SonarTRX - a great replacement for HomePort, for viewing sonar recordings

[skid00skid00]

I upgraded from a 7sv to a 93sv, just so I could get screen caps, and sonar recordings.

Then I discovered just how pathetic HomePort is for viewing recordings. It's main failing is that it appears to only show about the first 40 feet of the sonar recording. Other threads suggest that Garmin is not going to fix this.

I went on a search for sonar recording viewer apps. I spent a -lot- of time looking. I was lucky in that I stumbled upon a product called SonarTRX. There is a specific version limited just to Garmin sonars (SonarTRX-GVU Pro), for about $109.00. This gives you a year of program updates, and a perpetual license to use the product. After emailing the company, I was sent a trial version. I've spent about 5 hours playing with the software, just viewing my sonar tracks. I spent an additional couple of hours learning how to use it to generate overlays that you can view in Google Earth. Google Earth is free software that you install on your PC, and the output from SonarTRX can be viewed in it.

The bottom line is that I'll be buying this product.

A zoomed-in view of the left channel, in SonarTRX:
https://flic.kr/p/NoGoAK

The corresponding view in HomePort:
https://flic.kr/p/P4yTKf

More to come...

[skid00skid00]

The import dialog:
https://flic.kr/p/PpmQDS

This cap shows a portion of the sonar record. In the upper left you can see a red box inside a compass that shows the direction of boat travel, and the area covered by the sonar. At the bottom left, you see an overview of the whole sonar log, with the current 'segment' in darker black, and the red circle showing the area displayed at right. At the bottom are a few text lines. There's a cursor cross (not seen in the screencap) and you can see how far away from the sonar that area is.
https://flic.kr/p/NoGkHa

This shot allows you to change viewing options like color, gain, and contrast:
https://flic.kr/p/PrXjcg

These are processing options to make the rendered tiles look great. I'm not familiar with this, yet:
https://flic.kr/p/P4yRn9

This shot was a big surprise... The sonar record changes 'resolution' as range is increased. The log will not contain 10 times as many 'pixels' at 100 feet range, as it does at 10 feet of range:
https://flic.kr/p/P4yRT9

Here's an overview of the whole track I recorded, as shown in Google Earth:
https://flic.kr/p/NoGhhH

This shows me changing the sideview width from about 30' to about 120':
https://flic.kr/p/PyT2VE

A boat, and a boat!
https://flic.kr/p/NoGdmg

Curves are processed:
https://flic.kr/p/PySYc7

Fish in the water column:
https://flic.kr/p/PrX6kz

Sideview at 600 feet, there's good detail out past 300'. In this image, the bottom slopes upward toward the island, away from the island, it slopes down to around 21 feet of depth.
https://flic.kr/p/NnuqYS

[Larry3215]

Very interesting. How long is the trial version good for? I might give them a shot too.

[Larry3215]

I just emailed sales to ask about the trial version.

[Riccochet]

Thanks for the info! Looks like I'll be buying that as well.

[skid00skid00]

I'm not sure how long the trial is. I think around 7 days... It showed during install, but I can't find it in my emails, nor in the program itself.

[skid00skid00]

Here's an interesting find... SonarTRX restores the proper aspect ratios to a view.

Here's what this object looks like in HomePort (upper left quadrant):
https://flic.kr/p/PriMnL

Here's the raw sonar data, as extracted by SonarTRX, and saved by SonarTRX during tile generation (this is a checkbox on Output Options tab):
https://flic.kr/p/P6ySTd

Here's the tile generated for display in Google Earth:
https://flic.kr/p/P6yTtm

And here's the speed-corrected Output Option image:
https://flic.kr/p/PE5cnc

So what I originally thought was a square-bow skiff, looks like a typical 18' 'speedboat'...

When you 'Create Mosiac', click the 'Output Options' tab, and check the 'Save speed corrected images' checkbox.

[TroyBoy30]

Wish I had known..I could have pointed you in the right direction. There are some very old threads from fishton about sonartrx. I was interested unit I saw the price and thought about how rarely I would use it

Here's an old thread from him

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread....ghlight=Garmin

[Larry3215]

Here's an interesting find... SonarTRX restores the proper aspect ratios to a view.

Here's what this object looks like in HomePort (upper left quadrant):
https://flic.kr/p/PriMnL

Here's the raw sonar data, as extracted by SonarTRX, and saved by SonarTRX during tile generation (this is a checkbox on Output Options tab):
https://flic.kr/p/P6ySTd

Here's the tile generated for display in Google Earth:
https://flic.kr/p/P6yTtm

And here's the speed-corrected Output Option image:
https://flic.kr/p/PE5cnc

So what I originally thought was a square-bow skiff, looks like a typical 18' 'speedboat'...

When you 'Create Mosiac', click the 'Output Options' tab, and check the 'Save speed corrected images' checkbox.

Thats very cool! You could do some of that stuff with Humminbird PC and the other programs but not to that degree or quality. Really puts Homeport to shame.

[Larry3215]

Wish I had known..I could have pointed you in the right direction. There are some very old threads from fishton about sonartrx. I was interested unit I saw the price and thought about how rarely I would use it

Here's an old thread from him

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread....ghlight=Garmin

Here is another one. Check out the link in post 5

[skid00skid00]

I just ordered the $179 PRO version, for two reasons. It's 64 bit, so can use more RAM when generating charts, and it supports higher resolution output. I'm finding that the exported 'Images-speed corrected' .PNG's are very useful.

Just an FYI.

[Larry3215]

My laptop hard drive crashed Friday, but as of then, I had still not heard back from the Sonartrx people about a free trial. Do you have a link or email address for who to contact?

P.S. It really sux having to "borrow" your wife's laptop!

[skid00skid00]

I just contacted the support team. It was on one of the web pages...
They might be on holiday?

[Larry3215]

Could be but its been two weeks. I emailed sales. I'll try support.

[Explorer2]

Unfortunately, I read your review with your glowing recommendation and I decided to purchase Sonar TRX Pro. It would have to be the worst piece of sonar software I have used. The images are extremely basic and you are forced to integrate into Google Earth when other sonar software systems automatically integrate into mapping systems. The licensing system is a joke, a full A4 sized page of instructions with emails back and forth to be able to use the software. Most fishermen would be lost trying to complete the instructions to get the thing to work. If you can avoid this software and use something else, do yourself a favour and don’t waste your time with Sonar TRX Pro. If you have a Garmin and don’t have a choice, email them and ask for a trial, so you don’t get burnt.

[MaciejK]

Unfortunately, I read your review with your glowing recommendation and I decided to purchase Sonar TRX Pro. It would have to be the worst piece of sonar software I have used. The images are extremely basic and you are forced to integrate into Google Earth when other sonar software systems automatically integrate into mapping systems. The licensing system is a joke, a full A4 sized page of instructions with emails back and forth to be able to use the software. Most fishermen would be lost trying to complete the instructions to get the thing to work. If you can avoid this software and use something else, do yourself a favour and don’t waste your time with Sonar TRX Pro. If you have a Garmin and don’t have a choice, email them and ask for a trial, so you don’t get burnt.

Unfortunatley, at this point- no another way to Garmin data viewer. With all pros and cones from TRX. Another thing- Garmin as brand not allowed used custom map since several years, IMG format is blocked and trully- no way to put raster data into Garmin unit. Backdoor option- Gpsmaps units with HDMI in connection. Then You can use Garmin display as smartphone viewer.