Echo sounder history

[johnalison]

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.

I think it is true that electronics were always expensive; look at old B&W TVs. We got very excited by our first Decca, circa 1988, a Navstar 400(?), that cost about £440.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I think it is true that electronics were always expensive; look at old B&W TVs. We got very excited by our first Decca, circa 1988, a Navstar 400(?), that cost about £440.

The first GPS I ever sailed with, in 1991, had cost its owner over £4,000 and used so much electricity that the engine had to be run for a couple of hours per day to feed it.