G.Burton

[FISHEYE46]

so how much is the basic semi kit form? inexpensive to me for a kit would be in the $200.00 to $500.00 range,any higher then that,you can buy one of the commercial made ones off ebay.
how much for the pc board,the schematics,parts list,and how to make or where to get the transducers?i can build a fish an solder components on boards,even make the ducers.

[G.Burton]

Re: G.Burton

Hi,
About $2500.00, single channel, everything constructed but the towfish. Your not going to buy a new commercial made imaging sonar (true sidescan) off of ebay for any thing like what your talking about. This is NOT to be confused with the so called "side scan" fishfinders which have side looking elements in their transducers. They DO NOT produce images like the ones I posted.

[andy]

Re: G.Burton

well, you can get a commercial side scan sonar for 5400 USD. That's dual frequency. Single frequency (still, dual sided) will be around 4000 USD. Just add 100$ for GPS and 200$ for used notebook, and you got ready system to go.

[GBurton]

Re: G.Burton

Hi,
Yes you are quite correct. My impression from his post was that if you were spending $500 on a kit, you could buy a commercial unit off e-bay for not much more, which is not the case.
Regards

[Charles, Oak Island,NC]

Re: G.Burton

Who ever comes up with a REASONABLE priced single side sonar kit will out sell all the other companies. Why ? becasue he will be picking up all the little one and two guy boats(that are looking for a unit) as well as the folks who like building electronic kits. A bare bones kit and a kit that is 75% would be the way to go.

[John Kennedy]

Re: G.Burton

I have put some thought into this and found that there is not much money in selling small homemade style side scans because the electronics are just too complicated. You need the skills of an engineer and a programmer to get a system to work with all the filters and gain controls (not to mention everything else). Plan on spending over $5,000 for a new system that has quality.

As far as a kit is concerned, the most extensive and difficult aspect is building a board, so by the time you have all the components, you are correct, it will be over 75% complete The buyer should be thankful for not having to put together all the electronics(especially if they knew what went into getting the components together and working).

[Brian]

Re: G.Burton

If you sold this, would you be selling the transducer array that anyone could connect to an X15 and get the same results? Also, are the pictures you posted what is being displayed on the sonar chart or do you have to collect the data and process it to get the images? The images are very impressive.

[G. Burton]

Re: G.Burton

Hi,
The image data is a RAW recorded image. No processing. The built in display that you see real time is limited in resolution. I am not selling transducers independent of the rest of the sonar at this time.
Regards

[Brian]

Re: G.Burton

So if I understand you correctly, anyone could use your transducer array and get the results you have. If that is so, I would think you would have a lot of sucess selling your transducers stand-alone since many people already have nice fishing finding sonars. I bet you would get quite a few customers in the fishing community. The side scanning sonar would work great for locating fishing structure. I noticed Humminbird is advertising side-scan sonar on their new color graphs. They do not have many details out at this time, but the picture on there website looks very detailed.

Good luck. I'll keep an eye out for your products.

[Brian]

Re: G.Burton

I just found some more side-scan info on Humminbird's site under tutorials. Here is a link. They do not show what the transducer looks like, but the recordings look very nice. It looks like the sonar sells for $1800. Looks like it is operating at 262KHz and 465KHz. Are you running a 200KHz or 50KHz? I think you would have great sucess selling your transducer stand alone. If you decide to sell them stand alone, any idea how much you would sell them for?



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[FISHEYE46]

Re: G.Burton

G.burton,
lets see some photos of your side scan system,the fish,the display,the transducers,im sure everyone here would like to see what you are selling.do you have a web site?

[G. Burton]

Re: G.Burton

Hi,
Good catch on that! First I've heard of it. Looks like it is limited in range, however it would be very usable for fishing. The problem with selling 'ducers alone is that most fishfinders have poor resolution, and because of automatic features will do some crazy stuff when looking sideways and not having a very strong bottom return (which you generally have looking down). In other words, for most systems they would be completely unsuitable. Operating freq is 200KHZ.
Regards

[G. Burton]

Re: G.Burton

Hi,
No web site yet. I'll get pics of system up here soon. I've just built what I hope will be the first transducer actually to be sold with a system. I'll post pics of that in a day or two. Not much to see overall. A lowrance sounder, model depends on price range of package, a grey polycarbonate boat mounted in-line weatherproof box to house a pair of microcontrollers, 100 ft cable, will include a PVC tow fish or plans for construction depending on model.
Regards

[Brian]

Re: G.Burton

Just out of curiosity, what are the micros doing? Do they generate a false bottom to trick the graphs into displaying all the information or are you amplifying the echos?

[Brian]

Re: G.Burton

I do a lot of fishing and I see quite a few boats out there that are equipped with Lowrance top end graphs. If you could make a reasonably priced transducer that would work in shallower water (less than 100ft) you may have a good market. Fisherman would just be looking for structure that holds fish (Trees, bridges, foundations, road beds, ect..) Just an idea for you. I know most of the people on this forum are looking to find wrecks in deep water.

Best of Luck.