Echopilot FLS

[orthomartin]

Looking for first hand info regarding the echopilot FLS. I did a search and found nothing. Last summer cruising in the North Channel (northern Lk Huron) in 25' of water we found ourselves suddenly hard aground atop an unmarked or charted isolated boulder. At least we were only going about 1.5kt! Our boat is indoors on the hard this winter getting her ready for offshore and the technology or idea of FLS seems pretty cool.
As always I so appreciate your collective thoughts and wisdom.

[thekeip]

What is FLS???
Howard
Sea Quest
Berkeley

[TrueBlue]

Originally Posted by thekeip

What is FLS???
Howard
Sea Quest
Berkeley

Forward Looking Sonar.

[SEMIJim]

How far forward does an FLS see, how closely do you have to watch it, and what kind of speed can you do for it to warn you, in time, of the proximity of a (submerged) hazard? Remember that sailboats generally don't stop very fast and, in a channel, you may be constricted in your maneuvering room.

Jim

[orthomartin]

According to Echopilot the Platinum and the Gold lll (due out Jan 08) have a forward viewing range of 200 meters. The Platinum with color display uses 750mA at full power, the Gold (gray scale) uses 200mA
My question is has anyone used this product and if so do you like it

[jentine]

I sailed aboard someone elses boat last November who had an Echopilot but it was in a box below. I asked what the bare mount on the bulkhead was for and he told me of the Echopilot and mentioned that he rarely used it. He had bought it for places like the ICW and had little good to say about the unit.
I asked him to get it and mount the unit so we could play with it. He attached it quickly and three of us played with the unit for seven days. It is a good depth sounder. It has no problem finding the bottom, but that is where the usefullness of the unit ends. We entered several coves and motored past many coral heads and none of them showed on the sonar.
I was interested in buying a unit until I used it and found it to be relatively useless. Would I buy one? Never.
Jim

[sailingdog]

Then again, most sailboats aren't going that fast to begin with....

Originally Posted by SEMIJim

How far forward does an FLS see, how closely do you have to watch it, and what kind of speed can you do for it to warn you, in time, of the proximity of a (submerged) hazard? Remember that sailboats generally don't stop very fast and, in a channel, you may be constricted in your maneuvering room.

Jim

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Then again, most sailboats aren't going that fast to begin with....

"Fast" is a relative thing. I can see easily going 6 kts in a non-no-wake waterway, such as the type orthomartin's talking about. A sailboat going 6 kts just doesn't stop very fast. However, a figure of 200m for range was mentioned. That's about two American football fields. Should be enough, if it sees it and if it sees it anywhere close to that far away and if it either raises an alarm or the helmsman or somebody notices it.

Should. If

Jim

[Idiens]

I have an Echopliot FLS Gold. It works as advertised for me, but I only use it for crawling into difficult anchorages under power, It does not see far enough ahead to help charging around in uncharted waters.

Being only two dimensional it has its limits. Maybe the Intergraph 3D version is better, but it costs more and needs two holes in the hull.

[Idiens]

Originally Posted by SEMIJim

However, a figure of 200m for range was mentioned. That's about two American football fields.

As its handbook explains, it only sees a multiple of the depth below ahead. So in three meters of water it can only see about 12 metres ahead. In 50m, it can see about 200m ahead.