Best Sounder/fish finder under $1500
Submitted by crasny1 on Thu, 2010-04-22 21:15
Need help on this. Navman's have died and I dont like fishing blind.
Cheers
Neels
____________________________________________________________________________
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Feral
Posts: 1508
Date Joined: 01/11/06
id be looking at a lawrance
id be looking at a lawrance for that price .. or a furuno 7" colour
what depths do you fish in ?
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
if you bargin real hard you
if you bargin real hard you could walk out with a Furuno FCV620 and a tranny for around $1650, And that's the ducks nuts of the cheap side of Furuno.
Winter is always good to wheel and deal with boating supplier in need of sales...lol
http://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp?cat=114&item=32452&intAbsolutePage=1
$1495 at Whitfords as a start point, $120 for a standard tranny, so thats close to your budget and better deals are out there mate...
otherwise you looking at a Lowrance HDS 5 or 7, but the standard tranny does not do that sounder justice, an aftermarket Airmar would add value, but again would bump you close if not over the $2k with the sounder,
JMO
Tony
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
AmericanBen
Posts: 150
Date Joined: 26/01/09
Tony
Is the 600W tranny that comes with the Furuno FCV620 strong enough for out deep (100 - 200 metres)? Cheers, Ben
eziliving
Posts: 898
Date Joined: 30/12/09
just seen the Furuno FVC620
just seen the Furuno FVC620 on sale at BCF for $1299
Get busy living, or get busy dying!
carps
Posts: 126
Date Joined: 01/03/10
yeah the furuno fcv620 is on
yeah the furuno fcv620 is on sale with the tranny for 1299 which is pretty cheap
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
thats a dam good price with
Leaves you cash over to buy us a few cartons of piss....lol thanks, I'll have Blue Tongue for mine
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
fisho-ron
Posts: 2539
Date Joined: 26/09/09
mate, spend the extra bucks
mate, spend the extra bucks and get a furuno 585, you will never regret it.
i wish i had got one instead of my navman when i started, and then i wouldnt have had to buy the jmc a just lashed out on.
crasny1
Posts: 7029
Date Joined: 16/10/08
I hear you guys
Tony there is always extra $$$ stashed away for cartons!!
I am thinking about the Furono and yes, the budget may blow out but then what is the point of having all my combos with rod, reel and line worth more than the sounder each, if I cant find the bloody fish to use them on in the first place!
Feral up here with our target fish we rarely go beyond 30m. Been sharked to much in deeper water and I hate the fact that I have a red emp on the line, then just to feel the dredded weight. Then you know you have just killed a fantastic fish. The only way to fish these water is skull dragging, and that aint sport IMO. So we fish relatively light in <30m on reef dropoff's.
Target Latjana species and Snappers. Ah yes and Trout.
Have a great long weekend and remember the ANZACs, and the Boers Tony.
Neels
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
yip mate ANZAC Day and other
yip mate ANZAC Day and other days of rememberance are close to our hearts. Son always does the dawn service with the Scouts and this is the first year I'll miss it, as I'm onsite.
As for sounders, well my electronics on my tub are almost worth what I paid for the tub.
Whats the use of a boat and a rod&reel, if you can't find the fish...
JMO
Tony
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
flyrock
Posts: 18
Date Joined: 04/02/10
Trannie is king!
Neels
Treat sounder/trannie purchases like stereo gear.
Spend 60% of your budget on the trannie and 40% on the box.
(like speaker/amp purchases)
You wont regret it.
Cheers
crasny1
Posts: 7029
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Does seem to be a common idea
I would have spend all on the unit and a cheap trannie (standard).
Neels
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
With a $1000 tranny and a
With a $1000 tranny and a $500 sounder you will out perform a $150 tranny on a $1500 sounder any day of the week!
the bigger the voice and airs, the better the music, same goes for sounders.
A big element and individual 50hz & 200hz elements allow for better tunning to send and recieve the signal. Bit like taking a hand held uhf radio and putting it on a big base station arial ....
If I was in your shoes, it would be a Furuno FCV 620, with a Furuno 525TID-TMD Transom Mount Transducer as a perfect start point,
you could get both for under $1700 and be well worth the dollars. If you wanted to stretch your budget more, look at a through hull unit but thats going to set you back at least $700 for the tranny alone, then you going to need a MB1100 matching box to connect it for another $300~.
just my view on it,
Tony
ps here is a few nice clips on how good you can get it, if you do it right!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd07PIkmnfI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIFqh-ymYFI&feature=related
and how to get it set up right,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgUNGNb34ik&feature=related
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)
Rich
Posts: 9
Date Joined: 17/11/09
By in the US
I would buy a Lowrance. Although they are the only ones I have experience with. I bought one last year and a Platinum map and the detail is incredible. However, the Platinum primarily gives you the shape of contours which is more useful for diving as you can see the shape of a bombey.
The most important part is that I bought it online in the US. You can search google.com (not com.au) for shops. As longs as the purchase is less than $1,000 there is not any import tax. My unit cost about 60% of the cost in Oz.
Cheers
Rich
Oceanside Tackle
Posts: 2803
Date Joined: 23/07/09
Yes it is cheaper from the
Yes it is cheaper from the US but Taylor Marine don't provide warranty and service on overseas purchased Furuno products. All Furuno products have serial numbers. The same also applies to Lowrance products.
It is also highly illegal to undervalue the item purchased so you dont get taxed.
Oceanside Team - Specializing in Jigging for demersal, Super Deep Fishing and Cockburn Sound Pink Snapper.
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STEVE231
Posts: 1443
Date Joined: 05/01/10
Duty
I paid $300AUD duty on my sounder and was still miles in front!! Wouldn't consider anything else other than importing, oh yeah, and a nice new Lowrance HDS unit would be my preference!!
out wide
Posts: 1535
Date Joined: 30/12/08
Come on
So we should always tell the leechers in Canberra what things cost so they can suck more funds out of us. Yes it is illegal to tell tax suckers [government] bullshit but what do you think they do to us, tell us the truth ?
Brucesta
Posts: 1721
Date Joined: 29/05/09
offer is still there to have
offer is still there to have a play with my HDS 7 Neels
Las Vegas - Rolling the dice and trying your luck. 1M+ Barra summer target. 100kg Black Marlin winter target
crasny1
Posts: 7029
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Thanks Brucesta
I think I should stop contemplation and just go the Furuno.
Will blow the budget but then who cares. I use to spend more on 4 Rally tyres in my former hobbie and they only lasted 2 events!!
Will have to get a Karratha/Dampier/Wickham etc meet and greet organised!!.
Cheers all for your help.
Neels
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Tony Halliday
Posts: 2500
Date Joined: 14/06/07
good choice mate, just
good choice mate,
just spend the money on the 1kw tranny and get the FCV620, you won't regret it. first big fish will pay for it in fillets
Later when you cahs flush you can go one of the bigger commercial trannys...
cheers
Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~
It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it
"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)
"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)