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View Full Version : Amazing s/ware to display fishfinder info in Google Earth


dizzyfish
02-27-2011, 01:48 PM
I have been using the side imaging fish finder on the kayak for a few years now, and the results have been good.
http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc336/dizzyfish_uk/Side%20Imaging%20GE/PA230453.jpg
My Humminbird 987 lets me record all of my side imaging footage to an SD card. When I get home, I use software tools to analyse the data to map out reefs and find areas which hold fish. Then I use the sofwtare to send the coordinates of these areas back to the fish finder so I can visit them the next time I go kayak fishing.
I have used several tools to analyse the footage, including a free one called Humviewer, which is very good at replaying individual recordings/setting waypoints/measuring distances...
http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc336/dizzyfish_uk/fishing%20trips/Salcombe%201st%20June%2009/UpdatedWolfRck.jpg
But what I really wanted to be able to do, was to be able to display multiple recordings on the same screen and build up a 3D underwater image of a large area over a space of time...
Well, I have been using a piece of sofwtare which allows me to do just that. It is called Sonar TRX...
http://www.sonartrx.com
I have been recording side imaging data from my local Bristol channel, and becuase the tides are so big, I have been able to compare the real Google Earth arial imagery wit my sonar recordings to see how accurate they are.
These are a few of the images which Sonar TRX has produced in Google Earth from my sonar recordings...
http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc336/dizzyfish_uk/Side%20Imaging%20GE/SnarTRXGEweb1.jpg
From the image above, you can see where the weed covered reefs are - and the fish finder footage superimposed over the top shows how close it is to the real thing.... Amazing !
I took some footage further out past the low water mark, which shows lots of tracks overlayed to build up a picture of the reef...
http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc336/dizzyfish_uk/Side%20Imaging%20GE/SnarTRXGEweb2.jpg
The potential of this software is staggering, and the images in Google Earth blow me away.
If you want to see more, feel free to watch a short video I have made...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KONkmb2ds-4

(Arghhh - still can't embed vids - what am I doing wrong - I pasted in the Youtube embed code - and even tried the old format - but still no joy :confused:)

Or check out more on my blog...
http://dizzybigfish.co.uk/amazing-side-imaging-tool-view-your-sonar-images-in-google-earth/

Lets_Fish
02-27-2011, 02:20 PM
Awesome tools there Dizzy. I'm using a 798cisi, so these will come in handy. Thanks.

dizzyfish
02-28-2011, 10:25 AM
Awesome tools there Dizzy. I'm using a 798cisi, so these will come in handy. Thanks.

No problem - the tools should also workj with the 798 I believe. Alot of the guys over here have that model - the OK Ultra 4.7 has a scupper which the 798 transducer fits into without modification. The transducer on my 987 is too big unfortunately, which is why I have it on a swinging arm.