Feature-wise it's very basic compared to more expensive models.
It only gives you an idea of water depth, and whether there are any fish under it (though I'm sure it gives a lot of false positives...).
What would have been nice would be some idea on the composition of the lake bed.
Unfortunately thick weed is indistinguishable from hard ground, so it's not clear whether for instance the water is 3ft deep with a clear bottom, or 10ft deep with 7ft of weed.
Even so, it's still a useful tool, and a few casts can provide useful information.
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Out of curiosity, and to see if it was possible to winkle out some extra data, I decided to attempt to reverse engineer the communications protocol.
The device acts as a WiFi hotspot with SSID "FishFinder6", and IP Address 10.10.100.254.
It has a TCP 'server' on port 8899 which the client/UI connects to.
The client (UI) sends a packet to the server (Fish Finder), and the server responds with a packet.
The packets are in binary with the following format:
| Start Byte | Device Byte | Data-to-follow Byte | Data Bytes | Checksum Byte | End Byte |
where:
Start Byte = 0x68
Device Byte = 0x02 for client and 0x82 for server
Data to follow = number of data bytes to follow
Data Bytes = Data, variable length
Checksum Byte = Sum of all preceding bytes except start byte
End Byte = 0xED
I have identified 4 different packets:
1. Configuration Packet
This is the first packet sent to the device, and needs to be sent before the device will start doing anything useful.
I don't know what the contents mean, and have never seen them change.
0x68 0x01 0x06 0x02 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x09 0xed
2. Request Data Packet
This packet is periodically sent to the device (~ twice per second?) .
The device replies with a data packet.
0x68 0x02 0x01 0x01 0x04 0xED
3. Inactive Data Packet
If the device is inactive (i.e. not in the water) it will reply with this packet
0x68 0x82 0x01 0x00 0x83 0xED
4. Active Data Packet
If the device is active it will reply with this packet
0x68 0x82 0x07 0xDD 0xDT 0xTT 0xLL 0xMM 0xSS 0xBB 0xCS 0xED
where:
DDD = depth in meters x10 (note: this spans byte 3 and the top nibble of byte 4, max value is 0x7D0)
TTT = temperature in degsC x10 (note: this spans the bottom nibble of byte 4, and byte 5, max value is 0x7D0)
LL = Large Fish Detected
MM = Medium Fish Detected
SS = Small Fish Detected
BB = Battery level, Range: 0..4 where 4 = full battery, 0 = empty battery
Example:
0x68 0x82 0x07 0x03 0x51 0x1d 0x00 0x00 0xd9 0x04 0xd7 0xed
Depth = 0x035 = 53(dec) = 5.3 meters
Temp = 0x11d = 285(dec) = 28.5 degsC
Battery Level = 0x04 = full charge
Large Fish = 0x00 = not detected
Medium Fish = 0x00 = not detected
Small Fish = 0xd9 = detected @ 4.5m
Note that while the UI displays the specific depth of each fish, I haven't yet been able to to find any correlation between the fish detected byte and the displayed depth.
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So, unfortunately it looks like all the processing is done on the device, and it only reports the basic information shown on the UI. Nevermind.
Hi, I've just got the same device and I'm trying to get it to send me data to my linux box. Do you have any working prototype code for communicating with the fishfinder?
ReplyDeleteOK, I figured it out. Thanks a lot. It works exactly like you wrote!
ReplyDeleteSorry, Ive only just seen this. Glad you got it working.
DeleteIf you do need it I've written some code for talking to it from a Raspberry Pi.
Oh, and if you figure out exactly what the fish codes mean I'd love to know thanks!
Thanks for responding. I'm not that much into fishing so it's unlikely I'll investigate the fish signals. I'm more interested in the depth reading itself, so for me what I ALREADY HAVE is pretty much what I want. I'm wondering though - have you looked at the packets that are used for the settings? In particular I'm wondering about the sensitivity and range. Could this be the meaning of the initialization packet bytes?
DeleteI can't remember if I looked at the initialisation packet in any detail. I'll have to have another look when I get a chance. If I find out anything I'll update the page and let you know.
DeleteDo you mind me asking what you're using it for if its not for fishing?
I'm planning to install this on a small sailing boat as the depth sounder and connect to a raspberry pi for the readout. So the fish are not as important as the depth reading. I'll see if it works in the spring...
DeleteAh, sounds interesting.
DeleteI'm using mine on a radio-controlled boat in conjunction with a raspberry pi and a GPS receiver to build up a map of a lake bottom.
I had a quick look at the configuration packet last night and the sensitivity and range didn't seem to affect it.
Good luck with the project.
Can you send me code for raspberry pi?
DeleteNebojsa, email me at ll@skov.co.uk
Delete5 hours battery time seems not enough. Does anybody know if it is possible to use it while charging?
ReplyDeleteHi all i am thinking of getting one of these, what is the range like, will it work at the quoted distance of 50 metres, many thanks Rob
ReplyDeleteHi Rob,
ReplyDeleteI haven't measured it, but I'm sure 50 meters is achievable.
It certainly works as far as I can cast it.
Ok cheers , thanks for replying
ReplyDeleteAny chance to get the code also? I had the same idea and just ordered the device...
ReplyDeleteHi Alexander, email me at ll@skov.co.uk and I'll send you some.
Deletegood portable fish finder and good review.. thanks skov
ReplyDeleteThis article helps me a lot. Thanks for sharing valuable information. As I was looking for such information, I have found an article useful like this; you can check it out here. Humminbird Helix vs Solix Fish Finders I hope you get more information.
ReplyDeleteI Like to add one more important thing here, Fish Finder Device Market By Application (Recreational Fishing, Commercial Fishing); By Type (Portable, Fixed); By Product (Standalone, Combination) and by Regional Analysis - Global Forecast by 2021 - 2026.
ReplyDelete