Long story short...
I've used a rental Hydrone a few times. Another office in our company upgraded and now have an unused Sonarmite that they're shipping to me. We don't have a Hydrone. We don't do a lot of this kind of thing so I'm looking for a low-cost, but safe option. RC would be best but I suspect an inflatable or something would be the most cost-effective for once or twice a year use.
If it's something that is going to sit on the shelf for most of the year, why invest in a inflatable that will also sit on the shelf and slowly dry rot, not to mention the cost of an outboard to power it.
It seems to me that subbing these services out are the most cost-effective way to approach these jobs that you rarely do. I have a warehouse with ample space to store a boat and trailer, but, like you, it might be used once or twice a year, if that.
I have a warehouse with ample space to store a boat and trailer,
I would imagine that making a safety check run on that boat a few times a year would be necessary, and if you are doing survey, rod holders seem appropriate.
At least one day a week when the fish are running, we are only 15 miles from the coast.
Use it on a kayak or Jon boat. The hydrone remote boat is really only for rather small ponds. A sonarmite is much more useful on a real boat. If you lose radio signal with that remote boat, how many $1000s are lost with it?
I always preferred to clamp it to the side of a small jon boat and be in there with the equipment- one hand on the tiller, one hand one the data collector staring at the map/points as they store.