Been thinking and having mild chest pains lately regarding
a) how much I still have left to do
b) how much i still have to buy &
c) how little funds i have .
Thinking of shiny objects i was resigned.........well not resigned but thought it was a foregone conclusion I'd be buying Nasa instruments - nothing wrong with that, they're perfectly good and exceedingly well priced.
It was while researching marine instruments on the internet i came across a company called Echopilot so immediately trawled fora and found very positive reviews as i genuinely had never heard of them.
Even more curiously it turned out they were based about a mile from my front door, eventually curiosity got the better of me so decided to investigate what they had to offer.Disliking 'tyre kickers' in my own profession i didn't want to appear a time waster and pointed out to the very knowledgeable bloke (who talked me through what they could do) i was only looking to get an idea of cost and capabilities. However the more i was shown what they could do the more i realised these instruments are fantastic, not only the plethora of data each one outputs but the fact you can use other manufacturers transducers and sensors, they really are the swiss army knife of the marine instruments world.
There was even an opportunity for 2d sonar but for the fact the transducer couldn't be mounted internally i'd of had one, however one thought sprang to mind - cost. I wanted these but was dreading the cost based on their technical capabilities however much to my surprise they were no dearer than Nasa's stuff.
Still brimming with excitement i couldn't help but ask the incredibly knowledgeable woman Sue who dealt with my order (Speed, Wind & Depth) why i hadn't heard of them - she said, "simple - we don't have a marketing budget anywhere like our competitors".
It got me wondering; how many other great little companies like Echopilot exist that you don't really know about?
