Echo sounder history

[JumbleDuck]

Can anyone tell me when the first echo sounders for yachts went on the market? I'm interested in things which an average yacht owner might have afforded, so not early exotica.

 

[Bikerwookie]

I'm sat in front of a Hughes ms12 at the moment. Pre war but probably a bit expensive for a yacht. The spinning type was the first I saw on a yacht an eary echo pilot probably a surfrider.

 

[Twister_Ken]

When I first sailed a cruiser there was a spinning echosounder (Seafarer?) with a 9v internal battery. That was 1975 (or so) and the boat was a Pandora, so they were fairly commonplace by then,

 

[JumbleDuck]

When I first sailed a cruiser there was a spinning echosounder (Seafarer?) with a 9v internal battery. That was 1975 (or so) and the boat was a Pandora, so they were fairly commonplace by then,

Thanks. I sill have a Seafarer Mk 3 whirly, and I have see the original metal-cased Seafarers ... I'm wondering if there was anything on the general yacht market before that.

 

[fisherman]

Not usual in fishing before the fifties
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/echo-fishing/query/newlyn+fishing

I was on this boat in 1972/3.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

When I first sailed a cruiser there was a spinning echosounder (Seafarer?) with a 9v internal battery. That was 1975 (or so) and the boat was a Pandora, so they were fairly commonplace by then,

My Dad's Trotter (same as a Pandora, made by Grimsby Marine Plastics) had a Seafarer echo sounder. I guess he bought it in the early 60s, and it was affordable kit then.

Like most things, it was the advent of solid-state electronics that made that kind of kit affordable and practical for yachts. The principles were well-known and used in ships for many years before that. An interesting read on the whole issue of depth-sounding is "Upheaval from the Abyss"; it gives a history of our knowledge of the ocean floor and how it led to the great paradigm-shift in Geology that was the exciting thing happening when I studied it!

 

[pvb]

I had a Seafarer sounder on my Centaur in the mid-70s, very common kit by then. I also had a Seafix radio direction finder - what a hoot that was!

 

[JumbleDuck]

Many thanks, all. I've found this

1958​

The Hecta echo sounder went into production. This was the first transistorised echo sounder to appear on the market and, as with Homer, it was powered by four miniature torch battery cells. Both instruments were housed in the same grey nylon-coated metal case, which afforded complete protection against moisture and spray.​

at http://www.myleselectronics.com/bghistory06.html which may be what I'm looking for. Information on any earlier systems would still be useful ...

 

[jwilson]

By the mid 1960s there were a fair number of spinning-neon echo sounders around on bigger* cruising boats, ranging from the ubiquitous Seafarer to the Ferrograph, Kelvin Hughes and B&G models, many of which also or alternatively drew lines on rolls of paper to indicate depth.

* Remember that a 27 ft boat was big in the 1960s, 35 ft was huge !

The first Seafarers just had "The Seafarer" on the front, later ones were Mk II, then Seafarer 3, then on to 700, 900 series model etc. by which time they had switched from dim neon to slightly less dim spinning LEDs. I got a spinning-neon Seafarer 3 (9 volt battery operated) in the mid-70s, and thereafter ran aground rather more often as it encouraged me to cut corners and go inshore to cheat tides.

 

[Davy_S]

By the mid 1960s there were a fair number of spinning-neon echo sounders around on bigger* cruising boats, ranging from the ubiquitous Seafarer to the Ferrograph, Kelvin Hughes and B&G models, many of which also or alternatively drew lines on rolls of paper to indicate depth.

I seem to remember the first paper sounders drawing a curved line, an update on a spinner! Also pirate decca navigators were huge.

 

[DanTribe]

I had a boat with 1960s Seafarer spinning disc sounder. It was HUGE, would have made a good locker.
My 3 year old used to switch it on, hoping to watch telly and always complained there was nothing on.
For some reason the neon didn't light up at night, you had to shine a torch on it to give it a kick start.

 

[johnalison]

Our first cruiser had a Seafarer spinner. You could, with luck, judge the nature of the bottom by the crispness of the echo. On the other hand, panic usually made one blind to this effect when it recorded alarming depths at just over one cycle, 60+ feet or fathoms.

Seafarer also made an excellent speed and distance log which was "electronic". There was a through hull transducer with a couple of exposed screw heads but no moving parts. B&G were selling something similar.

 

[prv]

The principles were well-known and used in ships for many years before that.

My 1930s Manual of Seamanship has a section on depth sounding. They did have echo sounders, but they were very crude devices. Instead of a single transducer, there was a noisemaker at one end of the ship (basically a mechanically-operated hammer banging on the hull plating) and a microphone at the other. The instrument required a dedicated operator, who wore a pair of headphones and continuously adjusted a knob until the echoes overlapped (or something like that - I can't quite remember the details). Turning the knob also moved a pointer to read off the depth. There was a certain amount of technique involved, and you had to know whether your first contact was expected to be a rising or a falling seabed.

There were also mechanical sounding machines in use, which lowered a lead over the side on a long wire and then hauled it up again, either using an electric motor or by a burly seaman or two winding a big handle. These had the choice of simply using the lead and measuring the wire run out, or attaching a chemical cartridge which indicated pressure (and hence depth) by the penetration of water through a column of colour-changing material. This was more accurate than the wire (which would not be vertical next to a moving ship) but there was only a limited supply of cartridges. The machine required a crew of three or four men working hard.

Finally, the book covers the traditional hand lead, including describing where the leadsman stands on a pre-war warship, so it was apparently still an option.

Given the labour-intensity of all these techniques, they only started sounding when the information was actively needed.

Pete

 

[Twister_Ken]

Many thanks, all. I've found this

1958​

The Hecta echo sounder went into production. This was the first transistorised echo sounder to appear on the market and, as with Homer, it was powered by four miniature torch battery cells. Both instruments were housed in the same grey nylon-coated metal case, which afforded complete protection against moisture and spray.​

at http://www.myleselectronics.com/bghistory06.html which may be what I'm looking for. Information on any earlier systems would still be useful ...

My recollection, from the '70's is that even then the 'grey box' B&G kit cost a fortune, so the '58 model may not have been priced for everyman, exactly.

 

[JumbleDuck]

My recollection, from the '70's is that even then the 'grey box' B&G kit cost a fortune, so the '58 model may not have been priced for everyman, exactly.

I have the original receipt for my boat when she was built in 1986. The B&G electronics (Hornet 4 sailing monitor and Hecta sounder) added about 10% to the price of the boat ... and she wasn't cheap to start with.

 

[DanTribe]

I bought my first new echo sounder in 1971. I was so enthralled by the modern technological wonder, that I ran aground while staring at it.

 

[pvb]

Electronics were expensive back then. I bought a new Westerly Pentland in 77, and the Seafarer echo sounder (on a swinging bracket) was £80 - a lot of money back then.

 

[VicMallows]

I also had a Seafix radio direction finder - what a hoot that was!

How else would we have found our way across the channel in fog?. (Still have mine and it still picks up R4 LW ... but probably only for a few more years )

 

[sailorman]

Many thanks, all. I've found this

1958​

The Hecta echo sounder went into production. This was the first transistorised echo sounder to appear on the market and, as with Homer, it was powered by four miniature torch battery cells. Both instruments were housed in the same grey nylon-coated metal case, which afforded complete protection against moisture and spray.​

at http://www.myleselectronics.com/bghistory06.html which may be what I'm looking for. Information on any earlier systems would still be useful ...

Brookes & gatehouse

 

[Seajet]

Our first cruiser had a Seafarer spinner. You could, with luck, judge the nature of the bottom by the crispness of the echo. On the other hand, panic usually made one blind to this effect when it recorded alarming depths at just over one cycle, 60+ feet or fathoms.

Seafarer also made an excellent speed and distance log which was "electronic". There was a through hull transducer with a couple of exposed screw heads but no moving parts. B&G were selling something similar.

Those log units worked on the doppler principle, I know a serious marine electronics expert who had one and rated it highly; it has to be better than a paddlewheel log, anything is !