I’m getting a new depth finder for my rig and need to know which one would suit my needs best. Im looking at the furuno fcv 620 with the airmar thru hull transducer and the lowrance hds7 with the thru hull as well. I want a good unit for up to 300 feet or so of water. I need the pros opinion, Sells, Phin???
This is where Wes and I will agree to disagree. I am and will always be a Furuno person. The 620 is simple to use, easy to read and dependable. Look on the helm of ANY commercial boat and see what they are using…FURUNO! Now on the other hand, i have used some of the newer Lowrance units, and they are awesome! Great picture, great fish discrimination, and pretty easy to use as well. If money were no object, it would be a Simrad high power with a phased array transducer. If you need to check out a 620, there is one on the boat being stored at my house…Now Wes will come on here and sing the praises of the lowrance,claim he can identitify species off it, he says he can even see fish farts on his. He will claim that he can “see” red snapper on his Lowrance. We all know that is BS, as the SAFMC says there are none in our waters.
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NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
Any experience with IN-HULL transducers such as M260? Can it be used in foam filled hulls such as an Everglades?
The M260 does about what a 600W thru hull does when the M260 has to shoot thru thick fiberglass…
M260 cannot shoot thru a foam-cored hull. You have to hog the foam out and get rid of the top shell. This weakens your hull of course. I wouldn’t do it. I would cut thru 1/4" more diameter than what is needed for an Airmar tilted element and cut out the foam coring a bit then fill with gelcoat putty and seal around the hole so that water cannot get to your foam and you have something solid between the outer shell and inner shell of your foam cored hull. This way, when you tighten the nut on your tilted element thru hull it doesn’t compress/damage your foam cored hull.
Simrad NSE, NSO and the NSS that’s coming out are Lowrance HDS’s on steroids. Navico makes them all. The NSE and NSO use the same menu’s and technology as HDS plus more. CHIRP will work with the new simrads, and a 1kw CHIRP is supposed to outperform a 4kw commercial ducer. This is obviously huge for small boats. A bit overkill, and also still an expensive technology, but the Simrad NS series will do it as well as the side scan and other technologies like the unit-controlled sirius radio and weather options like the HDS can do. I don’t have to have my E box open to change channels and volume on my radio… do it on the HDS. The NSS will be cheaper than the other two Simrads and it will also be touch screen. The simrads have much stronger processors than the HDS’s. Will cost more, make no mistake.
I don’t see why folks want to pay so much for standalone furuno products. Furuno has been the best in the past, and they still have the easiest straight up fishing controls on their sonar units. That being said, they are not as fine-tunable and adjustable as the Lowrance and new Simrads. It’s like having an HD 57" TV vs a 5" sony watch man TV. Of course they both show fish, and of course people who have not fished with me before think that I drink Lowrance kool-aid and there’s nothing more to it. I look at my sonar more than any other thing when I a
Thanks gentlemen. How does the garmin 740s stack up to these with a good xducer?
REELIN N DEALIN II
Garmin makes real nice GPS units…thats all I am going to say about that!
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NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
The Furuno 620 with the Airmar tilted element will be all you will need
Just watch real good next Tuesday. Night when the camara is in the wheelhouse interviewing Sig or John or. Any other capt on the show
If you want to see the Lowrance in action I think Hank Parker stars @ 9 sat morning
I’m just saying
Furuno sonar, Furuno radar, Garmin chartplotter…
Lowrance work best in demo mode at the Bass Pro shops!!! 
quote:
Originally posted by skinneejFuruno sonar, Furuno radar, Garmin chartplotter…
Lowrance work best in demo mode at the Bass Pro shops!!!
You did it now!!! Wes is going to write a thesis on Lowrance sounders…
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NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
I have the a furuno 585 with a airmar thru hull transducer and think the world of it,and I have a good bit of experience with the 620 also a fine machine,agree with sells most of the commercial and head boats I’ve been on have one or the other with various transducer set ups.You can’t go wrong with a furuno.
quote:all Furuno electronics on my boat,anything goes wrong,Mt.Pleasant Radio is on Coleman Blvd.
Originally posted by tcrankI’m getting a new depth finder for my rig and need to know which one would suit my needs best. Im looking at the furuno fcv 620 with the airmar thru hull transducer and the lowrance hds7 with the thru hull as well. I want a good unit for up to 300 feet or so of water. I need the pros opinion, Sells, Phin???
REELIN N DEALIN II
Mt.P Radio has been in business for 20-25 yrs,Furuno dealer as well as repair.
you would be very pleased with the 620.
Bolbie, I’ve got all Furuno as well, but I can’t say that I am in love with the chart plotting capabilities.
try the NavNet 3D
quote:You buying? Also, does it still only let you have waypoints with 6 letter names and only hold 1000? I've always found that those two features piss me off more than any.
Originally posted by Bolbietry the NavNet 3D
Thanks for the assistance. I just ordered a 546 garmin plotter, fcv 620 depth finder, and an airmar b60 20 deg tilt xducer.
REELIN N DEALIN II
Tcrank
Just did a search and found this. My old furuno just went out and we were thinking the 620. Wish I could afford Wes’s unit with some water time for teaching but times are tough. Only have about $900 -1000 to spend. So how do you like your set up?
Next question is can I remove the old thru hull and use the same cut out or is it best to leave the old one in place and make a new cut?