Marport Trawl Explorer, TE Quick Reference Manual

1

TE_qrg / Rev1

TE

EXPLORER

MARPORT

Marport’s Trawl
Explorer is your eye

on the shing gear.

This sounder can be
placed on your trawl
headrope or tunnel in
order to send useful
information to the

wheelhouse.

Thanks to the sounder you will see:

• On the echogram, the trawl opening and sh

entering the net.

• Also on the echogram, the distance between
the footrope and seabed to see if the gear
touches the bottom.

• Depth data

• Temperature data

• Pitch and roll data

• Distance from the sensor to the seabed or
footrope

The Trawl Explorer can adapt to dierent types
of shing methods. For example, you can fully
congure the sounding modes in accordance with
your shing method to have optimum results.

On the latest version of Trawl Explorer sensor, the
echogram displays target strength values. They are
useful to identify sh.

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

Purpose

Main Parts

Caution:

• Do not insert foreign objects into depth sensor opening or try
to open it.

• Do not remove the shoulder bolts from the outside of the
sensor.

It may damage the components.

Dimensions

Beamwidths for Uplink pings

Beamwidth @ 35 kHz @ 50 kHz @ 60 kHz

-3dB 46° 40° 30°

Beamwidths for Up and Down pings

Beamwidth @ 125 kHz @ 160 kHz @ 200 kHz

-3dB 26° 24° 22°

Beamwidth

500 mm

400 mm

146 mm

Retainer

Screw

Model/Serial

Number

Stabilizer
Board

Metal Strap

Transducer

Positive Charge

Negative Charge

Water Switch

Depth Sensor

Temperature

Sensor

Shoulder bolts

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Trawl Explorer Quick Reference Guide

TE_qrg / Rev1

Sensor Conguration

The Trawl Explorer can be fully congured from
the vessel or from the oce using Marport MOSA
conguring tool, on any Mac Os device via Bluetooth
connection.

To activate the sensor outside sea water, use a
jumper to connect and disconnect the negative
charge and the water switch (see illustration p.1).

Refer to the LED in the transducer to see the state
of the sensor:

State Situation Action LED

Charging Charger plug

is connected.

Batteries are

charging.

No light

Running Sensor is

in water or

activated with
jumper.

After an
initialization

phase, echo

sounder is

operating.

Conguring Sensor is out

of water.

Conguration
via Bluetooth.

Turns o
after 10 min.

without user

action.

With MOSA conguring tool, you can:

• Congure all settings for your sensor

• Export the sensor settings

Note: Only advanced users or Marport technicians
should congure the sensor. For further
information, refer to Trawl Explorer user manual.

Flashing red

Flashing green

Place sensor (1)

at the centre of

the net’s headrope

(2), facing the vessel.

Installing

Buoys (4) on either

sides provide a
level platform for the
unit during trawling
operations.

Buoys ensure that

down-looking
transducer beam (5) is
vertical for
footrope (6) detection.

¹

²

³

4

5

Marport recommends

the use of a netting bag

located in the desired

mounting position. Use a

safety line between one of
the sensor’s attachment

lugs and a suitable

location in the net, as
shown in the above image. The safety line should
be a steel wire with tted small shackles at either
end. Sensors that are not properly secured may be
lost during shing operations.

If you want to see the footrope, move back the
sensor of a few meters.

Install a double
mesh piece

of netting (3) to
stabilize the sensor.

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Trawl Explorer Quick Reference Guide

TE_qrg / Rev1

Sensor data such as echogram, depth, temperature,
pitch and roll are displayed on Scala software.

You can customize their display types:

• Text

• History Plot

• Dial

• Gauge

Trawl Explorer has dierent features that enable
you to better see in the sea. These features depend
on your sensor version.

Target Strength (V3) Target strength of individual

targets is displayed on the echogram when you
hover over it with your mouse. It helps you to

identify sh.

TVG Signals sent by the sensor are attenuated in the

water. It means the deeper the target is, the more
attenuated signals will be received and sent back.
TVG (time variable gain) is here to compensate this
eect by using a lower gain level when signals travel
toward a target at a small distance and higher gain
level when signals travel toward deeper targets. The
end result is to compensate sounding attenuation
and therefore to show a same target strength for a
same target at dierent depths.
You can set TVG at 20 log (better target strength
of bottom, schools of sh), 40 log (better target
strength of individual targets) or 30 log (compromise
between the 2 others).

Display

Below are examples of echograms from Trawl
Explorers.

System requirements:

• Latest version of sensor (v3): M3/M4/M5/
M6 receiver version 04.02.28 or later, Scala
version 01.02.05 or later

• Earlier version of sensor (V2): M3/M4/M5/M6

receiver version 03.01.23 or later, any Scala
version

Trawl Explorer sensor is added to your

receiver conguration with Marport Scala
software.

When conguring in Scala:

• Make sure that the uplink frequencies in your

sensor conguration (Mosa) and receiver
conguration (Scala) are identical.

• Trawl Explorer sensor uses an 400Hz frequency

bandwidth. When adding other sensors to the
system, make sure there is enough distance
between their uplink frequency (200 Hz
margin above and below used frequency). If
not, there will be signal interferences.

For further information, refer to Trawl Explorer
user manual.

System Conguration

Autorange (V2, V3) The range of the sounding can

adapt automatically to the bottom detected. This
way, you have better echogram image quality when
the trawl opening is small, because the range will
become smaller (the smaller the range, the better
the image quality will be). You can use this mode
only with Down only mode and with a trawl opening
less than 20 m.

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Trawl Explorer Quick Reference Guide

TE_qrg / Rev1

© 2016-2017 Marport. All Rights reserved.

No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying
or otherwise, without the express written permission from Marport. “Marport”, the Marport logo and Software Dened Sonar are registered trademarks
of Marport. All other brands, products and company names mentioned are the trademark and property of its respective owners only. Marport is a division
of Airmar Technology Corporation.

Iceland

Marport EHF
Fossaleyni 16

112 Reykjavík, Iceland

[e-mail]

USA

Marport Americas Inc. USA
12123 Harbour Reach Drive

Mukilteo, WA 98275 USA

[e-mail]

France

Marport France SAS
Parc Technologique de Soye,
Espace MEDIA, 2 Rue Galilée

56270 Ploemeur, France

[e-mail]

Ofces

Spain

Marport Spain SRL

Camino Chouzo 1

36208 Vigo (Pontevedra), Spain

[e-mail]

Sensor Daily Use

The Trawl Explorer sensor automatically

starts when in sea water. It switches to

Bluetooth mode when out of water. When
in Bluetooth, the sensor turns o after 10 minutes
if there is no user action.

When the sensor is not in operation, look at the

transducer LED to make sure that the unit is not in

running mode and discharging the batteries.

Rinse the sensor with fresh water between

uses, especially the shoulder bolts (see

illustration p.1). You can do it when the
sensor is in running mode out of water. Dry the
charging bolt afterwards.

The operational life time can be up to

75 hours depending on the power uplink

settings.
Trawl Explorer sensors has Lithium-Ion batteries.

Charge them with Marport Basic Sensor Charger or
Multi-Charger.

Maintenance

External

• Check that all attachment equipment are not

worn or torn. Replace when appropriate.

• Make sure that Trawl Explorer sensor is clean.
Remove debris with a piece of wood or ne
grade sandpaper. Wash away mud or debris
with warm water but do not use highly abrasive
materials.

Be careful with the sensor. Sensors and
components are sensitive to shocks and
contamination.

Internal

Only an approved Marport dealer can get access
to the internal unit. Warranty will become void if
anyone other than an approved dealer tries to do

internal maintenance duties on the Trawl Explorer

sensors.
Dealers, please refer to the Trawl Explorer service

manual for more detailed maintenance instructions.

Marport recommends you to return Trawl Explorer

sensors to an approved Marport dealer every
2 years for maintenance.

To ensure proper and safe use of this equipment,

carefully read and follow the instructions in the

Trawl Explorer user manual.