Bluetooth wireless sonar

Rumor has it, this will be available very soon… Bluetooth wireless sonar designed for Ice Fishing. I think it has dual beam as well.

I have to admit I am very intrigued…

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I’m skeptical about the beam angle when you have 2 ft of ice and the sonar is bobbing on top of the water, but who knows maybe it will work. Designing an old school flasher user interface is a good start though.

I remember seeing the prototype of that thing on a KickStart site. I’d be a little skeptical of it, especially as you said it floats on the top of the water, but who knows.

We represent the Fish Hunter

http://www.fishhunter.com/product/fishfinder/#

After we looked at all the different models at ICAST, FishHunter really stood out. They had an aquarium about 4′ deep with coy fish swimming around. After loading the app, I was able to link up and in raw data mode see the fish, ice jigs, and jig raps. Unfortuantely, a few other manufactures launched theirs prematurely and they flopped. Many guys bashed this technology and now most dealers are in a WAIT AND SEE MODE. I’ve shown this to about 60 dealers this year and the vast majority want to see guys bragging them up on the websites before placing them in their stores. That’s a real drag because with a company like Fish Hunter that did their engineering/research first to make sure their product was ready for market, will suffer because of the horrific job other manufactures did

This is the wave of the future and if the existing manufactures don’t get on the bandwagon, they are going to be taken out by startups. Stand-alone devices with their own screen are

It’s absolute insanity, the prices that are being charged for stand-alone fishing hardware. I can buy up multiple iPads for what the higher end sonar units are going for now and the iPad has everything needed except the little transducer, which is a $20 part at most.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

This is the wave of the future and if the existing manufactures don’t get on the bandwagon, they are going to be taken out by startups. Stand-alone devices with their own screen are

It’s absolute insanity, the prices that are being charged for stand-alone fishing hardware. I can buy up multiple iPads for what the higher end sonar units are going for now and the iPad has everything needed except the little transducer, which is a $20 part at most.

Grouse

Let’s be realistic, ok? iPads are a consumer electronics item. Depth finders are sporting goods. They are totally different markets with totally different customer bases and expectations. As an example, my 2-person household owns 4 depthfinders ranging from 5 years old to 32 years old (all of which still work), one desktop computer 1 year old, one laptop 3 years old, 2 iPhones 1 year old and 1 iPad less than 1 year old. My son’s household of 4 has 3 laptops, 4 iPhones, 2 iPads and 2 Samsung tablets. No boats, no fishing equipment. None of the consumer electronics needs to be waterproof, daylight visible or shockproof.
You can’t realistically compare iPads to depthfinders. Different markets, customer bases and expectations. And, not that it makes a lot of difference, you can’t buy a transducer RETAIL (not an Ebay price) for $20.00. That might be a manufacturing cost, I have no idea. But the basic HB XNT-90-T is $59.99 at Cabela’s.

I am happy with my vex fish phone. It uses wireless, not Bluetooth. I like it so much I brought it to Florida. It may not be as good as a marine camera, buy I also assume mobile marine products will keep improving.

I like mobile products, because I already have 1 price of the hardware, so they are cheaper.

I assume ma one products with dedicated OS will always be better and a stap ahead.

Both the iPad and all current makes of depth finders use common, consumer-grade electronic components. There’s nothing special about today’s depth finderer to justify a $1000+ price tag.

Most of what you’re paying for with fishing electronics is the cost of the software not the hardware.

This is nothing new, look at all the stand-alone devices we used to own that have gone into steep decline because of tablets and phones. Digital cameras, GPS navigation units, portable DVD players, etc. All of these will be going the way of the casette tape within a few years because they were redundant to what phones/tablets can no do.

I’ve been using my phone or a tablet for navigation / chart plotting on my pleasure boat for 5 years now. The system is vastly better because updates are much easier than the outdated map chip system that belongs back in the Atari era. I can download maps for anywhere in the world in a few minutes and the system updates automatically if the maps change.

iPads and other tablets are in common use in industry. Making them water and shock-resistant has largely already been done, and like with mobile phones, can easily be accomplished with the right case and mount.

The $20 was my guess at the cost of manufacturing a transducer. Even if it was a comsumer cost of $100 or more, I would buy it. Seem like a way better option to me than buying another pile of electronic components that I, essentially, already own.

Grouse

Don’t hold back grouse!

There are a couple things that make the tablet/phone marine electronics “lag” behind right now.

The OS is not dedicated, so there are possible hiccups including stuttering. I haven’t noticed a lag with my camera though.

The software is “immature” and a lot of improvements can be made, but this is understandable.

The hardware is not durable, however we have seen increasingly more water resistant and even water proof phones/tablets.

I expect most of the gaps in these areas to be closed in on in the next 3-5 years, especially if there is a demand for it.