What sounder...
As I mentioned in another post I am going to do a centre console conversion on a recently purchased Pacemaker. It came with an eagle something sounder which I have no intention of using and I was wanting to get everyones/ anyones oppinion on what GPS/ Sounder to get.. Now I have done the search option to death before anyone replys with that... It is a 17ft ish fiberglass and I will have to transom mount the transducer as the floor is solid. I mainly fish upto 50-70 meters but usualy only 20-30 metres looking for dive locations around Rotto. I would also like it to be capable of showing me the sambos on the containers if I went that far out. My plan was to go the HDS10 and just have the 1 screen dash mounted in the console but after searching around I get the impression thers is better options like a HDS 5 or 7 and then runing a Furuno 620 or 585 along side. I don't know if it would be necesary to have a 1kw tranny over a 600kw for what I need but then again I see there is mixed arguments on that too.... also are you able to run the two units from the same transducer?
So Mandurah Boat show is on in 2 weeks and i was hoping to go there and buy my shiny new toys hopefully cheaper for cash.... I have about 3000 in mind, do you think that is a fair amount for the set up (GPS/ plotter, sounder, transducer and chart card) or should I be spending more bearing in mind I have a lot more to spend money on before the conversion is complete and eventualy bolting on a new motor...
NEVER PUSH YOUR GRANNY WHEN SHE'S SHAVING
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grayzeee
Posts: 2283
Date Joined: 09/07/09
what info on this, did you
what info on this, did you not find in the search??
everyone knows a hummingbird 385 and save money on gps by using a marker buoy!
(or a 620 600w and hds5)
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
hemi
Posts: 349
Date Joined: 17/01/10
Hds 5 value for money and
Hds 5 value for money and apparently works very good ... If I could only get the bloody boat in the water to test it
MattMiller
Posts: 4171
Date Joined: 15/06/09
Yep, Grayzee is right
this has been covered and covered on here almost weekly.
Consensus being HDS 5 or 7 (depending on budget and room) and Furuno 620 or 585 (once agin depending on budget and room)
No need for 1Kw in those depths, 600W will work out to 200m.
mrwinta
Posts: 457
Date Joined: 14/01/10
Thanks for the replys..
I know it gets covered a lot... so sorry to bore anyone by asking again, I just don't know shnizle about gps's and sounders or how to get the best set up for my aplication and indeed budget... also for me to take 3-4 grand and spend it on what the wife thinks is not that important or says to me whats wrong with the one that is on there already - I need to sound confident in my choices.... I have prety much decided on an fcv 620 and an HDS 5 but there is so many options for transducers and they vary in price so much it just baffles me. I am now leaning towards lifting the floor in the boat so I can put a tranny in side the boat.... any recomendations on which one?? and is it possible for the two units to run from the same transducer?
NEVER PUSH YOUR GRANNY WHEN SHE'S SHAVING
AllBoatsChandlery
Posts: 118
Date Joined: 17/07/10
MrWinta
If your looking at 2 sepaerate yes a FCV620 and HDS7m would be very nice package or the FCV585 and the HDS8m which would be awsome pack if you want bigger screens. Around your budget of $3k you could do a HDS10 combo. The FCV585 and HDS8m will go over your budget. Maybe call in to see us and we'll show what you can do and options available. PM me if you want to get some good pricing now? Cheers
"There's no business like boat business"
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
Sure
It's been covered sure but the guy is still entitled to have his say you don't have read or respond but at least give him ago bet he feels better when someone gives a response
mrwinta
Posts: 457
Date Joined: 14/01/10
Thats true mate... cheers...
Thats true mate... cheers... fishing and boating is still a relativly new passion of mine so I don't have a fraction of the experience of most of the others and 3-4 grand ain't exactly loose change! na the comments have been very helpfull so far and I have been doing a fair bit of searching around so I think I know what I want now....
I noticed Allboats have always made a very big effort when these questions have poped up so I will give them a go and see what they can do...
NEVER PUSH YOUR GRANNY WHEN SHE'S SHAVING
Paully
Posts: 3246
Date Joined: 15/08/09
This ^
thewom
Posts: 43
Date Joined: 31/05/11
Mirwinta , been new to
Mirwinta , been new to fishing myself and of limitted funds to deck out my small centre console i went for a lowrance x5pro with twin wit dual transducers for my sounder which works great if u cant afford a colour unit. i still havent got a gps but after seeing some posts on here realised i could download a navionics map/ chartplotter app on my iphone 4 for like 18 bucks from memory. after using the first few times i realised that my phone battery would only last a few hours whilst using the gps ( especialy when tracking your route) which i find a usefully function seeing as im still learning about finding ground andthe phone app makes it difficult to store waypoints. having beeing really impressed with the effectivenes and cheapnes of the navionics chartplotter app i have decided against a gps for now saving several hundred dollars and i simply havnt got the spare room in in my console dash. oh and i addressed the low iphone battery life my installing a cheap 12 volt accesory plug inside my console and with my iphone car charger she can now run all day. the only real hassle with using my iphone gps is the screen is small and hard to use in a rocking boat without getting it wet. i plan to rectify this by just putting a small car style iphone holder some where in the console. i obviously intend to uprade my electronics one day but for now i had to get creative with my limitted funds after buying the boat.
Just a thought mate works fine for me and we cant all afford the good shit, this combo has put me onto plenty of good fish already and for only around 300 bucks i have a gps a cheap sounder ( installed it myself keeping costs down again) with water temp etc which for the money is a fantastic unit. with a lil online education on how to read it she will show me the difference between hard and soft ground. seaweed . bait balls and decent fish etc.
shes not a flash fittout mate but im pretty sure it puts me onto as many fish as the guys with the full proper set up.
mrwinta
Posts: 457
Date Joined: 14/01/10
Yea cheers for the ideas
Yea cheers for the ideas mate.... I have a tinny too and I use the iphone for the navigation on that when needed and to be honest mate I just put it in a snaplock bag for waterproofing... It works well enough but I mainly never need the gps in the tinny as I can see where I want to be, but for the project boat I want to have some good gear from the start so I am prety sure I will go the HDS-5 or 7 plotter/ sounder combo with a seperate sounder like the furuno 620 linked to the HDS... but I agree in the tinny I got a cheap navman 40?? sounder and it aint flash but does the job....
Cheers...
NEVER PUSH YOUR GRANNY WHEN SHE'S SHAVING
hamo
Posts: 93
Date Joined: 07/10/10
Alright so the consensus is
Alright so the consensus is that the furuno gear (either 620 or 585) is the business. I have the choice of running 2x HDS-8's or HDS-8 + FCV585. What would you do and why ?
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
As you have said Hamo
As you have said Hamo consensus is with Furuno as the sounder, I run the 585 with Lowrance HDS 7 on my tub. Lowrance have a damn fine GPS unit & therefore if your going to run a combo then why not have the best of both worlds.
hamo
Posts: 93
Date Joined: 07/10/10
That was my way of thinking.
That was my way of thinking. Missus has spent a few years buying stuff for different mobs through Taylor marine so might give them a hoy and see if they can't sort me one out. I suppose the next question is what's the prefered transducer ? or is that how fat is my wallet ! Only deep water 90-100m+ it will see is when we travel to Exmouth or maybe Montebellos, 600w cut the mustard or better off with a 1kw job ?
Sorry for hijacking your thread MrWinta.
mrwinta
Posts: 457
Date Joined: 14/01/10
Na you're not hijacking mate
Na you're not hijacking mate this is good as we are both chasing the same answers..... thanks for the input Lamby and Till.... If 600w will read in 300 meters then it is more than good enough for me... besides it looks like the fcv 620 has only up to 600w out put so 1Kw will be wasted.... (I think?)
NEVER PUSH YOUR GRANNY WHEN SHE'S SHAVING
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
I've heard it is possible to
I've heard it is possible to fit a 1kW to it but I have never seen it done, nor know how to do it.
Maybe its done the same way as you fit the 2kW trannies to the FCV-585? That is, via the MB1100 unit.
Two points though:
1) A better tranny can be better, not just because of increased power, but by increased receive senstivity and a wider listening area. A P79 isn't even as big as a coke can, but the R299 is the size of a carton of stubbies.
2) Even if you don't use the extra power, you can still benefit from the increased sensitivity etc.
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
We were reading out in the
We were reading out in the 300m mark with a 600w tranny yesterday, just depends on how much time you reckon you're going to spend out past 100m really.
hamo
Posts: 93
Date Joined: 07/10/10
300m is a bit of water, I
300m is a bit of water, I wouldn't dream of bottom bashing that deep as I'm not equipped for it. Mainly just for seeing what is around or worth trying to raise something out of deeper water. Sounds like I'd get away with a 600w item. It's not like they'll stop making 1kw transducers anytime soon, can always update/upgrade. Anyone recall what they paid for their 585 ??
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
Yeah for that I would go with
Yeah for that I would go with a 600w but if you have the cash then get the 1kw & avoid the upgrade later plus you will enjoy that little bit extra clarity. Did you purchase that Trophy WA? If so that model may have the pre designated area for a shoot thru tranny
hamo
Posts: 93
Date Joined: 07/10/10
Yeah Lamby, Bought the Trophy
Yeah Lamby, Bought the Trophy WA. Don't have the tools or knowledge to do a thru hull trasducer install so will have to make some enquiries. Is there anything that gives the spot away on the hull Lamby ?
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
Meant to be a flat pad near
Meant to be a flat pad near the transom, open up your inspection ports near there & have a poke around. Mine does not have one but most trophy's do apparently, if so go get yourself the tm260 tranny to go with the 585.
hamo
Posts: 93
Date Joined: 07/10/10
Sounds like a plan. Thanks
Sounds like a plan. Thanks for your input everyone, Lamby I definately owe you a brew now mate.
mrwinta
Posts: 457
Date Joined: 14/01/10
I am going to try and sound
I am going to try and sound clever and technical for a moment...! Now I could be way off as I am just learning about this stuff and am happy to be corrected but- If the frequency of a 600w is higher than a 1 Kw then that means it has shorter wavelength therefore having better resolution and being able to give better definition than the 1 Kw. The advantage of the 1 2 or 3 Kw trannys are that they have better penetrating power so you can read signals at a greater distance. with this in mind then if fishing in less than say 150m for instance, you would be better off with a 600w as it will give a good enough signal with better definition and clarity... or atleast thats what I understand it..???
NEVER PUSH YOUR GRANNY WHEN SHE'S SHAVING
smash
Posts: 434
Date Joined: 01/12/10
not quite
KW refers to the output power.
Frequency choices are generally (at least all I have come across) is 200hz for shallow water and 50hz for deeper, and are determined by the head unit not the transducer.
So both a 600w and 1kw can transmit at 50hz and 200hz if the unit allows.
The rest of your post is pretty much on the money though.
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Bit of both, pretty sure that
Bit of both, pretty sure that 50/200Hz trannys are dual element trannies, so the head unit is switched to sending either 200 or 50Hz signals.
Some trannies, like the ones on Southcity104's boat, are called Primary Transducers and they are just single-element, and no temp sensor or speed sensor etc.
Then there are the freaky software-tuneable ones for with the FVC-295 etc that have an element that can take a range of frequencies.
mrwinta
Posts: 457
Date Joined: 14/01/10
Ah... it is slowly getting
Ah... it is slowly getting easier to understand..... thanks for clearing that up guys....
NEVER PUSH YOUR GRANNY WHEN SHE'S SHAVING
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
I've never seen a 600w Tranny
I've never seen a 600w Tranny read 300m of water... well it shows the depth but you cant see anything on the bottom, cant tell where or what the bottom is. (this is on at least 4 or 5 different sounders)
Me im thinking of putting on the Lowrance HDS7 with a 1KW tranny. The guys at chivers said the 600 should read 300m but im not going to take the risk. I dont know of anyone who is using a Lowrance sounder chasing deep water fish but hey!!!
Ive got the HDS-7 as a GPS already (Actually a combo unit). So my options were to put a 2nd tranny on and use the current HDS unit for deep water stuff (would save some cash). And if it were a HDS-8 or 10 I'd do this, but prefer dual screens on my console.
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Having seen a 1kW on a
Having seen a 1kW on a Lowrance HDS-10, then the same tranny switched to a FCV-585, I would never recommend bothering.
hamo
Posts: 93
Date Joined: 07/10/10
I understand you to mean you
I understand you to mean you wouldn't bother putting a 1kw transducer on a HDS sounder, that it's not even comparable to a 585 + 1kw transducer. ?
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Yeah, and not heaps better
Yeah, and not heaps better than the same sounder with a 600W tranny.
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
Deep
I had a raymarine 90w with 600w tranni which I just sold and prefect picture in 300m not at any speed only sold it to get 120w Had hds 10 with 1 kl tranni and not in the same league as raymarine and just to upset some better than furuno have had them too