Two Sounders one transducer

Does anyone run two sounders off the one transducer??

I have a Furuno GP1650DF on the fly bridge and I want a sounder in the saloon station as well.

I already have a new hummingbird.

Can you run dissimilar sounders through a splitter??

Allan

I'm pretty sure you can't. Why would you want to? The redundency of the second transducer is very helpful, I have the two sounders set up and it has proven useful.

Alan - provided the two sounders will work on the transducer by themselves there is no reason you could not run two from it providing you use a proper switch to change over. The sounders of course must operate with the same frequency to start with but if they both are say 200 Kc units you should be OK.
I ran two Hummingbirds from one transducer via a switch at the lower helm for years without any noticeable reduction in performance what so ever.

John Tones "Penta"
Sidney, BC

Why would you need a switch???

I think the operative issue is they are two different sounders from different manufacturers. Even if they were the same my understanding is the ultra high sensitivity of the transducers signal transmission to the head unit would make installing a switch very difficult.

Daddyo wrote:

I'm pretty sure you can't. Why would you want to? The redundency of the second transducer is very helpful, I have the two sounders set up and it has proven useful.

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But you can run only one at a time unless they are spaced fairly far apart. Correct?*

Baker wrote:

Why would you need a switch???

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Using a VHF as an example, you can't transmit on two radios over one antenna at the same time. And if the transducer is not compatable with the control head, it will not work anyway. Chuck

Have seen a gravity switch for sail boats that switched the sounder to the lower of two transducers.

I run 2 sounders, one for the wheelhouse, one for up top. both are on at the same time. the transducers pipes are side by side in the bilge. No issues.

koliver wrote:




I run 2 sounders, one for the wheelhouse, one for up top. both are on at the same time. the transducers pipes are side by side in the bilge. No issues.

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Keith,

Are they the same frequency or are*they on different frequency's?


*

JD wrote:Are they the same frequency or are*they on different frequency's?

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*It doesn't really matter. When you select a depth range the sounder electronically opens a "gate" within which time the return*echo is expected to pass. If an echo is outside the gate it is not received. If an echo of the same frequency arrives from another unit in the time the gate is "open" it will be displayed as a depth or just noise. The chances of repeated echoes of the same frequency arriving within the gate often enough to cause problems is very slim.

This is pretty much the same as when two radars of the same frequency are operating within range of the other, they occasionally interfere and display a solid line along a bearing.

Rick,

I understand what you said but I have two right next to each other of which one is a Garmin and the other is a 20 year old unit.* If they both are on neither one works .* They both work fine if the other is not on.

JD wrote:They both work fine if the other is not on.

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Interesting ... are the cables running next to each other and perhaps twisted around each other between the display units and the xdcrs?

*

RickB wrote:


JD wrote:They both work fine if the other is not on.

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Interesting ... are the cables running next to each other and perhaps twisted around each other between the display units and the xdcrs?



Not even close until they get to the pucks.* The heads are ten feet apart.* The old one is on the spray hood above the companionway hatch and the Garmin is at the steering pedestal.

*Not a problem I just use the old one for a back up.* In fact in the five years that the new one has been installed I've only tried the old one once to see if it still worked.

I was told that they cancel each other out and that was the problem.

Well, that one has me stumped ... especially that neither one will work if the other is on.

JD
Not a clue what frequencies they are. One is Garmin, one is Humminbird. Both are in ABS pipes epoxied to the inside of the hull, almost touching one another.

It would appear that both are on the same frequency. I had the same problem on my boat and my transducers are about 3 feet apart. When I used the sounder on my MFD, it would not work properly when the other sounder was turned on. My electronics shop said they were both transmitting 200mh which allowed them to interfere with one another. When I switched the MFD to 50mh, the problem disappeared. I installed a switch to turn off the depth meter when I was fishing (or at any time) and the problem went away. A more permanent fix is to keep the transducers much farther apart.


"The switch is the one with the blue boot."



-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Monday 21st of June 2010 10:07:04 AM

koliver wrote:

JD
Not a clue what frequencies they are. One is Garmin, one is Humminbird. Both are in ABS pipes epoxied to the inside of the hull, almost touching one another.

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Well one of mine is Garmin no doubt but the other I think is an old Standard Horizon or some other old brand that doesn't exist anymore.* The old one is through hull and the Garmin is mounted*in the inside of the hull.

Makes no difference, the old one never worked that great so that is why I went to the Garmin.* I now only use the Garmin.* Kept the old one for back up and I didn't really want to patch a hole in the hull that doesn't leak.