New Sounder module from Furuno

Furuno has announced the coming release of its new black box sounder module known as the Black Box Discrimination Sounder (BBDS1).

The BBDS1 is the new network sounder featuring the bottom discrimination function as well as the digital filter technology succeeded from the DFF1, and enables the user to indicate a major component of the bottom among mud, sand, gravel, and rock.

The sea bottom consists of several kinds of materials, and Furuno believe it would be a big help to the user if you could see them. Enabling the identification of certain target species depending on what the bottom is made up of.

Essentially the BBDS1 technology analyses a different echo from each bottom component made of varieties of size and hardness. 

BBDS1 has two modes, Standard and Probability. Standard mode will display the most probable material on the seabed among mud, sand, gravel, and rock and is indicated graphically or with 4 colours in the bottom of the display. However, sometimes it is difficult to specify one certain material depending upon conditions, which change frequently. The Probability mode enables the sounder to present the bottom type with an accuracy rate. 

BBDS1 is fully compatible with the hugely popular Furuno Navnet 3D 8.4” and 12.1” multi-function displays and black box systems. Able to be easily connected with a single Ethernet cable, the BBDS1 has a 600 W or 1 kW output power.

BBDS1 will retail from $2000.