Sailboats and RealVision 3D Transducers

[DRFASailboater]

I am wondering, though it clearly says for powerboats. If the RV-200 or any of the other deadrise models or transom mounted 3D RealVision transducers. Be they Bronze or even Plastic. Will these transducers for Depth, Speed and temperature work on a Sailboat? to also be able to use the 3D realvision and Sonar capabilities of a Axiom MFD.

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum DRFASailboater,

While RealVision imaging was developed to primarily address the needs of fishermen, there is nothing inherent within the technology which would prohibit its use on a sailing vessel. Transom mounted transducers would not be recommended for sailing vessels. Should the deadrise of the transducer installation location on a sailing vessel be within deadrise range specified for the thru-hull RealVision transducer(s), then it would indeed be possible to install an RV transducer on a sailing vessel.

RealVision transducers are not designed to supply a system with speed through water data. Given your other thread where you have indicated that the system will feature an i70S MFID, it would be recommended that the system additionally be fitted with an iTC-5 to which a Raymarine thru-hull analog instrument speed/temp transducer will be interfaced. Multipoint speed calibration of the speed transducer will be accomplished via the i70S MFID.

[Marinerjoe]

Hi Chuck,

I have a question about using the RealVision transducers on a sailboat.

When sitting level, or when moving around as a boat moves through the water, I understand that the transducers have stabilization circutry to compensate.

How well will they compensate for the heel when a sailboat is underway under sail power?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Marinerjoe,

The scenario which you have identified is not one which has been tested by Raymarine's engineering team. As has been suggested within my prior post RealVision sonar technology is primarily intended for and tested for use in conjunction with fishing applications where the speeds, pitching, rolling, and yawing that a vessel engaged in such would encounter. The operational depth of RealVision sonar is also less than that of CHIRP (high CHIRP conical) and traditional 50kHz / 200KHz fishfinding sonar. It while it would be expected that the RealVision sonar technology may compensate for some degree of heel, Raymarine has not specified the limits of such. Accordingly, one may reasonably expect the technology to function well for a sailing vessel operating under power, but results may vary when operating under sail. That said, care must be taken with placement of the transducer to prevent reflection off of the keel. If simply seeking to determine the depth under a sailing vessel, it is generally recommended that an instrument transducer and instrument display be installed onboard.