M
onitoring marine electronics can be like watching TV at a sports bar.
There’s so much going on, you’re not sure where to look.
Put part of the blame on ever-expanding recreational sonar tech-
nology that has created more ways than ever to see underwater, in-
cluding sounders, down imaging, side imaging, forward imaging, 3D
imaging and full-circle scanning.
Some systems show where you have gone; others update in real-time, so you know
instantly what’s below, to the side or in front of the boat.
Electronics companies pack two or more of these technologies into a single sys-
tem. For example, Raymarine’s new Axiom Pro multifunction display with RealVision
3D can look down in two dif erent modes, look sideways, and show the underwater
world in a three-dimensional format — all using one screen and a single transducer.
Now you have no excuses for getting skunked or running aground. But how do you
choose the best technology? We’re here to help you see straight.
DOWN AND DIRTY
Just want to look under the boat?
Try an ol’ fashioned fi sh fi nder (aka
sounder). Equipped with transduc-
ers that transmit sound waves vertically
in a cone pattern (think upside-down
ice-cream cone) and display the return-
ing echoes on a color LCD screen that
scrolls from right to left, fi sh fi nders re-
main among the most popular way to
peer downward.
But a relatively new technology
called chirp (compressed high-intensity
radiated pulse) has greatly improved the
performance of sounders.
Of ered by a host of marine electron-
ics brands, chirp systems operate in much
the same way as old-school fi sh fi ndersBOATINGMAG.COM | APRIL 2018 | 85