KONGSBERG has launched the Simrad SY60, positioning it as a higher-performance successor to the SY50 for sportfishing operations that want sharper target separation and more stable sonar imaging in rough water. The new model keeps the compact, integrated architecture that helped bring omnidirectional sonar into smaller vessels, but pushes further on beam control, power, and motion compensation.
The headline hardware change is inside the transducer. Kongsberg has increased the number of elements from 256 on the SY50 to 384 on the SY60, narrowing the vertical beam and improving resolution in the vertical plane. The company has also doubled transmit power, giving the SY60 a 3 dB source-level increase over the SY50, while a new SteadyPing™ stabilisation sensor is designed to hold the image steady at short range when sea state starts to work against the operator.
Those changes are aimed squarely at one of the persistent trade-offs in sportfishing sonar: the better the system becomes at picking up fish close to the surface, bottom, or spread, the more any motion or noise can undermine the picture. “By refining the beam and increasing power, we’ve achieved a level of resolution and stability that was previously out of reach for this segment,” said Martin Tollefsen, Product Manager at Kongsberg. The company says the SY60 retains QuadPing®, dual-mode operation, CHIRP and CW transmissions, and optional AI-assisted target tracking.
The launch comes as omnidirectional sonar becomes less of a niche add-on and more of a standard specification in high-end sportfishing. Boatbuilders and captains have increasingly made room for compact omni systems that can scan 360 degrees around the vessel, even though installation space, cost, and operator skill still shape the real-world advantage they deliver. In that context, Kongsberg’s strategy is clear: keep the footprint familiar, improve the acoustic engine, and lower the friction for existing SY50 users to move up.
The SY60 also keeps the all-in-one approach that separates Simrad from some rival systems. With the transceiver electronics integrated into the transducer, installation requires less separate hardware and less cabling, which matters on vessels already packed with electronics and machinery. Existing users can learn more about the SY60 here, and the product’s combination of remote operation, software updates, and upgraded stabilisation shows how quickly sportfishing sonar is absorbing features once associated with larger commercial platforms.
