What is a Broadband Sounder™ and why do I need one?

The Broadband Sounder-1, a trademark of the Lowrance marine electronics brand, is a revolutionary new fish finder that is capable of seeing fish in, around and even through structures, at great depths and at high speeds. Using a highly-sensitive digital filtering process, targets that are missed by less powerful sounders are captured as sharp images by the Broadband Sounder.

In shallow water, the Broadband Sounder™ cuts through clutter in the water column and presents a strikingly clear picture of fish and other objects in the water together with the surrounding marine terrain. The technology at the heart of the system is a standard Lowrance 200 kHz transducer which provides 120-degree coverage so that targets remain within the scanning area for longer, resulting in more detailed readings and therefore enhanced fish arcs. This can be upgraded to a 1 kW transducer to give even crisper returns from depths of 1500 metres or more.

Previously, good shallow-water imaging compromised the clarity of deep sounding returns and vice versa. Not so with the Lowrance Broadband Sounder-1, which can see the entire column of water even in challenging conditions. Target separation is another unique feature of this system, which pinpoints individual fish even if they are swimming in shoals of baitfish, near reefs or rocks, through sea grasses or on the bottom.

Despite its simplicity and affordability, the Broadband Sounder™ has amazed the fishing community due to the exceptional clarity of imaging that it delivers right down to the ocean floor, enabling anglers to spot species that tend to hug the sea bed. To quote one satisfied fisherman: “Not only does it let you see into the water, but through it – and the definition is absolutely incredible.”

The Broadband Sounder™ is fully compatible with other Lowrance products and can be easily connected to existing Lowrance transducers. Moreover, when networked via ethernet with a Lowrance GlobalMap chartplotter it turns into a powerful combination of chartplotter and fish-finder.

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