To claim, simply follow this link and provide your proof of purchase: https://garmin.formstack.com/for…/marine_bluechart_promotion

If you're in the market for a new sounder/chartplotter, now is the perfect time to get in and save some money. Browse our Garmin GPSMAP and echoMAP range HERE

The two models available share the exact same satellite messaging functionality. However the main difference between the two models is the added topographic mapping capability of the inReach Explorer+. While the inReach SE+ is GPS enabled and allows you to mark waypoints and leave trails on a grid system, the Explorer+ model allows you to use preloaded topographic charts and use waypoint routing.

For more information, visit https://goo.gl/eAUS4F

We recently had the chance to get out on the water and do some decent testing with the QuickDraw software and a Garmin Panoptix transducer. This video also covers some aspects of set up that you'll need to do before creating your own charts, such as setting install depth and tide offsets.

Needless to say we are blown away with how well these two technologies work together and look forward having more of a play.

Great news for Garmin users! The much anticipated Quickdraw Contours update from Garmin is finally here.

We had the chance to test the update before release, and we have to say, this new feature is amazing.

Quickdraw Contours is a free update which allows you create your own charts of the sea or lake floor using your Garmin sounder and transducer, which updates live while you fish.

This is especially useful for lake fishers as it allows you to map out your own favourite fishing spots where other maps may not exist. Mapping out your own fishing spots helps you to get greater detail and accuracy than what you get with traditional charts. That means you can easily identify rocky areas or dropoffs where fish might like to hang out.

One of the biggest bonuses of this update is the fact that all the processing of data is done in your sounder unit on-the-fly, there's no need for extra software or computers to process your maps and you don't need to be a techincal wizard to use it, meaning you get more time on the water doing what you love - fishing.

Watch the video below to see the Quickdraw software in use

Quickdraw is suitable for use with any Garmin Panoptix™ transducer, any HD-ID™ sonar, any CHIRP-enabled, Garmin DownVü™ transducer or NMEA 2000®-compatible depth transducer.

This update works with any of the following transducers: Garmin Panoptix, HD-ID sonar, any CHIRP, Garmin DownVü or NMEA 2000 depth transducers.

If you're not sure whether your Garmin sounder is compatible with this update, please see below for our list of Garmin products we know it works with:

GPSMAP 7407, 7408, 7410, 7412, 7416, 751xs, 820xs, 1020xs, 557xs, 8012.

echoMAP 45dv, 55dv, 75dv, 75sv, 95sv.

For more information on the Quickdraw update: click here

Download the update for GPSMAP here: Quickdraw for GPSMAP

Download the update for echoMAP here: Quickdraw for echoMAP

Tony Orton - Offshore Adventures (Mangawhai Heads) - Shallow water Kingfish around bait.

Ben Pokaia - Nomad Sportsfishing New Zealand - "18-22kG puka in about 140m" 

Joseph Butterworth - "Single trout mark splitting up a small shoal of smelt. Garmin 1020xs"

Craig Brown - Kindly donated his $15 cheque to the Tauranga Coastguard. Thanks Craig!

Stu Griffin's haul for the day.

Simon Smith "Got these shots out from Tairua yesterday. We spotted the Tuna on the surface and got a triple hook up on Big eye but lost one. Went back on the sounder and saw the amazing sign then marked it and went back 200m to it and got back on the Tuna. Garmin 7410 with GT51. We have the TM265 but find we get much more detail just watching the top 150m with the GT51. Fish went 43kg and 35kg"

Ben Pokaia - Nomad Sportsfishing
Getting readings at 800m while travelling 19.9 knots, and 668.1m at 22.1 knots. Ben uses a Garmin GSD-26 sounder and TM265 transducer. 

Super simple!

*Terms & Conditions: Offer valid for all GPS & fish-finder products purchased from Bay Marine Electronics between 1st November 2012 and 15th December 2015. Proof of purchase (tax invoice) must be presented to claim cashback. Limit of one claim per customer only. Offer ends 15th March 2016. Your submitted image may be used for promotional purposes such as on our website and facebook page. By submitting an image you are giving us permission to use the image for this purpose.

To celebrate, until 8th Jan 2016 special pricing applies to these models including a Transom Transducer and NZ Chart with Bathy Data.
GP1870F-DT-NZ   $1099
GP1670F-DT-NT  $ 849

Madness. Just madness.

 CHART UPDATE OPTIONS

The current version of 4D MAX contains bathymetric data for NZ, version .34

Existing customers that have one of these versions below are entitled to a FREE Update to the current version that contains Bathymetric Data. Please return the Chart to us with the serial number of the corresponding Furuno unit. Freight cost will apply.

M-AU-D222.16   (About January 2015)
M-AU-D222.32
M-AU-D222.33

Update offer is valid until 25th Feb 2016.
Customers who have an earlier version (below .16) can update for a Special RRP of $149 including freight.

Existing Channels 1-18 , 27-77:

NO CHANGE - You will be able to use your radio as you have been for any of these channels

Existing Channels 20-23:

You will still be able to recieve Now Casting weather by tuning to the correct frequency - New channels which start with "20", such as 2019 or 2079, can be recieved by tuning to old channels without the 20 - so in my example channel 19 or 79. Note your local weather channel may change, for instance Hokianga currently transmits on CH22 will transmit on 2079.

New Channels 1019,1020,1078, 1079

You will be able to transmit on these frequencies by selecting the channel without the "10", But you won't be able to recieve on these frequencies.

All other channels:

Will now be used for data purposes, you will still be able to select these frequencies but you should not transmit as you may be interupting data transmissions.

If you do have any more information, or would like to ask us some questions, please get in touch!

The Furuno TZT 2 will be on show at the Furuno stand - its a great step up from the TZT 1 series so definately worth a look, and over at the Garmin stand the game changing Panoptix system is a must see - see whats around the boat in real time!

What is NMEA2000?

NMEA2000 is the marine version of CANBUS, the same system which is used in your car to control things like air-conditioning or the GPS. In marine format, it usually has standardised connectors, and generally uses standard sentences, allowing you to connect different brand name sensors and displays. For most of what we do, the display used is the boats chartplotter, which is well set up to co ordinate and display complex information, and the sensors are GPS, wind, tanks and engine information.

Why use NMEA2000?

Because NMEA2000 is a standardised system, expansion or changing the system is extremely easy. For example, if you have a wind sensor on the top of the mast with a display in the cockpit, previously if someone damaged the display, and the unit was a couple of years old, you would usually need to swap both the display and wind vane, including re running the cable down the mast. With a NMEA2000 system, you can swap or change either end, or add another display elsewhere if you wished, or add another sensor (eg depth or tank level). You could add a transmitter to receive the information on a watch, or send it over a cellular connection to a remote computer. The system is much more flexible, and will help future proof your installation.

What brands can I interconnect?

The big four manufacturers, Furuno, Garmin, Navico (Simrad/Lowrance) and Raymarine all have NMEA2000 network capability. Furuno, Garmin and Navico (although not some Simrad) equipment all uses the same connectors, often called Micro, or Micro C connectors. Raymarine uses it's own connectors and calls the system SeaTalk NG, but with an adapter cable, or some enthusiasm and a soldering iron it can be connected to a micro C network.

There is also various auxiliary equipment manufacturers which use NMEA2000 as their main source of communication, such as Fusion Stereos, Maretron, BEP C-Zone and Actisense. Care should be taken when connecting your chartplotter to these units, as some data and control might not work!

Connecting Engines

Engine systems also use NMEA2000, with most outboard manufacturers either selling adapters, or having direct connection to Micro C available at the engine. If using a Mercury or Yamaha Command link outboards then a gateway box needs to be bought instead of an adapter plug, which does add cost.

Diesel engines will often use J1939 CANBUS, which is similar, but not the same as NMEA2000. Maretron make an excellent product for reading this information to a NMEA2000 network.

For engines that are too old or too cheap to have NMEA2000 connectivity, NMEA2000 fuel flow sensors are available, which when connected to a chartplotter will give you economy and range data.

What bits of information is common to add to a NMEA2000 network?

The most common information we set up on NMEA2000 networks is GPS information. For Garmin, Furuno and Simrad, this is the default way of getting GPS information into a chartplotter on networked systems, which is great because if you have a chartplotter, then you'll also have a basic NMEA200 network already onboard. Mostly we connect engines up to chartplotters to display stuff like fuel usage (and so economy) RPM, Hours etc. We also do a number of NMEA2000 wind sensors and fuel flow sensors. Fusion Stereo connectability (called Fusion link) works really well with a good range of chartplotters.

What else can I can do with NMEA2000

Recently we set up the biggest NMEA2000 network we have ever done. It was a combined Garmin / Furuno / Maretron network and featured some impressive features:

• Text message alerts – Amongst literally hundreds of other items it monitored, the Maretron system monitors fire system, bilge levels, battery levels, shore power levels and sends a text message when any of these are out of a particular range. It can also send an email as well.

• Remote Ipad monitoring. The entire system could also be monitored by ipad, from anywhere with an internet connection. This means that maintenance managers and engineers can monitor the vessel while it is still in use, cutting the trouble shooting time

• Vessel parameter storage – Every single piece of information passed on the network is stored on a USB stick, so long term trends can be tracked by comparing current performance with previous performance and if an incident occurs, every action is recorded.

This system was also impressive to use, with most of the information available on the vessels 3 15” touchscreen chartplotters, and the rest available on a 7” touchscreen. It means a massive amount of information is available to the crew, and it's available easilly, less frustration means less mistakes.

More Information on how to put together a NMEA2000 network

NMEA2000 Guide - Garmin

NMEA2000 Guide - Maretron

© Bay Marine Electronics 2011 ltd

500M ON HIGH FREQUENCY!!! at 17kts! Imagine what it would be like on low frequency!

Stacks of Kingfish!

Furuno have come out with a cracking deal to keep the sales up over winter - A HUGE $600 off the GP1870F Chartplotter/Sounder Package when you trade in your old unit IN ANY CONDITION!! That brings the price down, including a P66 Depth/Temp Transducer and NZ Charts to an unbelieveable $1399! Thats a crazy price for a quality 7" unit - perfect for hunting in the deep water!

For more information click here

They start thinking about packing away the winter snapper fishing equipment, sharpening game fishing hooks, and planning for the season ahead.

Banter around game fishing club tables turns to where to fish... its all hinging on the warm water, and likley they're following via satelite Sea Surface Temperature images (SST)

There are many factors that influence the arrival of the warm water. Ocean currents and wind being two of the most important.

We'll take the current game fishing season as an example. During October and Novmeber, we had unusually settled weather, with just a few moderate Northerlies. This allowed the warm water to push in close earlier than expected. As a General rule, the first billfish of the season is cought somewhere around New Years Day, give or take a week. This year, marlin were hooked and dropped during the middle of December, at the same time water temperatures of 21 degrees were recorded at Schooner Rocks.

Then the Sou Westerlies hit.

This pushed the warm water out and to the east. Sea surface temperature charts showed a warm finger of water down the Kermadec trench. but it was unable to overcome the strong offshore winds. On the 19th of January, the water was 18 degrees on the surface at Motitti island, and at 26m where I was spear fishing Terakihi, the temperature was a bone chilling 16.5 degrees.

Since then, we have had a couple of sub tropical depressions hit the country and pass out to the east. The prevailing north and north-easterly winds and swell associated with these systems, matched the currents, and the warm water came back!

There are many platforms from which to follow the movements of the Temperature.

The metservice offers a service for the whole country. And is a good general indication of the water temps across the whole country. Its free, but not very specific.

Niwa offers a slightly better service, which is charged through a subscription service service. This gets updated weekdays, but not public holidays. Its a good general indication, but given that your SST could be up to 24 hours since it was last updated (or 72 if it was a weekend), and the current could be moving at a rate of 0.5-1kts, your patch of warm water could have moved by as much as 12NM (36nm on a long weekend!!).

Probably the easiest way to get SST information, Furuno's Navnet TZ touch system can download it directly using a hotspot made by your smart phone. You can download it out at sea, and overlay it on your chart provided you have an internet signal. But again, the SST information isn't 100% precise.

For the best accuracy, commercial systems such as Geoeye from Digital Globe, which will cost you US$500 per Month, or US$160 per week, are the only choice. The price can be a bit of a hurdle, but when compared to a tank of fuel (which you are likely to save) it soon becomes economic. With Geoeye, Clorophyll, currents, salinity, thermocline depths and the depths at various can also be tracked, giving you more information to make the all important catch

To put it into perspective, your monthly cost is equivalent to 400L of diesel. About two days trolling in an average boat.It can save you a lot of time looking for the all important temperature breaks.

Essentially that is what we as game fishermen are looking for. We are searching for places where the current changes dramatically, where the water colour changes suddenly, or where the temperature changes. if you get all three...well...give me a call and tell me where.

Its not all about finding the warmest patch of water. Its more about finding warm waterin proximity to baitfish. Which as a general rule tend to hang out in the cooler more nutrient rich waters.

Marlin and Tuna will chase food into cold water. I have personally seen striped marlin in water of 17.5 degrees, cold and green, off Whangaroa.... but they weren't lightyears away from warm water.

The trick with Using a SST to your advantage, is actually to use many of them. Follow the general trends of the currents as they move the warm water around. Cross refernce it with places that are known to hold food (Pinnacles, canyons, harbour mouths etc) then, on the day you fish, take the latest data you can get your hands on and back it up with what you atre actually seeing on your temperature guages. Find the breaks, the bait, the colour changes.

At the end of the day, it is still fishing, and its not guaranteed that you'll catch fish every time you go out. But by making the most of the information you have available, you can increase your chances of finding fish....then its just up to you to catch them.

Thats right! Not only will you be kept up to date with the interesting and exciting things happening in the world of Marine Electronics, but you're in to win a share of over $500 worth of prizes!

You can find our facebook page HERE, or type in https://www.facebook.com/BayMarineElectronics in the address bar

Prizes drawn 2nd April, so get in now!

The catches:

The price is for bracket mount installations - flush mount installs take longer but we can do a deal on these!

The price is for an installation at our premises - you must bring the boat to us!

You must be buying the unit from us!

As always, if you would like more information, just give us a call!

PLUS we have some fantastic specials instore and online too!

Although commercially available for a number of years, Humminbird was the first company to shift this technology to the mainstream market with their “Side Imaging” Sonar Technology. Lowrance quickly copied this with “StructureScan Sonar” and found themselves in a legal spat with Humminbird over patents. Perhaps feeling left out of the legal rumble, Raymarine released it's Dragonfly earlier this year and promptly were sued by Lowrance for using the “Downscan Imaging Sonar” Patent. Garmin have just announced their take on backscatter sonar which they have called “SideVu and DownVu” which will be available at the start of next year. I hope they have kept their lawyers well fed.

The actual operation of Backscatter sonar is very similar to a regular sounder. The transducer makes a noise and then listens for a return echo which are then displayed on the screen. The main difference between them is the frequency which is used, and the beam widths of the transducer.

Regular depth sounders use frequencies between 50 and 200kHz, where recreational backscatter sonars use between 455 and 800 kHz. This gives a much clearer picture, but also has a much shorter range. In practical terms the range of most of the scanning sonars is about 50M, with the best results in the 5-25M range

The beamwidth of a regular sounder is normally circular and in the region of 12 degrees for 200kHz and 40 for 50kHz. Side scanning sonar uses a much wider beam to see far out each side of the boat but very short beam fore/aft to maximise the definition of the bottom, The dimensions of this beam are about 5 or 6 degrees fore and aft, and about 160 degrees sideways, when using both sides and bottom scanning. In order to get the very narrow beamwidth, the transducers have to be very long, sometimes close to a foot long.

Downscanning/DownVu sonar can be read in a similar way to your normal sounder. The latest information is presented at the right hand side of the screen, and everything to the left of this point is history. Most of the information is very similar to the regular sounder, so if you have experience with normal sounders you will be able to read this quite easily. The flip side is that its really not that different to your sounder, with most of the information

Side looking sonar is presented in a different way which can confuse even the smartest of boaties. In the image above, the vessel is located at point A, at the top of the white line. Everything to the left is sensed from the port sensor, everything to the right is sensed by the starboard sensor. The catch is the darker area to either side of the white line. This is the water column, and the distance from the white line to the end of this darker area is the depth at that particular point. Both point B and point C are directly below the boat. I find it easier to think of it as two seperate sounders presented back to back.

In this case, the image shows the boat moving from a shallower, rockier area into a deeper sandier area, passing over 2 schools of bait fish on the way. If you look closely you will also see a third school of bait fish on the Starboard side at about the same area as the first school passes under the boat. This clearly shows the advantage of sidescan. Not only can we tell there are fish about, but we can say more accurately where these fish are hiding.

The Tauranga Boat Expo is this weekend, November 8,9 and 10th, and this year we have some fantastic specials from Garmin (such as the echomap 50s for under a grand!) Fusion (RA205 and Unidock for less than $370!) Furuno (Crazy specials on stand alone sounders) and GME (GPS EPIRBs for less than $530!)

There is way to many specials to list here, you'll need to come and check out the stand to see them all!!!

We wish the new Mr and Mrs McAllister a long and happy marriage!

 The Cheap and Cheerful

When looking at the cheap end of the stereo market there is often a temptation to buy a cheap car stereo or perhaps an amplifier with an earphone jack for mp3 players. The problem with both of these options is that the weakest link in a marine stereo is often the speakers, and by the time you have bought a set of decent marine speakers to go with your head unit/amp, you may as well have bought a proper marine combo. A marine stereo with waterproof speakers starts at under $200, and they're great for listening to weather forecasts, music or an MP3 player using a waterproof pouch. It's a great option for small boats under 6m. For a slightly better, louder sound you can go with a basic Fusion stereo and a couple of 4” flush mount speakers for $330. This combo boasts a massive 3 year warranty and has a surprisingly good sound for a small boat!

 Mid Range

If we increased the total cost to $400-$800, a large range of options now becomes available to us. 4 speaker systems, multiple zones, CD players, USB ports, even chartplotter and iphone/android control are now available to us. Sound quality and volume available also increases with price and number of speakers. These systems are suitable for most trailer boats and smaller launches, but once again make sure you're using waterproof speakers – you will kick yourself if you cut corners with them.

 Top End

 With a budget of between $1000 and $2000 a very, very nice stereo system can be had. All of the features of the mid range stereos plus adding sub woofers, integrated ipod docks, colour screens, TV output and 4 zone operation. Especially at this price point it is worth getting a professional to install your system, as they will be able to advise on speaker placement, amplifier requirements, voltage and current draw.

Special Requirements

 As mentioned earlier, car components just wont last in the corrosive marine environment, which also has a knack of corroding away solder terminals on speakers and cable joins, especially on flush mount speakers mounted below knee level. Glue lined heat shrink saves a lot of hastle in the future, and tinned wire is also worth the extra cost.

Its worth remembering that speakers are a large magnet when deciding where to place them, as this will effect compasses and autopilots.

 Aerial requirements.

 For local AM/FM reception an aerial may not be required as a reasonable length (2-3M) cable connected to the aerial input will be fine run cable behind dash area where it is hidden. Another worthwhile antenna is to hook the antenna wire up to the metal window surround on a fibreglass boat. These are normally about the right size too! However the further away from land will require something a dedicated antenna. Antennas in most size ranges are available and mount the same as a VHF antenna. The range of FM signals is not as good as AM so the FM stations will fade a lot sooner without an aerial.

We have made our very first product video, and have learnt a lot! In this instance the video does not represent the quality of the unit, but we can only get better!

What am I looking at?

A common theme is the lack of communication and safety equipment which resounds through each of the serious reports. Each of these could have been easily avoided, in most cases by carrying a suitable VHF Radio and knowing how to use it.

The term “VHF” Radio refers to the frequencies used – Very High Frequencies – which are between 156 Megahertz and 162 Megahertz. These frequencies are split up into about 50 channels for easy use and their actual frequencies are rarely referred to.

The channels can be split into two different types – Simplex and Duplex.

Simplex channels transmit and receive on the same frequency - this is simple ship to ship communication. Channel 16 is an example of a Simplex channel, which all boaties should keep a watch on as it is also the emergency channel.

Duplex channels transmit on a different frequency to the receive frequency - With Duplex comms, you are not communicating directly with another boat, you are actually communicating with a repeater. Most Coastguard channels are duplex, including 83, the coastguard frequency here in Tauranga. Their repeater is located on the Kaimai ranges, so even if you are 100M away from the coastguard building at Sulphur Point, your transmission actually goes to the Kaimais, through the repeater and back down another frequency to their offices. I should also note that Coastguard and Maritime radio also keep watch on channel 16.

Since with Duplex channels you are only communicating with a repeater station, if you are out of range of that particular repeater, then you will not be able to use that channel to communicate with anyone, even if they are close to where you are. In this case you will need to switch to a simplex channel for better chatting. Conversely, if your mate is way down the coast, but there is a repeater between you, use a duplex frequency to contact them (so long as it's ok with the repeater owner!)

Some radios (most noticeably the Uniden UM380 Solara) are shipped with USA frequencies enabled, and you will need to change to International frequencies to get all correct duplex channels here in New Zealand. On some radios this is changed through a button with U/I/C on it (USA, International, Canadian). Whatever marine VHF radio you have, channel 16 will always be the correct frequency.

Other problems we commonly strike are usually related to the antenna. With their positions outside and in the weather, we commonly get issues with antenna failure, especially the ones which screw down onto the base. Your radio is only as good as your antenna, if you skimp on the antenna it will come back to bite you, normally when you need it most.

Another common misconception is that the antenna cable needs to be a certain length – this is incorrect, so long as the cable between the radio and antenna is longer than about 1 meter, any length will be fine.

Vessel mounted radios start out at about $349 for a good quality unit and antenna. This is what we would recommend for anyone going further than Karewa or this side of Motiti island. If you're just in the harbour, then a cheaper, hand held radio may meet your needs, which starts at just under $150.

Lastly – If you are going out on the water this summer, make sure you get in touch with the Coastguard, and make sure you are doing it legally and SAFELY. They run regular courses for radio licenses and safe boating, which are a small investment to keep the family safe.

To enter, simply purchase a Furuno or Lowrance unit, and fill out a form at www.enl.co.nz/promo before the 31 March 2013.

A couple of months ago Lowrance announced their new range of HDS touch models, available in 7", 9" and 12" sizes. We were eagerly awaiting these models as the standard models are very powerful, and a super easy touch screen interface to go with this was exactly what it needed. We have now installed a couple of the 7" models and can confirm these are the best Lowrance models that have been released by far. The unit combines the ease of use with a good sized touch screen with the extremely good broadband sounder, which has so far been the highlight of the HDS models.

As a thick dollop of icing on top,  the touch units now have Structure Scan HD and structure mapping built in, meaning you will just need to purchase the structure scan transducer if you would like to use this amazing technology. In particular this would be very handy on the various uncharted lakes around New Zealand, as you will now easilly be able to make your own charts of what the bottom is like (although not the depths)

When bought through the official New Zealand retailer (such as ourselves!) the units come bundled with a Lowrance 50/200kHz transducer and Navionics Gold charts INCLUDED. You will also have a full factory backed warranty and support  and of course access to our combined 40 years of marine electronics experience. Pricing starts at $2599 for the 7", $4199 for the 9" and $5699 for the 12" model. We recommend you go for the upgrade pack - Upgrade to Platinum plus charts and get the Structure Scan transducer - All for an extra $400 - This will give you a serious fishing weapon.

In 2011 there was a flurry of announcements from Garmin and the other major electronics manufacturers hailing in their respective new CHIRP sounders. This was quickly followed by a scramble by marine electronics experts and installers scrapping and struggling to figure out exactly what CHIRP was, and if it was worth all the effort.

So 12 months on, What have we discovered?

Firstly a bit of history. CHIRP actually stands for “Compressed High Impact Radar Pulse” which is a reference to its development, as it was originally designed for use in Radar systems just after the second world war. Quicky it was discovered the same properties which improved the Radar signal above the surface could be also used to improve the echo sounders performance below the waves, and military and commercial Chirp sounders have been available for a large number of years. The main things which limited Chirp technology being used in recreational systems was the huge processing power required to compute the return signal, and the availability of transducers cheap enough for the recreational market. Recent improvements in computer technology has taken care of the processing power which opened the door for Airmar to develop the required transducers and start the Chirp revolution.

The fact that it is a transducer company pushing chirp, and not the traditional manufacturers has led to the strange time frames, with most of the major players releasing recreational CHIRP sounders within a few months, which is rare for such a major change in the market.

So how does it work?

Traditional sounders work by transmitting a single frequency sound through the transducer for a few microseconds, and then wait for the return echo which tells the user how far away the fish, or bottom is. The length of this transmission varies with depth on most good sounders, but can be as long as a couple of meters in deep water. The problem is, if there are 2 fish targets within this transmission length, they will appear as one big target when the signal is returned, instead of two separate fish.

Chirp sounders work around this by varying the frequency of the sound through the length of the transmission. Even if the two fish are within the transmission length, the reflected signals will have different frequencies when they reach the boat. When this effect is applied to normal sound waves it sounds similar to a birds call, which is another reason for the name “Chirp”. The main points with this technology is that even if the target fish are very close together, they will apear as seperate targets, and since we no longer have to worry about target separation, we can make the pulse length much longer, which greatly increases range.

So what does it cost?

So far, all of the chirp sounders have been released as black box units, with the output displayed on networked screens. The cost of these boxes runs from about $2200 up, but you will also need a dedicated CHIRP transducer as well. While it is possible to run a normal transducer on a chirp black box, it is not possible to run it in CHIRP mode, meaning that it will act like a much cheaper standard sounder module until you hook up the correct transducer.

So is it any good?

To put it simply, yes it is. CHIRP sounders are better than traditional sounders, they have better target resolution, particularly near the bottom and there range is outstanding. But it is an evolutionary step, rather than a brand new technology. Most fishermen know how to read a fishfinder (If you dont, then come see us!) so most fishermen will be able to read the chirp sounders. For those of you who game fish in deep water or often fish for terakahi (which are often found near the bottom), Bluenose or Hapuka, this is technology which will help you target these species.

The short answer is “about 5-10M, depending on the number of satellites visible to the unit”, but
the truth of how accurate a GPS is depends on what we are comparing it against. If we were to place a GPS outside, its position would not move more than a couple of meters, sometimes for over an hour. In this case it is very accurate - in relation to itself. Most of the time however we want to compare GPS against something more useful like a Nautical Chart. This is where problems arise. Development of GPS and accurate depth sounders has left paper chart accuracy way behind. To get an idea of how far behind they have been left, all we have to do is open a paper chart and check the survey dates. It doesn't take long to find some very old cartography – one of the first charts I opened was NZ64 – East coast, South Island which proudly states that vast areas were surveyed between 1849 and 1851 by HMS Acheron – a whopping 160 years ago. Even more alarming than charting from during the Maori land wars is that more information on that particular chart has come from “Random soundings from various sources”. Very reassuring.
It should be noted though – before GPS, the charting only needed to be as accurate as triangulation or a sextant could be – Navigators couldn't get any more accurate anyway so there was no need for more accurate charts.
And here lies the problem. Although your GPS is accurate to 5 or 10 meters, your super duper 3D with google overlay charts are using data from the 1800's, and may have a much lower degree of accuracy.
Even charts within the last century can be out by quite a margin, before GPS (actually D-GPS but that's a story for another day) was used to get accurate positions for charting, cartographers had to get their positions the same way that navigators did – by the stars or by triangulation. As such there is some variation in their work. Until recently most boaties passing through Man O War passage at Great Barrier Island could see this first hand as their boats appeared to carve their way through the northern rocks on the chartplotter. The charts of the area were re surveyed in 2009, and I haven't passed through there since, but I assume the digital boat now remains wet. Closer to home, Brewis shoal is well known to be a wee way off – the charts are from 1960, so again before accurate positions could be reliably be calculated.
Taking these chart inaccuracies into account it is no real surprise that computer chart programs which update the charts as you move have become so popular with commercial and keen recreational fisherman. Piscatus  and Maxsea take position information from the boats GPS and depth information from the sounder and combine it to make updates to the charts which are being displayed. The results can be quite amazing, as not only are the charts more accurate, but also a lot more detailed.

So how do you check the accuracy of the charts and chartplotter? The first step is to make sure your chartplotter is set up correctly. Although there are areas of our coast which are not accurate compared to GPS, some areas are very well surveyed, including most of Tauranga Harbour. If you are travelling out of the harbour, zoom in on the chartplotter, pass closely by one of the harbour markers and check the location of the boat in compared to the harbour marker. Your position in relation to this marker should be smack bang on the chart. If its out by more than 15M or so, then you may have incorrect settings in the chartplotter – in particular in regards to which Chart Datum it is set to, or perhaps some very old charts.
Good digital charts will hold information about the data they were derived from. Next time you are out, have a look and see if the areas you use are from recent surveys or from older surveys. Anything after about 1990 should be pretty accurate.
If there are areas which are a bit off – such as Brewis shoals, mark them with a GPS waypoint on your plotter. This will be much more accurate, and easier to return to the next time you go fishing!

If you didn't go, you missed out on a fantastic evening - I hope that you will be at our next evening, whenever that may be!

I have also got the Hand out sheet Here

Garmin was an obvious choice for the attempt, as the driver and throttleman are strapped into their seats during the record attempt the Garmin RF Wireless Remote Control will be the only way to control the GPS.

Geoff will be travelling down from Opua in the Bay of Islands for a brief tour of The Whakatane Sports Fishing Club, Tauranga Game Fishing Club and Gisborne Tatapouri Sports Fishing Club, on the 14th, 15th and 16th of August respectively. He will go over basic techniques for catching swordfish in the daytime and tell a few stories, including his World Record Broadbill landed in 2003.

Also speaking will be Doug James, Furuno expert from ENL who will be talking about the sounder techniques the pro's use to see the fish in the deep.

More information can be found HERE

Basic operation:

From the display unit, power is sent to the transducer in the form of a short electrical pulse. This pulse is converted to an ultrasonic sound signal by the vibrating element of the transducer which in turn results in a cone shaped beam that will spread at a particular angle, (normally between 6 and 45 degrees) through the water at the considerable speeds. In water sound travels at approximately 1,500 Mtrs per Second. The signal travels freely through water but bounces off fishes air bladders, the seabed and its structure. These reflected sounds travel back to the transducer where they are converted back to an electrical pulse which is sent back to the display unit for processing. Most modern fishfinders are digital rather than analog. This means the signal is changed from a voltage into 1's and 0's where they can be examined and manipulated  by software in the sounders computer chip, rather than altering the voltage by applying electrical forces. The resulting picture is then shown on the screen.

The majority of recreational fish finders are dual frequency, and most of these run on 50 and 200kHz.
50 kHz frequency has a wider beam angle, normally between 20 and 45 degrees and is best used in deeper water. Due to the width of the 50 kHz beam, we tend to get a “stretched” picture of both our targets and the seabed, the objects that enter this beam take more time to pass through it, so there is more time for more signals to be reflected back and be included in the vertical lines drawn on the display. 200 kHz is much narrower than 50kHz, normally between 5 and 11 degrees. Objects spend less time within its beam, so we tend to get a “piece” of that object displayed rather than a full “fish arch”. However if an object appears in this picture you can be assured that it is right under your boat and you should have your lines over! It is also better for looking at bottom structure and better fish discrimination as well as confirming individual fish life around the bait school.

Hot tip

Use the 50 kHz to search and the 200 kHz to target. Or you could run the sounder on Dual Mode and then switch to 200 kHz once fish are found.

Using gain

Gain is the most fundamental aspect of a Fish Finder. Many believe that Gain is related to how sensitive the sounder is. This could not be any further from the truth. Gain is a sound amplifier, it takes the return signal received from the transducer and multiplies it.   As sound travels through the water it gets weaker. Much in the same as in air, if someone is yelling at you, they will be quieter the further away you run. Gain is used to amplify the return signal to offset the loss from the fish (running) being further from the transducer (yelling).  Turn it up too much and you’ll get overstated fish sizes and a lot of noise and clutter. Turn it down to low and you’ll miss critical information on certain fish, bottom structure, seabed life etc.
Using Gain on manual is an important skill in finding more fish, not only for seeing fish, but also for analysing what is on the bottom. By leaving the fishfinder on automatic, there is no way of telling if subtle changes in bottom characteristics is just the fishfinder changing itself, or if you are really changing from a sandy to muddy bottom. We all know that Terakihi love to hang out on paupa rock, but it takes a keen eye sometimes to pick up when you are on their home turf.

Hot Tip:

When in manual mode (Auto Gain set to OFF). Turn all the Clutter, Colour Erase  to 0%. Adjust gain until you see a small amount of light blue clutter on screen, then adjust your clutter slightly to remove this noise. 

Clutter

Clutter is used to eliminate low level return echoes from the sounder picture. Echo Sounders have a Colour Scale that represents each level of echo return. Light Blue/Dark Blue is a low level echo, Green/Yellow is medium level echo and Orange/Red /Maroon is a high level of echo return. Clutter manipulates the scale of echo return. As you turn the clutter up you will make medium and stronger echos appear weaker and blend the low level echoes into the back ground colour, thus eliminating low level echoes (or clutter) from the screen. If used to much you will miss all smaller fish species (Eg Bait,  etc).

Hot Tip:

Use the clutter to a minimum. If set to high the sounder will ignore bait fish and small fish species.

Colour erase

Colour Erase is simply that, it erases colours. It’s a handy tool if you don’t want to
have to adjust your clutter which changes colour scales or muck around with the gain. It simply removes unwanted low-level echoes off the screen by cutting them off, starting with the light blue colours. The higher you turn it up, the more colours it erases. If used too much you will lose undersized or smaller bait fish etc.

Hot Tip:

As with the clutter setting, use the Colour Erase to a minimum. If set to high the sounder will ignore bait fish and small fish species.

Noise limiting

This adjustment will help remove interference from other equipment on the boat. This interference often shows up more in deep water settings and often as diagonal lines across the screen. Again only use it if it is required as too high a setting will remove fish signals.

TVG

As we stated earlier, as sound travels through water is gets weaker. Therefore, we need Gain (an amplifier) to display the sound on the screen. The deeper you wish to sound the more you will have to turn the gain up. However, as the sound is still loud at the surface, the sounder will get more clutter at the top of the water column while the bottom will be relatively clear. Normally to remove this surface clutter you would either have to use Clutter or Colour Erase. However, of course this affects the whole picture. So by removing the clutter from the surface, you will also be removing it from the bottom where you need all the detail you can get. TVG offsets the signal loss by the sound traveling through the water. It automatically turns the gain up, as the sound gets deeper. Therefore, it keeps the gain relatively low in the shallower depths and turns it up, as it gets deeper on the screen. You should find that as you turn the TVG up, you will need to turn the normal Gain setting down (because the TVG is already turning up the gain in the deeper depths). This will in turn remove the surface clutter. 

Output power

Out Put Power is how loud the sounder is. Some sounders have an adjustable output power. This is done automatically but can also be set manually. This is done to eliminate noise in very shallow depths (E.g Under 5 Mtrs). In shallow depths, the sound can actually bounce twice or three times off the bottom. This is known as the second or third echo. Therefore, sounder can register twice or even three times the actual depth.

Hot Tip:

leave the Output Power (TX Power) in Auto.

Shift System

This is a great feature for deep water. The sounder normally shows whats below the boat from the surface to the range depth, so if your range is 400m, the sounder will show between the surface (0M) to range (400M). With the shift system we can move the start point which the sounder is looking, so if the shift is set to 250M, but range is 200M, what is on the top of the screen will be 200M and the maximum depth shown will be 450M. This is important as the sounder is not trying to cram so much information into the same number of pixels, allowing you to get a better picture of what is below. This will also cut out all the surface clutter and let you concentrate on fish in the depth you are looking at. Don’t forget to reset the shift to zero when going back into shallower water!

Bottom Lock

Bottom lock is fantastic for helping to identify fish which are close to the bottom, and is unbeatable for finding snapper and tarakahi on flat sandy/paupa rock bottoms. Unlike the normal sounder screen which measures depth from the surface, Bottom lock measures depth from the bottom up. This has a couple of very handy outcomes. Firstly the sounder always appears flat, so even if there is a 1m swell running, you won't see the bottom going wavy, allowing you to clearly see if it is a big enough mass to be a fish. It also allows you to always have the last few meters on the screen, allowing you to descriminate between bottom and fish much easier.

More Hot Tips:

• 50kHz is more sensitive to turbulence, so when cruising always have the unit set to 200kHz for best picture. Once off the plane and searching for fish, 50kHz will allow a wider search area and show fish that are to the port and starboard side of the boat but 200kHz will actually show what is below the boat, so use this when deciding when to drop your lines. Optimal performance will always be achieved using the Manual Mode.
• Range scales are adjustable on most units so if the factory defaults are not ideal they can be changed in the menu. So too can the zoom range. Depth can be displayed in Meters, Feet or Fathoms. 
• For all bottom fishing use the bottom lock function to easily identify fish close to and around bottom structure. This is used by the commercial fishing industry extensively and is the best zoom available for exposing fish.
• Always keep the Pic Advance at 1:1 that way when the transducers clicks once, the screen will move across once. 
• Noise Limiter is for electrical interference only and should not be used to clear the screen in Auto or Manual Modes.
• Play with the unit as much as possible to start off with. It’s the only way to learn. Once you figure all the functions out, reset the unit back to default and start fresh.

Terrestrial Digital is the cheaper of the two new options, but will still require some new hardware. The main thing to note when comparing Terrestrial Digital to Analog is that it will a have a much shorter range than the existing service and is largely limited to line of sight (like VHF). This means in some areas, including most of the Coromandle peninsular, it simply wont work and you will need a satellite antenna to get TV instead. At home, Terrestrial Digital TV is received by the long antenna which looks like a hairbrush with a flyswat at one end. These aerials are highly directional so since you are on a boat which moves, these will be useless to you, you will need an amplified, omni-directional antenna. Some options for antennas look like UFOs, but we have found the best range comes from a whip antenna made by Bosch, which give excellent results when used with a proper ground plane. The whip antenna is also much less obtrusive and cheaper than most of the other options. It is also worth checking what polarisation the local signal is - most aerials will work better on one or the other.

 Satellite TV on boats has always been the more expensive option however the cost is definitely falling. Decent dishes start at about $4500, and the great thing is you can go anywhere with it and not have any reception problems. There are cheaper options available however these are prone to rain fade and reliability problems, and we have not recommended them for a while. Despite the cost, satellite Freeview is not high definition, to get high definition content from a satellite dish a sky subscription is required. Satellite will be the only option for a lot of boaties who travel away from major centres,

 So what about those of you who enjoy crusing in remote areas, dont want a satellite dish but still want to keep up with whats happening in the world? Suprisingly the only real option is to use a cellular internet connection. Downloading news and videos can be done over a much wider area than from digital terrestrial as the cell phone network is much more widespread. A good internet box and aerial starts at $1500, which will download video at broadband speed in good reception areas. Data starts at about $30 per Gigabyte, which would last most people the better part of a month.

In a race series in which the competing teams don't seem afraid to spend a lot of money for the smallest advantage, it truly surprised me to learn that about half of the big class boats don't carry a navigational GPS. The reason for this is obvious, if you aren't 100% sure where you are going with your eyes closed and hands tied behind your back, you shouldn't be going there at 100 MPH. I can only guess that the boats which do use GPS do so to confirm their gut instinct, or for training purposes. If I'm wrong, please leave a comment below! The only electronics which seems mandatory is the Vessel View monitors – used to track the 550hp v8's, tucked just behind the competitors heads, as well as some basic GPS logging. Some of the boats also have rear vision cameras

The same 50% GPS rule applies to the smaller boats (by smaller boat I mean small boat with a MASSIVE engine). About half of the competitors seemed to carry a GPS, but here they are using smaller, lighter hand held GPS's. Every single one was a Garmin, which gives you an idea of the domination of Garmin in the hand held GPS market. Only one or two were mapping capable however, so I suspect they are mainly used for speed tracking rather than navigation.

Thanks to Tony and Tim for taking me out, and all the competitors who put on a great spectacle. If anyone would like these or any of their photos in higher definition, please email me sales@baymarineelectronics.co.nz

Our test radio was a Nautilus Lifeline– a diving VHF which has an integrated GPS and DSC function. Its an amazing little package and is waterproof to 120m! It was set up with an MMSI number which is an essential step if you want to use your DSC radio for emergency purposes. MMSI numbers are issued when requested with VHF callsigns, which you should have by law. For receiving we used a standard, unregistered Uniden UM380 radio, which was located inside our showroom and did not have a GPS input.

When the emergency button was pushed, the DSC radio in the shop started to make an alarming sound, and switched itself to channel 16. The noise was quite impressive coming out of the UM380 until we shut it up by pushing the cancel button. The coordinates of the distress radio were shown on the screen, as well as a flashing “distress”. The important part of this is the other radios changing to channel 16. Any mayday call then made will be recieved by a larger group of boaties.

Probably the most interesting part of our test was the reaction from other users. Firstly no authorities monitor VHF DSC (Maritime Radio do officially monitor SSB DSC). I also checked with the Coastguard after the test, and they confirmed they had not received any alarms at their station. This isn't a major however as Maritime Radio keep a constant watch on 16, and you should also put out a mayday anyway.  The second user I had contact with was a commercial fisherman who asked me to get rid of the flashing message symbol on his VHF radio a couple of days later. This turned out to be the emergency messages from our test. To him, the alarms were no more than an annoying noise coming from the bridge.

So, is DSC worth the hastle of getting an MMSI number and the cost of a GPS input? Given that about half of the radios we sell have DSC I would say, yes it is. The button function by itself is not going to do you any good, and Maritime Radio does not officially monitor this, however it does is change DSC radios within range to channel 16, so any subsequent mayday calls will be received by a larger number of boaties, which is always a good thing when you're in trouble. However it is not a silver bullet, and should not be used without putting out some other source of mayday or distress call.

Boiled down it goes: Tramping woman falls and injures leg, sets off Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) and is then rescued within a couple of hours.

No death, carnage nor destruction, no personal struggle or super human effort, not exactly news worthy stuff, hence the tiny article. If it were a bloke it probably wouldn't have made the paper. So it got me thinking, how many people are rescued by their beacons which we dont hear about? According to the Rescue Coordination Center's Brochure, of its 800 rescues per year, 55% involve a rescue beacon (EPIRB (marine) , PLB (land) or ELT (aviation)).

Thats a whopping 440 Beacon rescues per year, the vast majority of which are so straight forward that we never hear of them.

With the option of such an easy, non newsworthy, rescue available to everyone, why do we still have news stories of death and destruction? Why are people drowning when their aluminium boats are overturned? Why are hypothermic (and very lucky) fishermen being plucked off the coast of Northland after 7 hours gripping on to a chillybin? Why did 8 people drown when their boat overturned in Foveaux Straight? Why are we still providing the media companies such easy stories for their magazines and newspapers?

I've asked heaps of customers in the shop if they would like some information on EPRIB's or PLB's, especially those using small runabouts. The overwhelming response is a “She'll be right” attitude – I've only got a 4 metre tinnie, so I dont need one. And 99% of the customers are completely right, they wont ever need one.

However in Australia the question of whether or not to carry an EPIRB has been already made for the majority of boaters – All vessels venturing further than 2 Nautical Miles off New South Wales must carry an EPIRB by law. To put that into context – anyone who ventures to Penguin shoals, Mayor Island, Astrolabe reef or White Island would need to carry an EPIRB. But is it worth it? I couldn't find any information online supporting or disproving the results of that particular law.

So my question is, should every boat carry an EPIRB or PLB to cut down on the number of drownings around the New Zealand coast?

This month we are going to do our part to help the decision making process, with the launch of our EPIRB and PLB rental service, as well as some great deals on EPIRBS to buy.

If you do have any questions on EPIRBs or PLBs, please contact us, selecting the correct beacon is one of the most important safety decisions to make, and there are a suprising array of different options to decide between.

I would really like to thank Sally and Ande at Beatnik design for developing my terrible designs into something practical and brilliant and Lee at Pixelweb for coding the website to an outstanding level.