Echosounder and sonar installation and service
NAVION installs, commissions, repairs and calibrates fishing and navigation echosounders, netsondes, searchlight and omni sonars on vessels calling at ports in Busan, Vladivostok and China. Work covers the whole chain: transducer and its mounting, cable run, transceiver, display and the NMEA link into the plotter. Engineers attend at Gamcheon fishing port, the Yeongdo repair yards and Busan New Port, and travel to other yards on request.
Message us on TelegramFishing and navigation sounders fail in a small number of predictable ways, and most of them are found at the transducer end rather than in the display head. NAVION works on single-beam and split-beam fishing echosounders, navigation sounders used for bridge watchkeeping, netsondes, searchlight and omni sonars, on vessels lying at Gamcheon fishing port, in the Yeongdo repair yards and at Busan New Port. Engineers bring test gear to the ship, so the first hour goes on proving where the fault actually sits instead of swapping parts.
What the job includes
- Transducer installation in hull, blister or sea chest
- Transducer replacement after failure
- Transducer cable runs and terminations
- Transceiver and display replacement
- Commissioning and calibration
- Bottom-lock and discrimination tuning
- Interference and cavitation diagnosis
- Sounder-to-plotter NMEA interfacing
- Searchlight and omni sonar service
- Netsonde and trawl sounder support
Timing
- Fault diagnosis and interface work
- typically 3-6 hours
- Transceiver or display replacement
- typically 4-8 hours alongside
- Commissioning and calibration
- typically 4-8 hours
- Transducer replacement in a dry hull
- yard time, usually 1-2 days
- Response to a Busan callout
- often same or next working day
What we need from the vessel
- Access to the wheelhouse console and to the transducer space: sea chest, tank top, void or trunk, opened and ventilated
- Ship's power available on the sounder circuit, and confirmation of what may be isolated and when
- An officer or crew member who knows how the vessel actually uses the sounder and sonar
- Make, model, frequency and transducer type sent in advance, with photographs of the display fault and the transceiver label
- Permits arranged by the vessel or yard for enclosed-space entry and for hot work if a blister or foundation has to be welded
- Quiet time on the berth or at anchor when calibration and bottom-lock tuning are needed
Documents issued
- Service report stating the fault found, the checks made and the work carried out
- Commissioning record with final settings: draft offset, sound velocity, gain, TVG, pulse length, ping rate and alarm limits
- Measured readings taken at the transducer plug and at the transceiver: impedance and insulation resistance
- Interface schedule listing NMEA sentences, ports, baud rates and the equipment on each link
- Parts list with model and serial numbers of units and transducers fitted or removed
Frequently asked
Can a transducer be replaced while the vessel is alongside?
Only if it can be reached dry. A transducer in a flooded well or sea chest that can be isolated and drained is workable at the berth; a wet through-hull element normally waits for dry-docking. What we can do inside the port call is confirm the transducer is the failed part, prepare the new cable run and mounting, and have the unit ready so the yard swap is short.
The sounder holds bottom at anchor but loses it at speed. What causes that?
Usually air and turbulence over the transducer face rather than a fault in the electronics: a mounting position in disturbed flow, a damaged or fouled fairing, or aeration carried down the hull in a seaway. We check the mounting and the flow first, then look at pulse length, TVG and bottom-lock settings before condemning any hardware.
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