Who's still got a Seafarer 3 echo sounder?

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CaptainMike1970

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I was given a "Seafarer 3 echo sounder" from a friend who was having an loft clear out, it is brand new, still in the original packaging etc etc just very old!

I was down on the boat today to give her a run out and top off the tanks so a thought i might wire it up and see how the "old skool" tech worked. Alas time got the better of me and i didn't get around to it.

It looks very retro cool boasting "depth and fish indication by brilliant flash of a light emitting diode" - cutting edge stuff!

I think i'll stick to garmin combined chart plotter / sounder and si i've popped it on ebay and hope some classic boat chap snaps it up to replace some "original fit" items!!!

So i just wondered, who is still using "old skool" kit such as this? I know of one person......................... my Father in Law has a very similar bit of kit on his yacht, i'm sure he is not alone.

So who of you guys are still "old skool" and who has to upgrade every year to stay at the cutting edge of the tech?

Mike
 
the mobo I bought last month (35yo) has a seafarer 3, wired (to power at least) works (as in light flashing) and displaying a steady 1m no matter if I'm at 1m or 100m depth.
Had a go at figuring out where the sensor is (a friend told me that these use castoroil and they tend to dry out after so many years and stop working) with not much luck. Still haven't found the sensor (it's obviously not a through hull one, else I'd seen it) so as I'm slowly dismantling the interior I hope I'll trace it and see if it's indeed dried out or cable damaged.

Would like to keep it and use it for period aesthetics mainly, but if I'm to replace I'll get a contemporary piece of kit.

cheers

V
 
Yep I have a Seafarer 3

DSCF0855.jpg


You cannot see the LED in bright light. Often wondered if a modern high brighness LED could be fitted.

I have never known it find any fish.

The transducer can be mounted internally in a tube of castor oil ( although any liquid that is non corrosive, non volatile, odourless, dosn't attack the transducer the grp or the tube, does not freeze etc will do).

Will run on an internal PP9 9 volt battery or an external 12 ,24 or 36 volt supply

Instructions if needed.

:cool:
 
Yep that's the one, nice to see one still in place and in use, i didn't read the fitting instruction but the transducer comes with 24ft of co-ax and is about 6inches long with thread up the shaft and a couple of fixing nuts - does not look like a thru-hull type.
 
I thought the Seafarer used a neon, not LED. Or was the 3 really cutting edge?

Personally I use a lead line, non of this modern electriky stuff.
 
DownWest said:
I thought the Seafarer used a neon, not LED. Or was the 3 really cutting edge?

Personally I use a lead line, non of this modern electriky stuff.
Click to expand...

Seafarer 3 definitely an LED but yes I believe older ones did use a neon. Presumably there was a Seafarer2 and a Seafarer at one time. the very old ones had metal cases.
 
Cast Ally IIRR. Something to aspire to in my early days. Brooks and Gatehouse would have cost more than the boat, apart from the power and weight..

Friend is quite happy with a Lydl 'fish finder' for about £25. Expect a SF3 will fetch more than that on e-bay, esp in original packaging.


Don't often get down here on mobo, quite fun...
 
As you might expect, I still have the original Seafarer 3 on SR & it's working well, so why replace it? It's only 40 years old anyway.

The key benefit is that the normal range is 60' & the deep one is 60 fathoms. So it works like an analogue clock & you only need the briefest glimpse to know the depth, 14' 15' and 16' are easily & quickly distinguished, just as you would identify 13 mins past, 28 mins past or even 33 mins past the hour from a glance at your watch or clock.

Digital meters are a joke in comparison, you have to look hard to see what the display says & where the digital point is.

Anyway, my brain works well in imperial measures & conversion to metric is pretty straightforward.
 
As you might expect, I still have the original Seafarer 3 on SR & it's working well, so why replace it? It's only 40 years old anyway
Click to expand...
.But surely there must times when you wish you could read it from the helm on a bright sunny day... Even N Wales gets the occasional day when the rain stops and the sun shines.

I've been toying with the idea of replacing it for ages ... but I guess it will see me out!
 
I still have a Seafarer - no idea which model but it has 4 knobs instead of 2 as in the picture(perhaps it's a later model?) Does have a rotating neon, digital display and still working OK and I've a digital repeater in the cockpit! I keep muttering about replacing it but I'm of the old school - if it ain't broke don't mend it! SWMBO did have kittens soon after we got the boat as the decimal point moves back one place after 20 metres to go to 2.0 metres - got really worried on a trip to Southwold making up improvised lead lines!
 
PetiteFleur said:
I still have a Seafarer - no idea which model but it has 4 knobs instead of 2 as in the picture(perhaps it's a later model?) Does have a rotating neon, digital display and still working OK and I've a digital repeater in the cockpit! I keep muttering about replacing it but I'm of the old school - if it ain't broke don't mend it! SWMBO did have kittens soon after we got the boat as the decimal point moves back one place after 20 metres to go to 2.0 metres - got really worried on a trip to Southwold making up improvised lead lines!
Click to expand...

Yes later model. LED though not neon I am sure.
The "3" did not have the digital display or the capability of feeding a repeater.
No built in alarm either although there was an alarm gadget that clipped on outside. It may have been a 3rd party accessory.
 
VicS said:
Yes later model. LED though not neon I am sure.
The "3" did not have the digital display or the capability of feeding a repeater.
No built in alarm either although there was an alarm gadget that clipped on outside. It may have been a 3rd party accessory.
Click to expand...

Vic, I think it is a neon - a greeny colour - and there are alarms for shallow and deep water but you cannot have an offset(that I know of) so when it reads 1.0 - I know I'm aground!
 
It was an excellent bit of kit. Unlike a digital sounder, not only did it give you the depth, it also gave some indication of the type of bottom. A broad reading indicating weed etc. Invaluable for selecting an anchoring position.

Nowadays a fish finder can do the same job, even better.
 
VicS said:
Yes later model. LED though not neon I am sure.
The "3" did not have the digital display or the capability of feeding a repeater.
No built in alarm either although there was an alarm gadget that clipped on outside. It may have been a 3rd party accessory.
Click to expand...

I have a seafarer 3 in my lower helm position, a more modern Lowrance in the upper helm.

My SF3 has an alarm, which is third party, separate from the main unit, and also a repeater again third party, in the upper helm. The repeater has an analogue needle display, I'll take some pictures if anyone's interested.

Also happy to sell all three parts of it, if anyone wants them, or swap for a digitial Nasa unit / any digital depth gauge / fishfinder with in-hull transducer.
 
I love this old school gear. A few months back my dad dug out an old Racal Decca RDF unit that he had in the loft, was on a couple of boats way back in the day... I remember hanging over the side on a few occasions trying to get a fix on Niton radio when returning from France...
 
Just checked mine, it's actually a Seafarer 4, not 3.

The third party add ons, the alarm and needle gauge style repeater, are made by Pring.
 
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