Autohelm Depth Sounder

[Athene V30]

I have a ST 30 autohelm depth sounder on the boat that has lost the signal from the transducer.

I have checked the wire from dial back to transducer and can find no obvious breaks. The wire seems to be permanently 'plummed' in to the transducer so presumably I need a new transducer (through hull) and wire?

The boat is in the water (& has been since Feb last year)- could there be too much weed on the transducer causing the loss of signal?

Is this model still available? I have tried searching for Autohelm but cannot find them - are they called something else now?

If I have to change and but a new depth gauge - any recommendations in the cheap and cheerful end of the market for a 27ft sloop.

Thanks in advance

Peter

 

[sailorman]

Hi
my ST60 transducer ( Puck type ) is epoxied to the inside as recomended by Ratheon. works just fine
Autohelm r now Raymarine
the Autohelm / Raymarine transducers are 155 Mhz ( i think )
most other makes 198 / 200 Mhz
so not interchangeable

 

[aluijten]

Migh prove to be a bit tricky. The modern transducers all use 200 KHz probe frequency now and the old used to be 150 kHz. The point is that changing the transducer for a new one (also 150 kHz) leaves the risk that the failure is in the device itself (so no the transducer). This then would then lead to a situation where you would need to buy an new device, wich would require a 200 kHz transducer... It might be more effective to buy a wole new set (probably cheaper as a set as well) and replace the whole thing.

Arno

 

[sailorman]

got me Mhz & khz a bit muddled then.
the raymarine still use the 150Khz suggest u talk to them.

 

[fireball]

We had this problem on our Autohelm depth sounder/log - we tracked it down to the plugs at the back of the instrument - it is coupled with the wind instrument and changing around the connections resulted in a working unit. If it fails again I'll probably just cut them off and replace with another connector....

As the back of the instruments are in the heads we are now going to enclose the wiring with some plastic conduit so they are not disturbed ....

btw - our sender unit also has the cable sealed in ...

Can I suggest that you try and find someone with a similar setup - take your head unit to them (or bring theirs to you) and try to find where the problem lies ...

 

[VicMallows]

The NASA range use 150Khz and they sell transducers seperately at around £30. SeaTeach had them instock last time I enquired. If you want to replace at the 'budget' end, I recommend their CLIPPER range (£115 for the depth). Mine has worked perfectly - great improvement on the old Seafarer!

And yes, a lot of weed growth WILL stop it working, so take a dive first. (not in this weather!).

Vic

 

[claymore]

We did this in tracing a fault - it is also worth giving the transducer a gentle scrub to make sure it isn't growth on the outside

 

[JamesS]

We've got an ST50 and had a similar problem last summer.

An easy way to check if the transducer is actually sending back a signal is simply to switch any portable radio you have on board to Long Wave and you can pick up the pulses as interference.

Secondly check the plugs on the rear of the instrument - no matter how good they look they may well be the problem. This was our problem and certainly saved the expense of a new transducer.

Cheers

 

[Athene V30]

Thanks all

Will try cleaning next weekend

Peter

 

[mainmarine]

Hi
If you go to www.airmar.com they list compatible transducers for loads of sounders including Raymarine/autohelm etc
regards
Malc