Topic: towfish cable

[saimis20]

hi guys, my mate gave me his towfish, and i need to join cables together somehow any ideas? 

[Rüdiger]

Hi Saimis

Welcome to the forum

The original cable has 7 wires. Six of them will need in any case.
2 for sidescan right
2 for sidescan left
2 for downscan
The wires for the sidescan function must be twistapair.

mvh
Rüdiger

[saimis20]

Thank you for replay, I'm new to this stuff, so on extension cable I got just 4 wires, and two striped ones like earth or something, I understand what I can't do it Coz I need 6 wires like on original cable.

[Rickard]

Hi,
What kind of towfish do you have? I'm asking because Humminbird sidescan units (not sure about the Helix, Onix and Ion models) need a depth sensing channel. Without this channel, ping rate will slow down to about one ping per second, making the system useless.

Regards,
Rickard

[saimis20]

hi, its homemade, dont know what kind is transducer, my mate gave me all this stuff and in the bag was humminbird transducer cable.

[Rickard]

Ok, this is a towfish with a standard Humminbird SI or HDSI transducer. Many people have made their own towfish using this concept. The simplest systems use only extension cables between the transducer cable and the head unit. It's hard to tell from your photos, but I think something has happened to the transducer cable. Is it broken? The red cable with only four wires cannot be used with a HB SI transducer. As Rüdiger pionted out, you need a cable with six wires.

Rickard

[abraquelebout]

hi
i think you can do a conection with 5 wires, in hum the ground are comun, theres 5 slots in connector, left, right si, temp and 200/83 khz, and one comun is negative i use this method, it works,
my first cable to do a towfish there's few years is 5 wire câble, it's work today, i offer it to a friend.

[abraquelebout]

i forget this, you can use the drain for negative wire, one red for left, one for right , the blue for 200/83, the withe for T°, and the drain for negative do this with ducer câble(maron and purple connect to ground), it work

[Rickard]

I agree it's possible to arrange with all circuits needed to have a functional sidescan system with just five wires. Actually, if you skip the temp channel only four wires are needed (One wire for left SI, one for right SI, one for 50/83/200 kHz and a common wire for drain plus ground for all channels). But this solution, or a five wire solution, won't benefit from the effects with twisted pairs. There will likely be more interference from various electromagnetic sources and the channels can interfere with each other. Some people have been disapointed with the results when they use Humminbird extensions to make a long towfish cable. This solution has this drawback with loss of balanced twisted pairs because all ground wires are joined in the transducer connector. My theory is that the loss of balance causes noise in these systems. Now, this is just my theory, please go ahead and try! Since you already have this five-wire-cable the cost is minimal. I'm eager to hear about the results!

Regards,
Rickard

[sonar2000]

Just a question.  If you are going to use the transducer as a tow fish why would you need the 50/83/200. I thought the tow fish was to run just above the bottom making 2d and that kind of display of little value.  Was thinking tow fish was for an increased display for the bottom as viewed left to right...  Some might be interested in temp but could incorporate that in the tow fish...
Chuck

[Rickard]

Just a question.  If you are going to use the transducer as a tow fish why would you need the 50/83/200. I thought the tow fish was to run just above the bottom making 2d and that kind of display of little value.  Was thinking tow fish was for an increased display for the bottom as viewed left to right...  Some might be interested in temp but could incorporate that in the tow fish..

IF the Helix system works the same way as all older models, ping rate in all channels is controled by depth data. If there is no such input, the old models reduced ping rate to something close to one ping per second. Also, towfish altitude info makes it much easier to control the towfish. One can tow it closer the seafloor and get a better sidescan view. Of course, Humminbird may have changed the way the system controls itself in the Helix systems. We need a HB representant to get an answer on this.

Rickard

[saimis20]

Thank u guys for replays I will try connect them and see how it goes  will let u know results might post the pics is any risk I can damage my humminbird by messing around with transducer cables?

[Rickard]

is any risk I can damage my humminbird by messing around with transducer cables?

There is always a risk.... But I have tested many experimental wirings and still no damages. Most testings were done with an old 987, though. Who knows if the newer models are less resilient? /Rickard