Depth sounder poll

[snowleopard]

To complement Babylon's thread on echo sounder calibration, here's a poll.

Just realised how clumsy the poll options are on the new forum - only one question allowed. I was going to ask about which scale you use and how deep you set the alarm. I expect it would be too difficult to upgrade the forum software to the old level - Dan???

 

[fireball]

Scale - Meters, because I'm young enough to understand them! Oh - and all the charts are in meters.
Alarm - none set - it always goes off at the wrong time!

 

[flaming]

So.... It depends.

Racing - clearance. Cos when I'm hurtling at the shore with 3 other boats in close attendance I want the important data (when am I going to crash) to be as simple as possible.

Cruising - water depth. To make the tidal calculations easier.

Amazingly I don't seem to have much trouble changing between the two.

 

[colingr]

Depth under transduce = depth under keel for me and only a couple of inches from water depth.

Measured in metres,

No depth alarm unless I'm exploring upriver or for fun when I'm playing navigation by depth contour.

 

[KristiferColumbus]

What should you put if your depth sounder becomes unreliable under 2.5 meters & flashes about anything between "E" & several meters?

 

[Rowana]

Depth below keel for me. That way I know if it's getting close to zero, I'm just about to hit something!

 

[jamesjermain]

Scale - metres
Depth alarm - varies depending on nature of the bottom, swinging range (if at anchor), boat speed (if under way).

My sounder is set to depth below hull, in fact, as I have lifting keels. I'm thinking about changing to depth below daggerboard when fully deployed because it really isn't a good idea to run a foam cored composite board into a rock. But then its going to register a minus figure when I'm sounding into a sandy beach or muddy anchorage. Oh! It's all so complicated!

 

[michael_w]

Usually meters, though if I'm using American charts, I'll change to feet/fathoms.

Never use the shallow alarm. Being based on the East Coast, to have a worthwhile clearance in terms of time/depth the wretched thing would be squeaking all the time.

A winter project is to change the basic echo sounder to a fishfinder; much more useful. See bottom trends, excellent for judging the bottom for anchoring and might even help me catch my lunch.

 

[cliffordpope]

My basic Target 2 doesn't seem to allow a negative keel offset (to show actual depth) so I just leave it at transducer depth. I don't think they are very accurate at depths of about 1 metre anyway.

 

[alan_d]

Always metres, depth of water with the echosounder (but it tends to give up at about 20 metres) and there is no facility for an offset on the fishfinder so it reads depth below transducer. Tend to keep the shallow alarm at 3 metres so it alerts me if I am straying somewhere I didn't mean to go.

 

[Billjratt]

Feet, because I can relate to them, alarm 3ft because I can't make it smaller or switch it off (ST60), and depth under the keel because that's what I'm interested in.
Anchoring is done in boatlengths, the chain being marked every 30ft. Ususally 1/2 length to the floor at mid tide, then 2 or 3 on the floor depending on weather and crowding. That way I can easily estimate my maximum full-chug swinging circle without being technical.

 

[Seafort]

Got Two

Helm sees depth below keel.

Chart table water depth. (easy to change both).

Dave.

 

[TamarMike]

My basic Target 2 doesn't seem to allow a negative keel offset (to show actual depth) so I just leave it at transducer depth. I don't think they are very accurate at depths of about 1 metre anyway.

Same here with my Nasa one.

(However the lead line shows actual depth, and is more accurate at shallow depths )

 

[Refueler]

I say below transducer but it must be slightly different as another 25cms is actual draft. If I measure the height of top of transducer to waterline - it must be more than 25cm ... BUT I know the error and add accordingly.

At 70cms I touch bottom. Actual draft is 95cms. My Echopilot duo reliably reads up to 0.5m and down to over 40m blasting through 50mm of solid GRP. I reckon that's pretty good for a budget model. Castor oil has never been topped up in 10 yrs, it's still same with no leaks from tube bonded to hull.

I am now going to find my 'destructions' and read up about correction of reading ... as when I've tried to correct before - it's played silly B's !!

 

[Danny Jo]

Depth of water, because that accords best with ordinary conversation, and because logged depths can be communicated to others without faffing about with draughts.

Depth in meters, because I've never been able to fathom why people use feet.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Scale - metres
Depth alarm - varies depending on nature of the bottom, swinging range (if at anchor), boat speed (if under way).

My sounder is set to depth below hull, in fact, as I have lifting keels. I'm thinking about changing to depth below daggerboard when fully deployed because it really isn't a good idea to run a foam cored composite board into a rock. But then its going to register a minus figure when I'm sounding into a sandy beach or muddy anchorage. Oh! It's all so complicated!

I have variable draft too, so that's why I set it to depth of water.

 

[Refueler]

I have variable draft too, so that's why I set it to depth of water.

????? So that means you would have to reset offset as your draft changes ... only if you have depth below keel is true figure unchanged.
But in all you would have different offset / error to account for.

 

[AndyAndKatie]

I use Meters as the scale and I dont use an alarm. There alsways too much mud around !!

 

[bitman]

having a swingkeel i have it on water depth.

 

[DogWatch]

Depth of water in feet, temp in °C.