I pick up my new to me Grady White this weekend, and I need to replace the electronics in a bad way. I am pretty settled on the GO7 XSE, but don’t know enough about the transducer options. I will be doing a lot of bottom fishing out to a couple hundred feet with likely 6 to 10 gulf trolling runs a year. I will likely pair this with a NSS12 evo2 during the winter and before any gulf trips (however, I am ok getting a thru hull or separate transducer upon buying the NSS12). The GO7 comes standard with the Total Scan All In One Transducer 83/200 455/800 DownScan & StructureScan. However, I have seen sites that have options to get any multitude of different transducers with this unit instead.
Is the transducer what I need for what I want to do or is there a better option?
The Totalscan transducer is the only one that will give you Structure Scan/ True Chirp. You can Chirp with the HDI but not as well. The Go7 can’t talk to the NSS series. So if you want shared screens and radar, etc down the road, go with the NSS models. You can only talk to the Go7 from a NSS through NEMA 2000, so if you want to share sonar, radar, etc it won’t do it. It will also not share screens.
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Good info right there. Thank you. I would like for them to work together in the future. So, if I go with the NSS7 instead, which transducer to pair it with to do the things above?
If you want the two units to work together, don’t pair an NSS (non evo2) with an evo2. Maybe they are supposed to connect, but I can tell you from experience, get two evo2’s. The evo2 is a great machine, the knob is very good feature, and to me it is just as user friendly as a Garmin.
Back to your basic question about the transducer. An Airmar through hull will give generally better readings while running, unless your transom mount just happens to be at a perfect location. But even a through hull is only as good as its location.
There are many options on transducers, and you can go on thehulltruth.com and read as much as you like. Chirp is the rage and you can see some amazing screen shots, but your results may be different. Part of it will be in tuning your settings once your system is installed.
I second what Ona Mission is saying. I have the Go7xse and I absolutely love it, but I am likely selling my boat next spring and I didn’t want to throw a ton of cash into an evo2 and then part ways with it. Much of it depends on what size Grady you have and how you plan to fish it. I have the Total Scan all in one and mounted it on the port side. While trolling I often shut down my port engine to give me a clean reading. It’s a large transducer (7 or 8 inches) so it’s unlikely you can find a spot on the stern that won’t have interference. A through-hull is great but you lose water temp and unless you want to add to the system it’s an expensive proposition. My advice, for what it’s worth, is to go with the evo2 if it’s a big boat (27+) and/or you plan on keeping it for the long haul, and if so, I’d go through-hull transducer and a unit that can be easily expanded.
Edgewater 245, Twin 150 Yam
“The Mighty Fin”
Thanks for the ■■■■■■■■. It is a 27ft Grady.
The best rigging for a 27’ Grady would be a thru hull transducer for Chirp and a second transducer for structure scan. If you go with the Evo2 you can always add a second screen down the road, radar, etc. Also look at the new 3D structure scan. It all depends on how much bottom fishing vs trolling you plan on doing. The thru hull is based on how deep you plan on going ranging from $400-$1500 on up.
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