The main purpose of the depth sounder is to constantly notify us how deep the water is under our hull and also allows us, to a good approximation, and to locate the best area of the bottom where to drop anchor. Increasingly popular are fishfinders, models designed for fishing that reproduce the seafloor on the screen. By now, modern chartplotters look like navigation instruments complemented by fish finder sounder functions.
HOW IT WORKS.
A fishfinder consists of three basic elements: the transmitter, the receiver/amplifier, and the transducer. The latter is fixed on the hull and connected by a cable to the box containing the other two instruments, located in the cockpit.
When the echosounder is activated, the transmitter sends a small amount of electrical energy to the transducer, which converts it into a sound pulse, propagating it to the seafloor. When the pulse reaches the bottom, the echo is generated; thus…