PcFF80 PC Based Analog and DSP Color Fish Finder for Windows

The PCFF80 is a full-featured dual frequency high resolution PC based color fishfinder runs under windows 98, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, Win7 and Win10 in both analog and DSP mode (Digital Signal Processing).

Turn your laptop or desktop computer into a full-color fishfinder with a huge display screen and save thousands of dollars. Compare the cost and resolution of the PcFF80 full-color 1024 x 768 pixel display screen with that of fishfinders costing as much as US$6000.

Unlike a standard fishfinder that is born with all the capability it will ever have, the PcFF80 PC Fishfinder can be updated via just a software change and will never go obsolete.

The PCFF80 system consists of a high speed Interface Box, a program CD, dual frequency 50khz/200kHz depth/temperature transducer and a printed user's manual. The user's manual is also available on-line (included on the CD in PDF format).

Communication to the Interface Box is through either a high-speed RS-232 port or USB port (both modes are supported).

The depth/temperature transducer plugs into the interface box which contains the Signal Processing unit and sonar transmitter/receiver as well as temperature measuring circuitry. The Interface Box is powered with +12VDC through a 10 amp fuse.

Analog and Digital Signal Processing - the best of both worlds: The 50kHz/200kHz dual frequency depth transducer provides for the best resolution and definition of features at 200khz in analog mode to depths of 500 feet and uses Digital Signal Processing to reach deeper depths of 1000+ feet at 200Khz not possible with normal analog processing. Switch to 50Khz to go even deeper and use both 50Khz and DSP to achieve maximum deep water performance.

The extra processing power of the DSP and your computer enable the PcFF80 to reach deeper depths without reducing the frequency and without loss of resolution. You will be able to see smaller object in deeper water using DSP because you can continue to use the higher resolution 200Khz frequency before having to switch down to the 50Khz frequency.

AT 200Khz you can see small baitfish you would miss completely when using 50Khz. Using DSP in a real-ocean test the PcFF80 was easily able to see a small simulated bait fish (a single 3/4" diameter 12V car tail light bulb) at maximum red intensity at a depth of 130 feet when a standard 440 watt RMS fishfinder also using 200khz could not even detect the light bulb.

When fishing you can switch to DSP mode to use less than one tenth the power of standard fishfinders to help reduce the clicking noise which could scare fish.

In DSP mode the PcFF80 is almost immune to noise created by transducer slap so you will find that at high boat speeds the PcFF80 performance is better than standard analog-only fishfinders without the noise usually associated with high speed running.

All the features of the Windows operating system are available, such as multi-tasking. You can simultaneously run the PcFF80 fish finder and your favorite charting program or other software. Future software updates will be made available for download on the Internet.

The Linux version of the PcFF80 sonar is called SeaView and is available from BarcoSoft at www.barcosoft.com.

Specifications

Operating Voltage:

9.5 to 16.0 VDC, 0.05 amps nominal,

4.7 amps peak at max power

 

Output Power:

2560 watts peak-to-peak (320W RMS).

25KW DSP processed power (3200 WRMS)

 

Depth Capability:

Minimum Depth - 3 feet (1M)

1000 feet or more at 200kHz for both shallow and deep water high resolution

2500 Feet or more at 50kHz - See screenshot with PcFF80 working at 2750 feet (840M) and also see screenshot of PcFF80 detecting fish at 680 feet (207M).

 

Operating temperature:

0 to 50 deg Celsius ( 32 to 122 deg Fahrenheit).

 

Interface Box:

100 x 80 x 50 mm (4 x 3.2 x 2 inch).

Powder Coated Aluminum Extrusion

 

Communications Interface:

RS-232, 115 KBaud, serial data

USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 compatible (comes with both USB and RS232)

Communications LED blinks activity

 

Operating System/Hardware Requirements:

WIN98 SE, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, Win7, Win10

500 Mhz Pentium PC (or better)

Serial Port (16550 compatible UART) and/or USB

32MB RAM

50MB Hard Drive space

SVGA Graphics (1024 x 768 resolution)

Mouse / Keyboard

 

Transducer:

Dual Frequency 50/200kHz, Depth/Temperature, Glass reinforced nylon thru-hull with 30 foot (9.7M) cable. Transom mount and bronze transducers also available.

 

Signal Processing:

2 analog and 2 Digital Processing (DSP) modes

Analog Mode #1: Fixed gain

Analog Mode #2: Time varying gain (TVG)

DSP Mode #1: Using correlation

DSP Mode #2: Using quadrature correlation

 

Features:

High resolution Color FishFinder

200kHz and 50Khz and water temperature

Auto and Manual controls for depth

Full manual control for gain, transmit power, transmit pulse width, etc.

Full or Split screen

Six different depth ZOOM settings

Record/Playback to/from files

A-Scope (analog return signal strength)

STD (standard display)

Whiteline

Six Depth Ranges

Six Depth Offsets (shifts)

Manual & Auto Depth Shift

8 Selectable Chart Speeds

8 Selectable Noise filter settings

8 Selectable Clutter settings

5 Selectable Intensity Color pallets

User programmable intensity color pallet

5 Selectable background colors

Feet, Meter, Fathoms selection

Degrees F and Degrees C Temperature selection

Simple On-screen Temperature calibration

"Speed-of-Sound" control for salt/fresh water

Deep and Shallow water alarms

Intelligent Fish alarm

Anchor Drag alarm

Both RS-232 Serial and USB control

Adjustable Transmitter power

Adjustable Receiver Gain

Digital Cursor Readouts (Full and Split screens)

Analog and DSP (Digital Signal Processing) control

Depth Dependent Gain control

Record/Playback Modes

Built-in thermal shut-down protection

Built-in self test functions

Built-in POWER/communication activity LED

GPS Latitude, Longitude and Ground Speed display, Logging and Playback

Upgradeable software (via internet)