New sounder/plotter
Submitted by Deacon on Mon, 2016-03-07 21:16
Hi lady's and gents,
I am looking to upgrade my sounder/plotter on my boat I have always had lowrance and do currently but I feel it's not giving me the best look at what's going on below, I mostly fish 20ms and deeper and have a budget of around $3000, what would you choose?
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ace rimmer
Posts: 187
Date Joined: 19/08/13
furuno
Furuno 587 with a TM260 transducer, will cover all bases cheers ACE
pricey10
Posts: 486
Date Joined: 07/01/12
I'd run a furuno 627/587 and
I'd run a furuno 627/587 and a lowrance hds for a chart plotter. I love my furuno 587 with Thru hull tranny. I find new spots nearly everytime I go out
Karratha. WA
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
Furuno
or Simrad
quest
Posts: 248
Date Joined: 03/08/15
Furuno
Go Furuno and you'll never look back.
Sulo
Posts: 256
Date Joined: 13/08/11
I have Lowrance and would go
I have Lowrance and would go Lowrance again in a heartbeat, the insight genesis map creation is a feature I am just loving and the more I use it the better it gets, not to mention structurescan in the shallower stuff, as well as the structure overlay which is also a brilliant feature to see where the area to fish is (and often the fish) without having to drive over the top of it.
I have used it to over 360m and still can clearly see the bottom, in 250m I can pick up Orange roughy or bight redfish or whatever they are and see them clearly (with M260 1kw)
I also run a 600w transom transducer and use it out to 100-150 metres and certainly do not feel I am missing anything at all.
Used Furuno in my commercial fishing days and a few mates use Furuno, have used Navman, Hummingbirds and a few others. If I was to just fish offshore and bluewater then I would look at Simrad, but for now I am happy with what I have, it does everything I need and more than I know what to do with.
out wide
Posts: 1535
Date Joined: 30/12/08
Not sure how many Lowrance
Not sure how many Lowrance are used on pro boats..I will have a guess. None. Don't settle for lesser sounders just buy Furuno then you know you have the best.
Sulo
Posts: 256
Date Joined: 13/08/11
Haha and yeah all the pro
Haha and yeah all the pro boats run 587's.
Hey if you like Furuno that is fine I am not looking for an argument, just trying to give the guy some info unlike all of the Furuno lovers replies of just "Furuno" not really helping anyone just showing that they have loyalty. They love them but can only describe why in one word! (Furuno).
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
I have the simrad nss7 (cost
I have the simrad nss7 (cost about $1500). There are newer models and bigger screens. Great units. Combo and can be intregrated with a whole lot more stuff if you want (radar, structure scan, engine guages, video etc). Touch screen, puch button and dial technology. Scroll back screen so you can mark spots you have already been over. Should check them out before you decide.
Fish! HARD!
out wide
Posts: 1535
Date Joined: 30/12/08
All good you guys if you want
All good you guys if you want to fuck around..but if you want to catch fish then you know what is needed.
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
A fishing line with a hook
A fishing line with a hook and bait attached?
Fish! HARD!
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
You said 20m plus but think
You said 20m plus but think it really depends on how ...plus?
the furuno gear is fantastic but simrad lowrance is just as effective in shallower water. (no point buying a F350 to tow a tinny)
there are plenty of us using non- furuno gear and we are not all "f*&king around" and some of us actually catch fish as well.
If you are not fishing regularly past 100m then there are plenty of options. 3K will get you good setup but probably not furuno 587 and Tm260 with a decent plotter. (as Im sure you know)
personally IMHO if you can afford the 587 TM260 + decent plotter then go for it .....great setup and you wont look back but if you can only afford the 627 then forget it get a simrad or lowrance.
Bryce Day
Posts: 812
Date Joined: 01/06/15
If set up right they are all
Cruise Control
Posts: 973
Date Joined: 03/11/10
I'm with you Sulo. So many
I'm with you Sulo. So many people sh*tcan Lowrance when in fact they are a very reasonable sounder with some great features, although I hate the way the range is shifted. Its waayyy too slow.
I have had Raymarine, Lowrance, Navman and now Furuno and they all have their good and bad points. I am still struggling to get the best out of my Furuno 587 but I will persist given what I paid for it.
As regards performance from Lowrance, here are some shots, marking fish in 100m at 25 knots and another showing fish at 260m and still easily tracking bottom at 404m. All this with ss264 1kW through hull. Hardly crap performance.
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/first-test-ss264-1kw-transducers
Bryce Day
Posts: 812
Date Joined: 01/06/15
calm conditions i see
calm conditions i see, How do you pick up the fish holding close to the edge??
Cruise Control
Posts: 973
Date Joined: 03/11/10
Hey Bryce This was the first
Hey Bryce
This was the first test with my new transducers and yes it was calm.
The point I was trying to make though is that the Lowrance is capable of getting down to 400m. With a little more twiddling and dialing on the range to bring it in from the 130m window that is showing down to something like 50m or less, I see no reason why it wouldn't reveal fish close to the edge, especially if the sensitivity was also tweaked.
With such a hard picture and clear definition, especially to the right of the screen, if I had done the above and there were fish there, I would have seen them, would you not agree ?
You can see from my comment above that changing the range on the Lowrance is one of my pet hates and that's the reason why I wouldn't have changed the range here. With the way it was dropping, by the time I stuffed around setting the range, it would have been off the screen.
In any event, a user could hardly be unhappy with that picture out of Gen 1 HDS, I believe later models are more capable but I have not had an opportunity to actually witness.
Bryce Day
Posts: 812
Date Joined: 01/06/15
im sure any sounder in the
im sure any sounder in the range of money he is prepared to pay will work for him! i just dont have faith in the smaller powered trannys for the deep stuff! raqnging up and down in the deep could be a problem as shelf walls are quite steep!
Cruise Control
Posts: 973
Date Joined: 03/11/10
Absolutely. The range
Absolutely. The range changing of the Lowrance is a real weak point, otherwise, I find them to be quite reasonable.
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
Combo arrangement is the real weak point.
Having to select the Page to get a context-sensitive menu is a real PITA. So if only using as a sounder or plotter, better. But I think they should really just have a Shift function ala Furuno--this having to set a Custom range with upper and lower limits is so slow. I was a commercial user with Furuno, Simrad, JRC, JCV--used Shift all the time to get a good bottom compostion magnification. When I bought a recco boat with a FCV-600, it was just business as usual. Just select a shallow ( 5 fathom or 10 fathom) range, and shift as necessary.
I have been having success using Auto ranging and zoom , ( and the Blue Fish Reveal pallette)keeps picture more or less where I need it. Is it prone to get lost in really deep water if you try this?