Thinking about building a RC fishfinder
T Chap
Posts: 4,223
Me and a buddy live near LA and are an hours drive from a few great lakes where there is good bass fishing. We know there are record bass in these lakes, but we suck pretty bad at catching the fat ones out here, so we are thinking of ways to boost our numbers, plus get a record bass and reap the bucks in endorements afterwards. One problem we have is that the best bass fishing is in early morning, and that rules us out.
I have a CNC machine and access to a buddy with a laser cutter too, I am pretty handy with getting boards made, both home and factory. Since I have the tools to build a gadget, we are contemplating a small remote controlled electric boat, something like 2 feet long, that will have underwater cameras that transmit back to our boat a real time image of the water. We also would like to put in a depthfinder, and fish detector as well, that would transmit back to us the info. There is a thought of making it auto-troll, we set a depth minimum and depth maximum for it to troll back and forth along a bank. It would need some obstacle avoidance system too, to detect threes, sticks, and stuff like that. One other possibility is to take some bait to a hard to access location, drop it, then we reel it back in.
If there are any bass fishermen that are interested in colaborating please let me know. This project will be spread out over several months as we are both very busy. It would be nice to have some help with the programming, guidance system, depth finder, fishfinding sonar etc. The mechanical part I can build unless someone else wants to do it for any reason, then we can share all the parts, circuit boards, etc, and hopefully snag some fat ones.
I have a CNC machine and access to a buddy with a laser cutter too, I am pretty handy with getting boards made, both home and factory. Since I have the tools to build a gadget, we are contemplating a small remote controlled electric boat, something like 2 feet long, that will have underwater cameras that transmit back to our boat a real time image of the water. We also would like to put in a depthfinder, and fish detector as well, that would transmit back to us the info. There is a thought of making it auto-troll, we set a depth minimum and depth maximum for it to troll back and forth along a bank. It would need some obstacle avoidance system too, to detect threes, sticks, and stuff like that. One other possibility is to take some bait to a hard to access location, drop it, then we reel it back in.
If there are any bass fishermen that are interested in colaborating please let me know. This project will be spread out over several months as we are both very busy. It would be nice to have some help with the programming, guidance system, depth finder, fishfinding sonar etc. The mechanical part I can build unless someone else wants to do it for any reason, then we can share all the parts, circuit boards, etc, and hopefully snag some fat ones.
Comments
Not only would it be difficult to waterproof and have it still work (as the transducer needs to be exposed to the medium it is..."agitating?") but if you plan to use it in water, it just won't affect the water enough.
Spoke with a co-worker that worked on sub sonars and basically they run at 1000's of kiloVolts in order to get the pulse to transmit in to the water, and for the distances as well.
If you have an old fishfinder kicking around, you MIGHT be able to figure out how to reuse the transducer.....sometimes it's just easier to buy off the shelf (as much as that takes the fun out of things).
Some thing you might want to look in to, and I have no links for this, is the temperature layers of the water. Bass like certain cover..etc....but also certain water temps.
I had planned on hooking up a little temperature sensor and LCD for the future father-in-law and his fishing.
he can lower it in to the water and checking the temp at different depths.
Also, you note being close to some 'great lakes'.....all the GREAT lakes are up here in Canada! [noparse];)[/noparse]
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Steve
"Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."
In the south where I grew up, you could walk out your back door and catch big ones all day. Here in Cli you have to have designer bait ot they ignore you.
I think speed control is a must as well.
For power, just go with some 3-4Ah sub c cells- 9.6V or whatever you're motors rated for. I would suggest 3-4 packs in parallel-12-16Ah. Might even need more depending on lake chop, hull specifics, etc. You could go with a bigger cell instead, but the weight/capacity doesnt get any better, and neither does price. I like intelliect 4200's...but they're kind pricey. Powerizer makes some decent 3300's..and at 15 bucks for a 7.2V pack, cheap as dirt.
I'd advise setting the boat up with a standard radio, and then put a BS2 between the receiver outputs and the speed controllers/rudder..so you're BS2 will pass on any radio inputs overriding its program for when you want to retrieve it/whatever.
Hope this helps;
Scott
You may find that the single biggest hinderance to your proposed camera system is visibility. This is why acoustic and RF means are more often used in fish seeking electronics.
Regards,
Bruce Bates
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If you want to use a camera....then move to the bahama's to that crystal blue water.
Up here (Canuckland), if the waters clear, there's nothing in it!
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Steve
"Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."