Fish Finder Engine: The Sifferman Technology FE2 is a world-class black box fish finder engine that communicates with remote display devices using either Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) or an asynchronous serial port (e.g. RS-232 or RS-485). The FE2 employs an Analog Devices Blackfin DSP (digital signal processor) to provide exceptional signal processing and digital filtering to yield a high signal-to-noise ratio and excellent target detection. The FE2 requires a 9 to 16VDC power source. Its sonar circuitry transmits 500 watts RMS at 200 kHz and 50 kHz.

Transducer: The FE2 black box connects to a sonar transducer that is typically mounted to the transom or hull of a boat, or on a trolling motor. Standard sonar frequencies of 200 kHz and 50 kHz are used, allowing use of commonly-available transducers. The FE2 is compatible with transducers containing depth, speed and temperature sensors, such as Airmar's TRIDUCER® multisensors, which provide water speed and temperature data to the user as well as sonar data.

Application: An app running on a remote device such as a tablet, mobile phone, computer, or other device having Wi-Fi capabilities can display depth, speed through water, water temperature, battery voltage, and color fish finder image data received from a nearby FE2 black box. The app communicates to the black box via an API provided as a static library. Bi-directional communication between the API and the black box allows the app to fully control the behavior of the fish finder hardware. The API allows settings such as range, gain, frequency, zoom, STC, depth alarms, fish detection, and calibration to all be under control of the app.

Multiple Display Devices: The FE2 black box has been designed to accommodate multiple display devices simultaneously. A distinctive feature of the FE2 is that each connected display device has individual control over most of the black box settings - usually without affecting the displays of other users. For example, a user can change the range, gain, or frequency setting on his own device, without affecting the corresponding settings seen by other users. One user can operate on 50 kHz with Fish ID "on" and range and gain both set to Auto, while another user can display both 50 kHz and 200 kHz with Fish ID "off" and range and gain set manually. Certain settings affect all display devices globally, such as depth alarms and calibration settings.

Wi-Fi Modes: The FE2 supports two modes of Wi-Fi operation: Limited AP and Infrastructure.

Limited AP
In Limited AP mode, the FE2 appears with a unique SSID in the Wi-Fi page of the Settings app or Control Panel on the display device. Simply selecting the SSID of the FE2 will allow automatic connection to the FE2 using ZeroConf (Bonjour) methods. No further setup is necessary, which means virtually no configuration is required for a user to connect his display device to the FE2. In Limited AP mode, however, connected display devices will not have simultaneous access to other Wi-Fi equipment that might be in the vicinity.

Infrastructure
In Infrastructure mode, the FE2 can connect as a Wi-Fi client to a separate Wi-Fi router or access point on the vessel. Display devices that connect to the same router or access point (even using wired Ethernet, for example) can access the FE2 over the shared network. ZeroConf methods are also used in Infrastructure mode, reducing the amount of configuration required. It is necessary, however, for the installer to enter a configuration screen (once) using a standard web browser to change the FE2 from Limited AP mode to Infrastructure mode. Display devices connected to an FE2 operating in Infrastructure mode will have access to all other devices connected to the same network (e.g. a modem providing internet access).

Browser-Based Configuration: A planned feature for the FE2 is browser-based configuration. This will allow viewing and user configuration of wireless and network related settings to accommodate more complex installations. Out-of-box, the FE2 is configured for Limited AP mode, which allows for immediate use without needing to perform network configuration. For those cases where the installer wishes to set a fixed IP address for the FE2, or enable DHCP or other features, the browser-based configuration feature will allow network-related settings to be viewed or changed using a standard web browser.

Firmware Updates: Flash updates for the firmware in the FE2 black box can be performed over-the-air from within the app.