Portable depthsounder with NMEA output

[TonyMS]

I'd like to be able make a trace of depths/positions from my dinghy. For this I think I need a portable depthsounder with NMEA output, which can be fed into my tablet.

None of the portable depth sounders I can find on the net have NMEA output. Does anyone have any suggestions?

TonyMS

 

[prv]

I'm not sure such a thing exists. Apart from your specific purpose it's hard to see much of a use case for a sounder that's both portable and able to be wired to other equipment.

You might have to make up a portable kit with a normal sounder and a small 12v battery in a case?

Pete

 

[MikeCC]

Use a non-portable one with a small 12V battery eg 7Ah type. Also look at the chartplotter sounders that do the whole job and produce a local contour chart.

 

[TonyMS]

Thanks for the replies.

To answer my own question, in case anyone's interested, I've found a reasonably priced transducer that emits NMEA183 from Cruzpro. Garmin used to do one, but now only support NMEA2000 via a conversion box. Airmar also do them, but at a much higher price.