portabuddy

well ive been at it for quite a while now and im kinda stumped... I want a fishfinder but i want a boatputer too... I want a fishfinder addon to my boatputer.


This is realy the only hardware that plugs into a computer that i could find.

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http://www.cruzpro.com/pcff20.html
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Does any one elce have any suggestions or a fish finder they want to sell me?

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kraft

imho there is only fish repellers with big power amps, giant subs etc

why not immerge some neon lights i'm pretty sure fish would join the party

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R-Kraft

portabuddy

thanks for the constructive input, NO realy you have been a Huge! help, where do you do your stand up full time, i would like to come watch...

You are the man, like totaly... ... ... o_O ...Right...


So dose any one else have anything else that might help? well besides for neon light or course, more sonar/fishfinder ish...

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kraft

lol, ok, why not attempt to give a try to some waterproof ultra sonic devices like those used for cars with the help of a micro controller ?
I saw some of them that can be totally immerged in liquids, this could be a starting point for a DIY stuff...well at least it's cheap and you would have the satisfaction to had done it yourself ?

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R-Kraft

portabuddy

hmm thats something to think about, from what i herd and what i remember from years ado you can just take a normal speaker emmerse it in the water and take a multi directional microphone and dit it and that will work the same way, but i think that the software will be the big problem, all of that does me no good if i cant read it right, but thanks i will look up diy sonar devices maybe someone has already done it in like the 80's or something... beter then starting from scratch right...


although i think that if there was a product out there that went for ~$300 i would probable buy that insted of making it for $100, but there doesnt seem to be such a big demand for this sort of thing.

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kraft

Ultrasonic waves are running fine in water the only issue is distance or the cone representing the range limitation.

You can find transducers devices able to make measures up to 6 meters in atmosphere, Water is conducting sounds far better than in air that's why i suggested this alternate solution to the completely built devices.
It's not a matter of the 80's or even the 40's with first sonars, today there is not really other solution apart ultrasounds.

I think you can easy find a PCB on the net, buy some component assemble them and try.

The only program you should have to write i.e. using VB would be a bit of code to gather information coming from micro-controller on the serial port or usb port and display it in fancy mode on the screen.

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R-Kraft

kraft

Have a look on the Garmin produtcs it seems that they have interface cables for their fishfinders

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R-Kraft

Gehag

Hi there.
I have had a boat computer for a coupple years now and I am very pleased with it. Cruzpro have a depthsounder that you can hook directly into your pc (RS232). See www.cruzpro.com/activea.gif , it will allso give you the water temperature. For software I use Boatcruicer 2.0 from Navsim.
I run my boatpc in a 33" Power Boat and the only problem I`ve had is that the harddrives dont like the shocks they get when driving fast in rough seas. The pc shuts down or freeze so I had to boot it up again. This spring I installed a 2.5" IDE flash "disk" from Trancend (8Gb) so that problem is now solved.
Good luck with your prodject.

portabuddy

I went to the Navsim website and i dont see a fish finder feture, is it like a depth finder?, where it shows blis in depth where the fish are?

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Radar225

I have worked on boats that have a "smart Transducer"

not sure where they got them but they have a 12vdc in put lines and data out lines for 232 to connect to your pc.

or find a real cheap fishfinder with data out and connect that to the pc that might be the cheapest way.

I think Gehag has the best solution though.

terryking

You need to look at this in some more detail. A Depth Sounder (like the CruzPro units) puts out data (Usually in NMEA0183 format) that typically gives you a single depth value. It has already filtered out echoes other than the main bottom reflection.

A fishfinder does two significantly different things. First, it saves data from multiple reflections coming back that are closer (quicker) than the bottom, and second, it typically displays that data over time, so you have a running display with time/distance on the X axis, and multiple reflections on the Y axis. So you can 'see' a school of fish you passed over.

To get this type of display on a Car/Boat-Puter you'd have to have a transducer system that sent you lots of data about the multiple reflections, not just the bottom. Then you'd have to get/write display software to show that like a fishfinder does.

I don't know of a transducer unit that sends back the multiple-reflection data, but I'd be interested in one!

(See a boat-computer project here: http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19458 )

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Regards, Terry King ..On the South China Sea in Shekou
terry@terryking.us

portabuddy

thats facinating... im going to have to look into it, i have some time until fishing seson kicks back in...

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Uraijit

I know this is an old post, but if you're still looking, you want to use an NMEA 2000 interface for your computer. You can buy transducers that will give you speed, depth, temp, GPS, fishfinder, compass, and even complete engine monitoring systems. Be prepared to throw down some SERIOUS cash for a complete NMEA 2000 network, but if you just want the basics, you could do it very reasonably if you shop around.

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The Hoe-Puter Worklog

Progress (Phase one):

Planning:
[----------] 97.3%
Parts Aquisition:
[----------] 95%
Install:
[----------] 95%

http://www.speedtest.net/result/187304447.png

BlindLemon77

i dont know if this helps, its not even my post, but in another thread i saw this:

'Maxsea is a really nice package and has pluggins for sonar, depth finder, weather, etc. http://www.maxsea.com/'

quantum

How about this?

http://www.marinesonic.com/index.php...com/auvrov.php

I contacted them for more info...

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