An echo sounder that shows the shallows before you run aground - what sailor wouldn't want that? A pioneer in this field is the British company Echopilot. With the Forward Scan, instrument manufacturer B&G, part of the Navico Group, is now launching a similar sonar system on the market. The echo sounder is designed to detect an area equivalent to eight times the water depth and thus offer real-time foresight.
However, B&G equipment is required to operate the breakthrough transducer, which costs 237 euros, as the underwater world is displayed directly on a Zeus 2 series plotter, which must also be equipped with a sonar hub module. The complete system without plotter is available for 832 euros.
To make it easier to interpret the two-dimensional depth display, the system also shows a calculated soil culture in addition to the coloured echo intensity. In the so-called Hearing Line View, the information is also summarised as a multi-coloured advance line. If the water depth is too shallow, the section is coloured red.
To ensure that the sonar system is not disturbed by conventional echo sounders, the transducer operates at a frequency of 180 kilohertz. The ForwardScan images can be viewed and edited on a smartphone or tablet via the in-house GoFree Wi-Fi module.
Further information can be found at www.bandg.com.
Hauke Schmidt
Test & Technology editor
