I am using it on my C36. I'ts actually manufactured by Airmar but labeled by B&G and Simrad. It works great, It's basically it's a transducer that is angled in a forward manner.
I have B&G Zeus 2 with a NMEA2000 backbone, so plugging in another sensor is relatively easy. I was considering forward scan for the empty spot up in my hull. I anchor in some gunk holes with skinny water. It might be nice to have an alarm go off if I was approaching some kind of obstruction or anything else not on the chart. It is a bit pricey, about $500. I certainly think its relative to the forum and worthy of the question. I think it comes down to the kind of waters you cruise in. If you're in skinny, unfamiliar water frequently, I think it's great technology.
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Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Hi Peter,
The forward facing sonar I am referring to is installed on a very big pleasure yacht, make Farsounder, never used and a real waste of money.
This kind is all beyond our Catalina-hobby and not relevant for this forum.
On one Panbo review the guy broke the transceiver before he could test it. A stray chunk of wood destroyed it. As was said earlier it has an angled face that sticks out about 1.5” below the hull.
—
Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor.
Some arithmetic might called for here. B &G website indicates the device can see about 8x the depth in good conditions. Soft mud and rocking type of bottom may defuse the signal and reduce reliability to 5 times the depth. Now assume your in 10 feet of water best view 80 feet, reliably maybe 50 feet. Speed counts, a boat travels at 100 ft/minute/knot or 1.67 ft/sec/knot.
Example: Traveling at 3 knots in 10 feet of water. The obstruction is 50 to 80 ahead. Time to impact = distance/1.66/knots
At 80 feet, (80/1.66)/3 kts = 16 seconds At 50 feet ahead the time is 10 seconds. All this assumes your staring at the screen, reconize the object, plan a new course of action and execute. At 5 knots of speed the times are reduced by by 40%. Your new reaction times at 80 feet the time is 9.6 seconds, at 50 feet the time is 6 seconds.
Unless your actually trying to survey the bottom, its probably a waste of money.
Lou Bruska Sojourn
1985 C-36 MK1 hull #495
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Lou Bruska
Sojourn
1985 C-36 Mk-I TR #495
Eldean Shipyard
Lake Macatawa (Holland, MI) Lake Michigan Rallyback@comcast.net
Yes, but not on a Catalina...:-))
Durk Nijdam
S/V "SILER"
Catalina 36MKII - 2001 / hullnr. 2013
Stavoren - Holland
And what were your thoughts on it??? Brand? Ease of use? Would you buy one???
peter g
2000 C36, MK2, Hull. #1897
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ! ! !. 5 th Catalina
I am using it on my C36. I'ts actually manufactured by Airmar but labeled by B&G and Simrad. It works great, It's basically it's a transducer that is angled in a forward manner.
2003 Catalina 36
I have B&G Zeus 2 with a NMEA2000 backbone, so plugging in another sensor is relatively easy. I was considering forward scan for the empty spot up in my hull. I anchor in some gunk holes with skinny water. It might be nice to have an alarm go off if I was approaching some kind of obstruction or anything else not on the chart. It is a bit pricey, about $500. I certainly think its relative to the forum and worthy of the question. I think it comes down to the kind of waters you cruise in. If you're in skinny, unfamiliar water frequently, I think it's great technology.
Jackfish Girl, 1999, C36 MKII, Tall Rig, Wing Keel, In-mast furling, Monument Beach, Bourne, MA
Hi Peter,
The forward facing sonar I am referring to is installed on a very big pleasure yacht, make Farsounder, never used and a real waste of money.
This kind is all beyond our Catalina-hobby and not relevant for this forum.
Durk Nijdam
S/V "SILER"
Catalina 36MKII - 2001 / hullnr. 2013
Stavoren - Holland
The forward looking sonar does not connect to a NMEA 2000 network. It is installed directly to the back of the B&G MFD in sonar #2 connector..
2003 Catalina 36
Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor.
Commodore
Some arithmetic might called for here. B &G website indicates the device can see about 8x the depth in good conditions. Soft mud and rocking type of bottom may defuse the signal and reduce reliability to 5 times the depth. Now assume your in 10 feet of water best view 80 feet, reliably maybe 50 feet. Speed counts, a boat travels at 100 ft/minute/knot or 1.67 ft/sec/knot.
Example: Traveling at 3 knots in 10 feet of water. The obstruction is 50 to 80 ahead. Time to impact = distance/1.66/knots
At 80 feet, (80/1.66)/3 kts = 16 seconds At 50 feet ahead the time is 10 seconds. All this assumes your staring at the screen, reconize the object, plan a new course of action and execute. At 5 knots of speed the times are reduced by by 40%. Your new reaction times at 80 feet the time is 9.6 seconds, at 50 feet the time is 6 seconds.
Unless your actually trying to survey the bottom, its probably a waste of money.
Lou Bruska
Sojourn
1985 C-36 MK1 hull #495
Lou Bruska
Sojourn
1985 C-36 Mk-I TR #495
Eldean Shipyard
Lake Macatawa (Holland, MI) Lake Michigan
Rallyback@comcast.net