Depth Sounders- any ideas?

[newhue]

I have an opportunity to upgrade the potential quality of depth sounder I can purchase.
I know very little about them but have grasped the suggestion from a few mates regarding being removable, and GPS capable.

The young bloke down the boat shop says B&W are no good, but I'd expect that from a 22 year old. My thinking is though colour would be nice, size of screen bobbing around on the water would be more important. Screens bigger than 3.5" or maybe 4" in colour start to add up, where as a 5" B&W are at sub $300 mostly.

My budget is $650, no desire to spend it all but if they are far better than a $300 so be it. It's going on a 3.5m dinghy.

I've been looking at Hummingbird because that is all I'm familiar with. Have read some good reviews on Garman but non with GPS.

Whats your thoughts on brands and capabilities.

[Aussie]

I bought a Garmin 300c color sounder for my boat it cost $220 and is fantastic. Gives me water temp, voltage output from motor, has 2 freq settings, 200Mhz and 77Mhz. for the price its a ripper. Bought it from BCF


Garmin Echo 300c Fish Finder - BCF (http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/products/Garmin-Echo-300c-Fish-Finder.aspx?pid=292823#Cross)

[LandyAndy]

Its Boat Show season.There normally is good offers on this sort of gear.
Beware EBay,some US imported stuff is geo-fenced and it will cost you to get the GPS unlocked.
Goodluck
Andrew

[Barra1]

Just finished installing a new Lowrance Elite 5 DSI combo - down-imaging and chart-plotter.

Purchased from the local BCF at $550 - reduced from $699. Apparently a new model is coming out therefore the reduced price.

I have yet to use it but was using my brothers off Mandurah a week or so ago and that was good enough for me to make the purchase when I returned home to Albury.

Easy to use too:D

[LandyAndy]

The new one has just been released,Elite-5 HDI.(Hybrid dual imaging).Broadband sounder and Downscan imaging.
http://www.lowrance.com/en-au/Products/Fishfinder-Chartplotter/Elite5-HDI-en-au.aspx
Andrew

[Ranga]

IIRC, colour actually is more than just pretty to look at - it indicates the type of bottom, which can be important when chasing particular species.

That Elite-5 HDI looks fantastic for the money - they've sure come a long way since my grandfather's old paper jobby!

[newhue]

Just finished installing a new Lowrance Elite 5 DSI combo - down-imaging and chart-plotter.

Purchased from the local BCF at $550 - reduced from $699. Apparently a new model is coming out therefore the reduced price.

I have yet to use it but was using my brothers off Mandurah a week or so ago and that was good enough for me to make the purchase when I returned home to Albury.

Easy to use too:D

Nice, I see you get an option of CMAP or Navionics charts. 5" screen as well. Now that's coming along

[Barra1]

Yeah Jason it does sound good but the new model at $659 from some marine places sounds even better.;)

[newhue]

Yeah Jason it does sound good but the new model at $659 from some marine places sounds even better.;)

you may have caught yourself a bargain there. Just spent half an hour trying to find your model. Seems they have moved on. It seems the Lawrance are better priced than Humminbird. Just need a little break from it, starting to get dizzy.

[ozscott]

Mate the first question is where are you going to use it and for what?

You might be better with a good second hand combo unit.

Cheers

[ozscott]

The best place for advice and seeing the options running is Trymax Marine at Capalaba....have a Captain at their web site.

Cheers

[weeds]

if i remember tomorrow i will post up the details of the one have at work, pretty sure it is a Lawrence might even be colour........you are more than welcome to use it to help get your head around them

[newhue]

Thanks weeds. How did you come to have one sitting on the desk anyway?

Ozscott, good point. Probably most use will be 20m of water. But they tell me once you have bought a dinghy, well.....that's just the start of bigger things to come.
One thing for sure, I can see the value of a low water alarm. Found myself a few rocks on the weekend, just idling luckily. But it give you a hell of a fright.

can anyone clarify if echo sounder frequencies 50/200 kHz are a LOT better than 83/200 kHz. Or is it a bit of a marketing thing.

[weeds]

Thanks weeds. How did you come to have one sitting on the desk anyway?



The things you acquire as a project manager.....

I brought it to assist when surveying our process water dam.....used it once and it's sat in the corner for the last six months. Using a stick seems easier plus our surveyors reckon they can do it way better than I can do with my stick

Anyways let work out a way to meet up and exchange....

[weeds]

its a Lowrance Elite 4.......

Elite-4 - LOWRANCE | Marine Electronics (http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Fishfinder-Chartplotter/Elite4-en-us.aspx)

[LandyAndy]

You will find the difference in frequencies is for depth,you wont need 50 on a dinghy,its for deep water,it relates to the cone size the transducer scans at.
I could have the freq mixed up,but as far as I know 83/200 would be plenty,200 in shallow,83 in deeper waters.
I have a brand new HDS9 touch with a 1kw 50/200 transducer and broadband/sidescan transducer awaiting fittment to my tub:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:
Andrew