Equipment and Deployment Options

There are a number of considerations before purchasing an echosounder in addition to price and manufacturer.  One can choose among a range of alternatives for frequency, beam width, beam configuration and deployment of the transducer. This section discusses these alternatives.

Frequency

Target size (L)

Absorption (α)

Pulse duration (τ)

Target strength (TS)

Input power

Tranducer size

Great Lakes frequencies

Beam width

Fish density (ρ_v and ρ_a)

Bottom dead zone (h_eq)

Near-field zone (R_nf)

Outside noise

Transducer size

Great Lakes beam widths

Beam configuration

Single beam

Dual beam

Split beam

Transducer deployment

Towed bodies

Pole mount

Sonar tube

Hull mount

Sea chest