EchoRange Plugin

The EchoRange plugin is required to decode the echo envelope data sent by some AirMar EchoRange models through an RS-485 port. One plugin can only communicate with one RS-485 serial port, so if you have a dual-frequency EchoRange echo sounder, you will need to load two plugins, one for the high frequency depth and one for the low frequency depth.

If your EchoRange doesn't support the output of an echo envelope (this is an add-on and not available on all models), only (dual frequency) depth data is output on the serial port. In this case, you can use the regular NMEA0183 plugin which decodes the depth data from the XDR NMEA0183 sentences. The rest of this document does not apply to echo sounders without the echo envelope output add-on!

When you own an echo sounder with an echo envelope output, there is no need to load a NMEA0183 plugin, since the depth value is reported on the echo envelope serial ports as well.

EchoRange™ Single Frequency Smart Transducer (Without echo envelope output)

This EchoRange model comes with a high frequency transducer only and can communicate with acquisition software using a RS-422 serial port. The only protocol supported on this serial port is NMEA0183. When you own such a model, just use one of the NMEA0183 plugins to interface with this echo sounder.

Connections on the EchoRange™ Single Frequency Smart Transducer (With echo envelope output)

EchoRange™ Dual Frequency Smart Transducer (With echo envelope output)

This EchoRange model comes with a high frequency transducer only and can communicate with acquisition software over a RS-422 serial port using the NMEA0183 protocol. A second port, which is a RS-485 serial port, is supplied to broadcast the echo envelope using a proprietary protocol with a serial speed of 921600 bits per second. For this model, you only need to load the high frequency plugin in Hydromagic ("Airmar EchoRange Plugin - Hi Frequency Channel").

Connections on the EchoRange(TM) Single Frequency Smart Transducer (With echo envelope output)

EchoRange(TM) Dual Frequency Smart Transducer (With echo envelope output)

This EchoRange model comes with a dual frequency transducer and can communicate with acquisition software over a RS-422 serial port using the NMEA0183 protocol. A second and third port, which are RS-485 serial ports, are supplied to broadcast the echo envelope for the high and low frequencies using a proprietary protocol with a serial speed of 921600 bits per second. For this model, you will need to load both the Hydromagic EchoRange plugins in order to get the echo envelope data for both channels into the software.

Connections on the EchoRange(TM) Dual Frequency Smart Transducer (With echo envelope output)

Loading the EchoRange (High Frequency) plugin

To load this plugin, open the preferences window by selecting 'Preferences...' from the 'Options' menu. In the window that appears, select the "Devices" tab. Next, click the 'Add...' button.

A list of available plugins will be displayed. In this list, select 'Airmar EchoRange Plugin - Hi Frequency Channel' and click 'OK' to load and display the plugin's user interface.

Configuring the EchoRange plugin

When the plugin loads, a dialog with some required settings will appear first. In the dialog, please select the serial port to which the sounder is connected. The default baud rate used to transmit echo envelope data is 921600 bps.

Loading the plugin for the second channel (Low Frequency)

When you own an AirMar EchoRange which is able to output an echo envelope for both high and low frequency, you need to load an additional plugin for the second (low-frequency) channel. From the device list, click the "Add..." button and select the "AirMar EchoRange Plugin - Lo Frequency Channel from the list.

When the configuration window of the plugin appears, enter the serial port for the low frequency data. Please make sure you do not use the same serial port as the one configured in the high frequency plugin. The default baud rate for this second channel is also 921600 bps.

Testing the sounder

When the sounder has been connected and configured, click "OK" to store the settings and start the plugin. There should be a green icon in front of the plugin name when data is coming in successfully. When no data is coming in, most of the time the incorrect serial port or speed has been selected.