Humminbird Side Imaging Forums
Other Interest => DIY - Side Scan Sonar and towfish => Topic started by: alligator on January 14, 2011, 12:07:30 PM
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I'm very new to underwater imaging, but have a desire to locate objects in a nearby lake. The lake has an average depth of 20' and I was considering building a side scan sonar type system to tow behind a boat once the ice melts. Can someone point me in the right direction? I'm not interested in a $10k professional setup, I'm looking for the best, but inexpensive, way to find things in the bottom of a shallow lake. Where do I start?
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Any of the imaging units will give good performace in that depth range with the transducer mounted on the boat hull, no remote transducer towing is needed.
The screen size should be your most concern. The popular statement for that is
"bigger is better", so you can judge the expense based on that.
To help you decide what screen size will suit you, visit a dealer that has the units on display so you can compare size to cost.
The Humminbird SI units are all inclusive with everthing you need.
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alligator, welcome to the forum
wayne say right
if you want to built a towfish you must find idea and concept in few topics,
http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1753.0 (http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1753.0)
or
http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1888.0 (http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1888.0)
or
http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1304.0 (http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1304.0)
and i forget a lot of concept
connecting, cable, transducer, method, software, you can find every thing
20' there's no more depht
you can built a simple towfish and put on it the transducer with no modification on cable to eliminate noise or boat movement.
good luck for seach
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Alligator,
If you can accept a 150 ft max range (with your depths this range is probably not possible anyway) and no option for saving the images you could try with one of the old Matrix units. I have tested a M37 with the long SI and HDSI transducers and got rather good results. You can read about this here: http://www.xumba.scholleco.com/viewtopic.php?t=483 (http://www.xumba.scholleco.com/viewtopic.php?t=483)
Kind regards
Rickard
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HB units 998 or 1198 will do you very nicely for the depth. Of course you will want to explore the viewers for recorded sonar runs. Humvier or yellowfin are two great viewers and would do very well for you. The operation of the viewers is very easy to learn.
Check around this forum for past posts on viewers and also the picture gallery..
chuck