Author Topic: Towfish cable lenth  (Read 15875 times)

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Offline bell47

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Towfish cable lenth
« on: January 09, 2011, 01:57:54 PM »
Hello, I need to look at some bottom in the 300-400 foot range. What is the longest cable that I can use that won't affect the power to/from the transducer on a towfish? Does anyone regularly look in these depths with a Hummingbird?  I haven't bought one yet but looks like the 998si is the most for my money. For you guys using a towfish, are you splicing cables together to get the length you need or can you buy an extra long transducer cable somewhere? What model do you guys think is the most for your money? I would really like to couple it to my laptop for better viewing. Is this just done with a USB and some software? if so what?  Thansk guys. any advice is really appreciated.


Offline Jolly Roger

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Re: Towfish cable lenth
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2011, 02:29:31 PM »
Hello Bell47 and welcome to the forum!

I moved this topic, because it fits in better here.

I have my transducer cable extended to 50m (150 foot) and have good results after some initial problems. Check out the posts here in the DIY section and you'll get lots of information. Rickard, Abra and Kron have posted their experiences here in the last couple of weeks.

I used a CAT 6 patch cable and spliced it into the transducer cable. It's a bit of a challenge to get the wires soldered together and insulated, but it's doable with the right tools and some patience.

As for the unit you want to buy: Get the biggest screen possible. I wouldn't buy anything smaller than a 900 model. The 998, 1197 and 1198 have a video out port if you want to get a screen hooked up. I'm not sure if a laptop will work as a bigger screen. It must have a RCA input port to get the unit hooked up.

WayneP posted about his 1197 hooked up to a flat screen TV recently:

http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1930.msg10508;topicseen#new

I have my unit completely isolated from anything of the boat's electrical system to avoid interfences and I highly recommend such a set up.

We have a poll here in the tow fish section about transducers with extended cable length.

http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1774.0

Please vote there as well, because we want to get as much people together to show Humminbird that there is some interest in such transducers.

I'm planning to build a 100m transducer to get good images from greater depths of our lake here. But if I can buy one directly from Humminbird, I would rather go for this than fiddling around with solder iron and tiny wires.

Best regards / Harry
YES,......
WE SCAN!

Offline Rickard

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Re: Towfish cable lenth
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2011, 03:28:38 PM »
Hello bell47,

We have seen proofs with images for well working 60 m (180 ft) cables, but that's the longest this far. Let's see what Harry can accomplish with his 100 m cable. I'm afraid you will need at least 500 ft (170 m) with cable to reach 400 ft. I doubt that is possible with passive transducers, but perhaps...

Rickard

Offline bell47

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Re: Towfish cable lenth
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2011, 06:58:24 PM »
Well, I guess we're gonna see. I just bought a 500 foot roll of Cat 6 cable. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. If it does...GREAT. If it doesn't I'm just gonna shorten it in like 50 foot increments until it works. Probably buying a 998c si next week and will start putting it all together. I'll let ya'll know. It'll be a few weeks.

Offline nas

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Re: Towfish cable lenth
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2011, 09:37:50 AM »
Hi  bell47,

I'm looking also for max length with not too noise. Did you done test  with your cable ?

thanks
nicolas

Offline abraquelebout

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Re: Towfish cable lenth
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2011, 05:56:56 PM »
hi bell
in begining i use 280' of cable with very good result, one of my friend tell me it's so long cable you must cut it i do it ant cut at 60 m and then i regret
i use a cable who transmit data on precision machine tool or use in aeronautique and aerospacial
i think that using a ethernet cat 6 or 7 cable give same result
salut nicolas pas de problème avec cable ethernet, rickard l'a fait jusqu'a 50m


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