The Nine Yards of Fishfinders - How Fishfinders Work?

As the name suggests, fish finders help detect the group of fishes swimming under water. The area to detect might be a certain radius where the fish finder tries to detect most of its preys. The detailed working of fish finders must be understood in order to gain full advantage of the money spent on it. It might also tell you the exact location where it must be mounted on your vessel. There are a lot of variables which decide the working of the fish finding devices. In order to understand the effect of each of these, you need to understand the two main functions of fish finding explained in detail in the following paragraphs.

Similar to that of Bats to detect various objects

You can relate the process of fish finders with the technique used by the bats as they transmit ultrasonic waves to detect their predators or preys. Ultrasonic waves are reflected back from the surface they are meant to and the pattern in which they hit the bat back is what makes them know the shape and size of the surface.

The transmission of ultrasonic waves

The case of a boat transmitting ultrasonic waves is somewhat different because some might say that the fish finder is not blind like the bat. But, one thing to notice is that they cannot look far beneath the sea that exists under their boat. The technique used by the fish finder device is much more accurate because the weak reflections out of the transmitted ones are received differently from those which are stronger. The transmission has to be done in an area where the fish finder thinks most fishes would be found. The density of fishes in an area is dependent upon water depth, the condition of the seabed, other objects, etc.

The object to hit

As mentioned above, the task of the fish finder is to detect fishes and their distance from the boat. The transmitted waves are primarily targeted towards the group of fishes but other objects can also be detected by it. This is because profit-making is not the only purpose but also to keep yourself safe where your life can be at stake if all the equipment are not used accurately. The objects might include rocks, fishes, nothing at all, etc. depending upon the situation.

The receiving of those electrical signals

There has to be a proper unit which receives all those electrical signals being reflected from the particular object. There is a different process altogether to detect which kind of object is at what distance from the vessel. This means that the stronger reflections are represented by an orange or red color and the weak ones are represented by blue or green colors. The rocks or other hard objects will always reflect stronger waves while the fish will always reflect the weaker wave because of the soft body. This color differentiation will always illustrate the condition beneath the boat accurately.

How is all this communicated to the user?

One of the major units that include the screen must be mounted in an area which is easily accessible by the user. The screen has to detect the colors very accurate in order to provide correct information. Nothing to keep in mind is that it must be mounted at the right location so as to transmit waves in the right direction always according to the requirements of the fish finder. The wrong mounting in terms of location and method might give inaccurate results. Fishfinding is a process which has to be very accurate not just to fulfill the purpose but also to avoid all the dangers that surround you in the violent sea.