Current FF losing signal deeper than 250’ 
, so I am shopping for another single unit that displays bottom contour, temp, speed and of course, fish.(hungry ones prefered 
) what say ya’ll?. Thanks, Brooks
GW 232GT Gulfstream
150Yam x 2
“3rd Day”
Gen. Chap.1 Vs.9-13
What unit do you have? Upgrading your transducer might be the way to go unless your bent on getting those features you mentioned. Reading depth (at least factors that you can control) will generally be a function of your unit’s power output and the transducer’s surface area and power rating. Color is a nice feature if you bottom fish.
Very satisfied with my Furuno 585/Airmar thru-hull. It will lose bottom backing hard or catching air though.</font id=“blue”>
I have a Garmin 160. The boss says get a color unit. In fact, she said just the other day at WM, the Raymarine unit looks nice. I said yes it does, honey, it’s 2200 dollars for the head unit and then you buy modules. I’m not in the market for all in one electronics and I’m not real impressed with the Garmin fishfinders. (small screens, good graphics). Thanks for the input. Brooks
GW 232GT Gulfstream
150Yam x 2
“3rd Day”
Gen. Chap.1 Vs.9-13
I have the Garmin 5212, its big enough to see the bottom and watch your track line
Furuno 585, pm me if you have any questions.
Garmin, Furuno and Hummingbird make great products…the only thing is that at deeper than 250 with the hummingbird side image you will not recieve much back. My personal opinion is stay away from lowrance.
God is Great, Beer is Good and People are Crazy.
quote:
Originally posted by kneelinandreelinGarmin, Furuno and Hummingbird make great products…the only thing is that at deeper than 250 with the hummingbird side image you will not recieve much back. My personal opinion is stay away from lowrance.
God is Great, Beer is Good and People are Crazy.
I disagree. The new Lowrance HDS is hard to beat
From reds to marlin you got it.
2001 210 Sea Fox
2009 Yamaha F150
2009 Skeeter 24V
2009 Yamaha F300 V8
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(Team Boat)
quote:Touche....I totally forgot about that unit. I am interested to see the longevity of it though, that is the main problem I have had with Lowrance units, not the options or the readings.
I disagree. The new Lowrance HDS is hard to beat
God is Great, Beer is Good and People are Crazy.
New Lowrance HDS with Airmar tilted element 600W or 1kW thru hull.
People on this forum and others have discussed having problems with Raymarine’s DSM300 sonar box, which you have to purchase separately from the display unit. I have not personally seen any problems with the new Ray’s I’ve used with the DSM300 and airmar transom mount and thru hull transducers. Ray makes a nice unit, but even the older lowrance units (112/113C, 37/38C, etc.) show more definition on the screen, and your range and power can be fine-tuned instead of picking preset-type ranges and gains. The reason why everyone thinks Lowrance doesn’t make a good sonar is because Lowrances come with a lowrance transducer that isn’t anywhere near what the airmars can do. When people buy a furuno or raymarine product, they’ve got to buy an airmar for it. The sonar with the airmar then reads in deeper water, so people assume it’s because the brand’s better. Not necessarily so. A lot of it is personal preference, but I think if you check out anyone’s Lowrance system that has it hooked up with a high quality airmar transducer, the difference is very obvious. I notice the difference between the lowrance w/ lowrance transducer and the high dollar rays and furunos with expensive airmar 'ducers in shallower water, but that’s probably because I tune the sounder constantly when I bottom fish to know everything I can about what’s below the boat. I prefer lowrance, but if you want it to do even better, especially in deeper water, you will need an airmar thru-hull for it. The lowrance 200/50 transom-mount transducer that comes with their best models usually stops showing good bottom detail around 400ft. Again, this has nothing to do with the head unit. It has to do with the transducer. So you may be able to get a better transducer to drastically improve what your current machine can do.
Luke 8:22-25
Thanks for the replies. Phin, what you say makes good sense. You could have best head unit, but if the info coming into it sucks, then thats all you’re going to see and yes power is a big deal when it comes to reading the bottom. Thanks again and I’ll continue my research. Brooks
GW 232GT Gulfstream
150Yam x 2
“3rd Day”
Gen. Chap.1 Vs.9-13
furuno 585
quote:
Originally posted by PhinNew Lowrance HDS with Airmar tilted element 600W or 1kW thru hull.
People on this forum and others have discussed having problems with Raymarine’s DSM300 sonar box, which you have to purchase separately from the display unit. I have not personally seen any problems with the new Ray’s I’ve used with the DSM300 and airmar transom mount and thru hull transducers. Ray makes a nice unit, but even the older lowrance units (112/113C, 37/38C, etc.) show more definition on the screen, and your range and power can be fine-tuned instead of picking preset-type ranges and gains. The reason why everyone thinks Lowrance doesn’t make a good sonar is because Lowrances come with a lowrance transducer that isn’t anywhere near what the airmars can do. When people buy a furuno or raymarine product, they’ve got to buy an airmar for it. The sonar with the airmar then reads in deeper water, so people assume it’s because the brand’s better. Not necessarily so. A lot of it is personal preference, but I think if you check out anyone’s Lowrance system that has it hooked up with a high quality airmar transducer, the difference is very obvious. I notice the difference between the lowrance w/ lowrance transducer and the high dollar rays and furunos with expensive airmar 'ducers in shallower water, but that’s probably because I tune the sounder constantly when I bottom fish to know everything I can about what’s below the boat. I prefer lowrance, but if you want it to do even better, especially in deeper water, you will need an airmar thru-hull for it. The lowrance 200/50 transom-mount transducer that comes with their best models usually stops showing good bottom detail around 400ft. Again, this has nothing to do with the head unit. It has to do with the transducer. So you may be able to get a better transducer to drastically improve what your current machine can do.
Thanks again for the replies. Lowrance and Furuno have been around for a long time and I’m guessing because of product reputation for dependability. Being user friendly is a must. Thanks, Brooks
GW 232GT Gulfstream
150Yam x 2
“3rd Day”
Gen. Chap.1 Vs.9-13
Hey Mike, I have not looked at the Garmin 5212. I’ve only seen what’s at BW and a little bit on line. I’ll check it out. Thanks, Brooks
GW 232GT Gulfstream
150Yam x 2
“3rd Day”
Gen. Chap.1 Vs.9-13