I should have played with them more than I did this summer but we had Maptech on the PC too, so we always knew what was ahead, terrain wise. And moving only during daylight hours meant we could easily see hazards like logs. The Navpod mounted unit saved us from running aground once too. We were going into an unfamiliar anchorage in the Gulf Islands of BC. When I tried to enter on the wrong side of a 'marker' island, the shallow water was easy to see on the sounder. In fact, this was the first year on vacation that we didn't touch bottom that I can recall.
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