Simrad ES60 Reference manual

Reference manual

Simrad ES60

Fish nding
echo sounder

M A X I M I Z I N G Y O U R P E R F O R M A N C E A T S E A

www.SIMRAD.com

857-160970

Simrad ES60

Fish finding echo sounder

Reference manual

Document revisions

Rev Date Written by Checked by Approved by

Rev.H

25.09.06 RBr AJ AJ

Removed information about installation.

About this document

© 2006 Simrad Horten AS.

ISBN 82-8066-028-3

The information contained in this document is subject to change without prior notice.
Simrad Horten AS shall not be liable for errors contained herein, or for incidental or
consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this
document.

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be
reproduced or otherwise copied without prior permission from Simrad Horten AS.

Simrad AS
Strandpromenaden 50
Box 111
N-3191 Horten

Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

M A X I M I Z I N G Y O U R P E R F O R M A N C E A T S E A

Chapters

1 System description

This chapter presents a general description of the echo sounder system. Refer
to page 1.

2Displayviews

This chapter explains the layout of the echo sounderdisplay presentation.Refer
to page 12.

3 Getting started

This chapter provides an operational example to get you started with the
operation. Refer to page 26.

4 Operational procedures

Reference manual

This chapter provides specific procedures for common tasks. Refer to page 37.

5 Reference guide

This chapter explains the menus and dialogue boxes in detail. Refer to page 57.

857-160970 / Rev.H

I

Simrad ES60

Table of contents

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION 1......................................

Introduction 1..................................................

System overview 2..............................................

Key facts 2...............................................

Main units 2..............................................

Wave propagation 4..............................................

Bottom echo 6..................................................

Split--beam operation 8...........................................

Observation range 10..............................................

DISPLAY VIEWS 12..............................................

Introduction 12..................................................

Display organisation 13............................................

Main view 13..............................................

Moving the boundary lines 14.................................

Direct access to dialogue boxes 15.............................

Menu bar 16.....................................................

Header view 17..................................................

Echo frames 18..................................................

Overview 18...............................................

Single Echo 18.............................................

Echogram and Range 19.....................................

Scope 20..................................................

Test presentation for passive or test mode 20.....................

Status bar 21....................................................

History and printer views 22........................................

Overview 22...............................................

Display example 23.........................................

Printer example 23..........................................

GETTING STARTED 26...........................................

Introduction 26..................................................

Before you start 27...............................................

Start--up 28.....................................................

Overview 28...............................................

Power-up procedure 28......................................

The menu system 28........................................

Transceiver inspection 28.....................................

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Reference manual

Environmental parameters 28..................................

Navigation interface 29......................................

Additional interfaces 29......................................

Operation 30....................................................

Overview 30...............................................

Selecting operational mode 30.................................

Transceiver settings 30.......................................

Bottom detector settings 31...................................

Colour scale 31.............................................

Single Echo view 31........................................

Echogram and Range view 32.................................

Scope view 34.............................................

Data storage 35..................................................

Overview 35...............................................

Define storage parameters 35..................................

Start and stop data storage 35..................................

OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES 37................................

Overview 37....................................................

Power on/off 38..................................................

Power on 38...............................................

Power off 38...............................................

Basic operations 40...............................................

Overview 40...............................................

Changing the echogram settings 40.............................

Changing the range 40.......................................

Changing the vertical resolution 40.............................

Changing the transmit power 41...............................

Setting minimum and maximum depth 41........................

Enabling the depth alarms 42..................................

Adding annotations 42.......................................

Transceiver installation 44..........................................

Overview 44...............................................

To install a channel 44.......................................

To uninstall a channel 44.....................................

To modify an IP address 45...................................

Restart the echo sounder 45...................................

Record and playback 46...........................................

Overview 46...............................................

Record 46.................................................

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Simrad ES60

Playback 48...............................................

History 48.................................................

Software installation and upgrades 51.................................

Overview 51...............................................

Software installation procedure 51..............................

Software upgrade procedure 52................................

Un-installation procedure 52..................................

Software on a third party computer 52...........................

Size distribution 54...............................................

Purpose 54................................................

Procedure 54...............................................

Adjusting to obtain correct fish length 56........................

REFERENCE GUIDE 57...........................................

Overview 57....................................................

Menus 58.......................................................

Main menu 58.............................................

File menu 59...............................................

View menu 60.............................................

Options menu 61...........................................

Install menu 63.............................................

Help menu 65..............................................

Status Bar 66....................................................

Dialogue boxes 68................................................

Introduction 68.............................................

Advanced Navigation 69.....................................

Advanced Transceiver 71.....................................

Annotation 73..............................................

BI 500 76.................................................

Bottom Detector 78.........................................

Bottom Range 80...........................................

Colour Scale 81............................................

Depth Output 83............................................

Echo Trace 84..............................................

Echogram 85..............................................

Environment 89............................................

Shutdown 90..............................................

Factory settings 91..........................................

Fish select 92..............................................

Heave Sensor 93............................................

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History 95.................................................

IP Address 96..............................................

Language 98...............................................

Layout 99.................................................

Navigation Interface 100......................................

Operation 102...............................................

Printer and History 105.......................................

Print Setup 107..............................................

Purse Seine 109.............................................

Replay 110.................................................

RS-232 Setup 112...........................................

Store 113..................................................

Surface Range 115...........................................

Temperature Sensor 116.......................................

Transceiver Installation 117....................................

Transceiver Settings 119......................................

Trawl Interface 122..........................................

Trawl Range 124............................................

857-160970 / Rev.H

V

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Introduction

This chapter provides a brief introduction to the Simrad ES60
fishery echo sounder system.

Related topics

→ Overview, page 2

→ ES60 System drawing, page 3

→ Wave propagation, page 4

→ Bottom echo, page 6

→ Split-beam operation, page 8

→ Observation range, page 10

System description

Important notice

Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows are
either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Echosounder software version

This manual complies to echo sounder software version

1.5.0.75.

857-160970 / Rev.H

1

Simrad ES60

System overview

Key facts

The Simrad ES60 echo sounders is designed for the professional
fishery community implementing the latest innovations.

• The ES60 system is flexible and easy to configure due to the
modular design.

• Echo sounders ranging from relatively low-cost single beam
to large multi-frequency systems containing several
split-beam channels can be realised.

• Menus and dialogue boxes are operated by a standard mouse
or a roller ball.

• Large colour liquid crystal displays (LCD) are used. A
standard computer mouse may be used.

• The ES60 uses the Microsoft Windows® display interface.
Operation is to a large extent self-explanatory. Getting started
is easy if you are familiar with standard Microsoft
Windows® programs.

• A store/replay function reduces the need for echogram
printout on paper. The unprocessed transducer signal is
recorded on the internal harddisk. During replay, this signal
is injected into the ES60 processing software as if it arrived
directly from the transceiver.

Main units

The standard version of the ES60 echo sounder consists of the
following units:

• a display unit (several sizes are available)

• a Processing Unit (personal computer)

• a General Purpose Transceiver (different types are available)

• a transducer (a wide range of frequencies are available)

Up to four frequency channels can be installed in a single
system. High-power single-beam and split-beam transducers are
available at operating frequencies ranging from 12 to 200 kHz.

2

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System description

A

System diagram:

(A) = LCD monitor

(B)=ProcessorUnit

(C) = General Purpose
Transceiver (GPT)

(D) = Transducer

D

B

C

(CD102000)

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3

Simrad ES60

Wave propagation

The velocity of sound wave propagation in the sea varies
slightly with temperature, salinity and pressure. The velocity
varies between 1440 and 1520 m/s in shallow sea water, while a
velocity around 1480 m/s can be expected at 1000 m depth. In
shallow fresh water the velocity is approximately 1430 m/s.

A good average value to be used in the Environment dialogue
box is 1470 m/s.

Figure 1 The
wave propagation
principles

The ES60 transmits high energy sound wave pulses into the sea.
A flat bottom reflects the transmitted wave as if it were a mirror.
The propagating energy is spread over a larger and larger area as
it travels down to the bottom and up again. The energy is spread
over a four times larger area every time the travel distance
doubles.

A large school of fish reflects sound waves similarly. This type
of spreading is referred to as square-law or 20 log TVG (Time
Varying Gain) spreading.

The situation is slightly different when observing the echoes
from individual fish. The transmitted wave undergoes
square-law spreading when travelling from the surface and
down to the fish. The swim bladder of the fish scatters a small
fraction of the arriving energy in all directions. Travelling from
the fish and back towards the surface the scattered wave
undergoes another square-law spreading. The combined effect is
referred to as quad-law or 40 log TVG spreading.

In the echo sounder’s Echogram dialogue box 20 log TVG
spreading is called School Gain and Bottom Gain, while 40 log
TVG spreading is called F i sh Gain.

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System description

Propagation losses due to absorption are much higher in sea
water than in fresh water. Absorption also increases with
frequency. At 38 kHz the absorption is 0.5 dB/km in fresh water
and 10 dB/km in sea water. At 200 kHz the absorption is 10
dB/km in fresh water and 50 dB/km in salt water. The echo
sounder must know which water type is present in order to
compensate for these losses correctly.

(The dB (decibel) unit has long traditions in underwater
acoustics and other fields in physics. It is a logarithmic measure
for the ratio between two quantities).

Related topics

→ Environment, page 89

→ Echogram, page 85

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5

Simrad ES60

Bottom echo

Figure 2
Bottom echo

A hard flat bottom reflects the transmitted signal as if it were a
mirror. The transmitted pulse hits the illuminated bottom area at
nearly the same instant, and the echo from different parts of this
area arrive back at the surface also at nearly the same instant.

The received echo signal is basically an attenuated copy of the
short transmit pulse. The echo signal from a sloped bottom is
characterised by having a longer duration and a slower rise and
fall time. The transmitted pulse first hits the slope at point A,
and as time elapses the reflection point travels along the slope
towards point B. Many locations do not have a solid hard
bottom. Frequently, the bottom is composed of layers of mud,
clay and sand which can be observed as coloured bands on the
echo sounder display.

The bottom detection algorithm is implemented solely in
software, and separate algorithms are run for each frequency
channel. The algorithm is designed with emphasis on reliability
in the sense that erroneous depth detections are never output.
Whenever the quality of a detection is questionable the
algorithm outputs a depth of 0.00 to indicate that no reliable
detection was obtained. The ES60 algorithm is designed to
handle a number of difficult situations. The algorithm maintains
bottom lock for a discontinuous jump in bottom depth. It avoids
false bottom detections on a dense school of fish. The algorithm
chooses the upper boundary of the first layer when the bottom
consists of layers.

6

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System description

The bottom detection algorithm locks to the first good bottom
return. The depth at point A rather than the depth along the
transducer axis will be output for a sloped bottom. The detected
depth value is always smaller than the depth along the
transducer axis implying that a safety margin is automatically
included.

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7

Simrad ES60

Split-beam operation

The ES60 uses the split-beam technique for assessment of the
size distribution of individual fish. A split-beam transducer is
electrically divided into four quadrants. All four quadrants are
excited in parallel during transmission. However, the received
signal from each quadrant is separately amplified in a
four-channel matched receiver allowing the direction of arrival
of an echo to be determined.

Figure 3 Split-beam principles

An acoustic wave front propagating towards the transducer
arrives at the four quadrants at different times causing the phase
angle of the electrical output signal from the quadrants to differ.
The fore-and-aft angle is determined from the electrical phase
difference between the fore and the aft transducer halves, and
the athwartships angle is determined from the starboard and port
signals.

Fish A is positioned along the transducer axis where the
transducer has its maximum sensitivity, while Fish B is
positioned towards the edge of the beam where the sensitivity is
lower. Evidently, the echo signal from Fish A will be stronger
than the signal from Fish B even though they are of the same
size and at the same depth. Hence, determining fish size from

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857-160970 / Rev.H

System description

the received echo strength alone will not be too successful. A
split-beam echo sounder measures the position of the fish within
the beam. The sounder corrects for the difference in transducer
sensitivity and computes the true size of the fish.

The split-beam measurement technique only works for echoes
originating from one single fish since the electrical phase will be
random if echoes from multiple individuals at different positions
in the beam are received simultaneously.

Consequently, measurement of fish size inside a school of fish
tends to be unreliable.

857-160970 / Rev.H

9

Simrad ES60

Observation range

Absorption increases dramatically with frequency in salt water.
For maximum observation range you should select a low
operating frequency, a large transducer and the maximum
transmit power.

10

Figure 4 Observation range

Maximum detection depth

Transducer Frequency,

kHz

12--16 12 16.40 193 2000 850 10000

ES 18 18 8.21 382 2000 1100 7000

27--26 27 8.18 387 3000 1100 4400

38/200D 38 4.09 766 1000 500 2100

38--9 38 4.09 766 1500 800 2600

38--7 38 4.09 766 2000 950 2800

50/200D 50 2.05 1493 1000 500 1500

50--7 50 2.05 1493 2000 700 1900

ES70--11 70 2.05 1526 800 450 1100

Pulse
duration,
ms

Band
width,
Hz

Transmit
power,
W

Range
fish,
m

857-160970 / Rev.H

Range
bottom,
m

System description

Transducer Range

120--25 120 1.02 3026 1000 390 800

ES120--7 120 1.02 3026 1000 440 850

50/200D 200 1.03 3088 1000 280 550

ES200--7 200 1.03 3088 1000 270 550

Frequency,

kHz

Pulse
duration,
ms

Band
width,
Hz

Transmit
power,
W

Range
fish,
m

bottom,
m

Typical observation ranges are shown in the figure. Using the
Simrad 27-26/21 transducer (27 kHz, 10x13 degrees, 3000 W)
you can observe a 60 centimeter cod down to 800 meters, and
bottom detection works down to 3800 meters. However, with
the Simrad 200-7F transducer (200 kHz, 7x7 degrees, 1000 W)
you can only observe that same cod down to 260 meters, and
bottom detection becomes unreliable below 500 meters.

These range calculations assume a normal sea water salinity
(3.5%) and temperature (+10 degC), an average bottom (surface
backscattering strength = -20 dB) and a noise level typical for a
moving vessel.

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11

Simrad ES60

DISPLAY VIEWS

Introduction

This chapter provides a brief overview of the information
displayed by the ES60, and how it is organised.

Related topics

→ Display layout and main view, page 13

→ Moving boundary lines, page 14

→ Direct access to dialog boxes, page 15

→ Menu bar, page 16

→ Header view, page 17

→ Echo frames, page 18

→ Status bar, page 21

→ History and printer views, page 22

12

857-160970 / Rev.H

Display organisation

Main view

The ES60 display is organised as follows (from top):

• Menu bar

• For each transceiver channel:

- Two echo frames

• Status bar

A single channel display is shown below as an example.

Display views

AB

C

DEF

857-160970 / Rev.H

(CD10202)

(A) Main menu (B) Header view

(C) Echogram and range view (D) Scope view

(E) Single echo view (F) Status bar

13

Simrad ES60

Menu

The Menu bar contains the echo sounder’s main menu. A
single click on one of the menu names will provide a new
drop-down menu where additional choices can be made.

Header

For each channel, the Header view contains the current
operational mode and frequency, the current depth, and the
colour scale.

Echo frames

The Echo frame takes up the largest part of the echo sounder
window. Each Echo frame contains (from left) a Single Echo
view, an Echogram and Range view and a Scope view.

The Echo frame view is are also described in more detail in the
Getting started chapter.

Status bar

The Status bar presents the current event and line numbers,
current time, and other information provided by the echo
sounder.

Moving the boundary lines

You can modify the vertical size of the echograms by moving
the horizontal boundary line between the two echograms.

To do this:

1 Position the cursor at the boundary line.

2 Press the left mouse button.

3 Drag the cursor up or down vertically while keeping the

left mouse button pressed.

4 Release the left mouse button.

Using the same operation, you can modify other boundary lines
on the display;

• The horizontal line between the upper Echo frame and the
Header view

14

• The vertical line between the Echogram and Range view
and the Scope view

• the vertical line between the Echogram and Range view and
the Single Echo view.

857-160970 / Rev.H

Display views

Direct access to dialogue boxes

Several dialogue boxes are directly accessed from the various
views on the display.

Position the cursor, and right-click on the...

• Mode and frequency information in the Header view to
open the Transceiver Settings dialogue box.

• Depth value in the Header view to open the Bottom
Detector dialogue box.

• Colour scale in the Header view to open the Colour Scale
dialogue box.

• Range fieldintheEchogram and Range view to open one
of the Range dialogue boxes, depending of the current
echogram type.

• Echogram field in the Echogram and Range view to open
the Echogram dialogue box.

• Single Echo view to open the Echo Trace dialogue box.

Related topics

→ Menu bar, page 16

→ Header view, page 17

→ Echo frames, page 18

→ Status bar, page 21

→ Getting started; Operation, page 30

→ Bottom Detector, page 78

→ Colour Scale, page 81

→ Echogram, page 85

→ Bottom Range, page 80

→ Surface Range, page 115

→ Transceiver settings, page 119

→ Echo Trace, page 84

857-160970 / Rev.H

15

Simrad ES60

Menu bar

The ES60 Menu bar contains the Main menu.

AB

(CD10204)

(A) Main menu

(B) Menu bar

The main menu has the following options:

• File

• View

• Options

• Install

• Step!

• Help

To operate, click on the menu name and observe the drop-down
menu. Select a new item on the drop-down menu by clicking on
the command. Commands shown with light grey colour are
unavailable in the present configuration or operational mode.

The menus are all explained in the Reference Guide.

Related topics

→ Main menu, page 58

→ Reference guide, page 57

16

857-160970 / Rev.H

Header view

Display views

The ES60 Header view is shown directly above the two Echo
frames. The top Header view is thus located just below the
Menu bar. The Header view contains the following
information.

AB

(A) Transceiver settings: Current mode and frequency

(B) Bottom detection: Current depth

(C) Colour Scale

The Header view is a part of the channel. If more than one
channel is displayed, the Header view is duplicated as well.

The Header view provides direct access to the following
dialogue boxes:

• Right-click in the Transceiver settings field (on the Mode
and frequency information) to open the Transceiver
Settings dialogue box.

• Right-click in the Bottom detection field (on the Depth
value) to open the Bottom Detector dialogue box.

• Right-click on the Colour scale to open the
dialogue box.

Colour Scale

C

(CD10205)

857-160970 / Rev.H

Related topics

→ Transceiver Settings, page 119

→ Bottom Detector, page 78

→ Colour Scale, page 81

17

Simrad ES60

Echo frames

Overview

The ES60 Echo frames are the main information bearer on the
echo sounder display. The Echo frames are usually presented in
pairs with two echo frames for each channel.

The Echo frame contains the following views:

(A) Single echo view

(B) Echogram and Range view

(C) Scope view

Note that the Single Echo view is only available in split-beam
versions of the echo sounder.

AB

Single Echo

The Single Echo view contains information on detection of
single echoes. Two plots are visible in this view:

• The top plot shows a histogram of the fish size distribution
for the single echoes detected in the echogram.

C

(CD10206)

18

• The bottom plot shows the position within the beam of the
detected single echoes for the current ping (largest circles)
and the three previous ping (smaller circles).

• The upper right corner of the view shows the Biomass value
calculated from the total biomass of fish, plancton etc from
the current echogram.

Note that the colours used to display this information are
determined from the settings in the Colour Scale.

857-160970 / Rev.H

Display views

If you place the cursor in the coordinate system, a small yellow
label will appear to give you a detailed readout of the target
strength in dB at the cursor’s position. This target strength
indicates the fish length (in cm or inches) or fish weight (in kg).

Related topics

→ Getting started, page 31.

→ Colour Scale, page 81.

Echogram and Range

The Echogram and Range view consists of an Echogram field
to the left and a Range field to the right. These are separated by
the vertical range axis. The Echogram field contains
information about the acoustical values, while the Range field is
used for specifying the range used in the Echogram field. The
settings in the Colour Scale is used to present the information.

In the echogram field, the presentation can be of different views.
This can be selected in echogram dialogue bok as 1x, 3x, 5x, or
all. Fore examle: If a 20 tranducer system; all selected, 20
echogram in the echogram filed.

When you place the cursor in the Echogram field, you can use
the mouse wheel to modify the gain setting, and hence the
display colour sensitivity. Each click of the wheel corresponds
to a 1 dB change. The same gain setting is available from the

Colour Scale dialogue box.

Whenever the cursor is located within the Echogram field, a
small yellow label is visible. The label provides the following
information:

• Left: Depth at the cursor position

• Middle: Diameter coverage from the transducer beam

• Right: Current gain setting

To change the range, you can also use the mouse wheel. Place
the cursor inside the Range fieldtodothis:

• In a surface related echogram you will modify the range,
while for a bottom related echogram, you will change the
start range.

• If you press the left mouse button while you use the mouse
wheel, the surface echogram will change its start value, while
the bottom related echogram will change its range.

857-160970 / Rev.H

Related topics

→ Getting started, page 32

→ Colour Scale, page 81

19

Simrad ES60

Scope

The Scope view is the rightmost view and shows a oscilloscope
view of the last ping corresponding to the settings in the
Echogram view.

This view draws a range of horizontal symmetrical colour lines.
The distance from the vertical centre axis and the line colour
reflects the received echo amplitude. A black horizontal line
across the view indicates the current bottom view.

Channel:

Test presentation for passive or test mode

Passive:

Background Noise: yyy.y dBW

Receiver Amplitude: xxx.x dBW

Alongship angle: z.zz deg

Athwarthship Angle: z.zz deg

The background noise shown is the median of 20 equidistance
power samples in the total range of the current ping. The
receiver and the two angles (alongship and athwarthship) are
sampled at 100 m depth. During replay, you may find that this
depth setting is not availbale because the depth is less than 100
m. The receiver amplitude is then set to a minimum (235 dBW),
and the angles are set to zero.

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Status bar

Display views

The ES60 Status bar is located at the bottom of the display. It
contains the following information:

Note that the water temperature read-out will only be available
if a sensor is connected to the echo sounder. Also, navigational
information requires that the applicable position information is
connected to the echo sounder.

(CD10208)

AB

(A) Information applicable f or the current operation

(B) Event number

(C) Printer logo (when printer is active)

(D) Current temperature

(E) Storage line number

(F) Navigational information (latitude and longitude)

(G) Time

Related topics

→ Status bar, page 66

C

D

E

F

G

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