ELECTRONICS

Garmin Panoptix LiveScope Skymate Mazu satcom

Live-scanning sonar is a breed apart. It occurs in real time, as if you’re watching live video, creating a dynamic view that is continually refreshed. Over the past few years, Garmin has pioneered the field of live-scanning sonar for recreational use with its Panoptix series. The latest to emerge is called Panoptix LiveScope.

Garmin’s Panoptix LiveScope can paint startlingly lifelike, albeit monochrome, images of fish and bait schools as they move within the sonar beam. What appears on-screen is akin to the imagery you might see during a medical ultrasound procedure. The almost-universal first impression is simply “wow!”

The high-resolution onscreen images prove easy to interpret. In many instances, you can discern the actual profiles of fish, which allows you to identify species as they swim around the boat. You can also see fish dart in and out of bait schools while attacking prey.

Winner of the Best of Show award at the 2018 ICAST fishing-industry show in

July, LiveScope relies on the Garmin GLS 10 black-box module that networks with Garmin displays and the LVS32 transducer, suitable for both transom and trollingmotor installations.

The transducer can operate in two modes: LiveScope Down and LiveScope Forward. Simply point the transducer down to look under the boat, or point it forward to see around the boat. In both modes, the maximum range is 200 feet. The LVS32 is equipped with an attitude heading reference system that constantly adjusts the sonar beam to compensate for boat motion and steady the sonar image.

Panoptix LiveScope is compatible with a wide range of Garmin multifunction displays, including the GPSMap 8400/8600, 7400/7600, 10x2/12x2 and 7x2/9x2 series, as well as the EchoMap Plus 7Xcv/7Xsv/9Xsv series.

Garmin’s Panoptix LiveScope sells for $1,499.99. To learn more, visit garmin.com.