Transducer selection and beam angles
Hey team was wondering if anyone around perth has a ss164 running with a furuno 587. How does it perform? Just bought a second hand 5.8 westy with an old in hull that doesn' work with my furuno sounder so i need to upgrade.
After some research I am still undecided on a transducer selection. I do 90% of my diving and fishing between 20-40 metres so i am thinking it may be beneficial to go with the ss175HW. Much bigger beam angle then the ss164 (25 degree band width). Apparently they work great with furuno and is an exceptional picture. I love diving small bombies out in the 30's but you pretty much have to drive straight over the top of one to find it with a transducer like a tm260 or ss164. Maybe the ss175HW will deliver a higher success rate of finding these coral bombies.
I've spent many days driving around 20-30m looking for good diving ground and wonder how many i have driven a few metres past but not been able to see them because of the beam angle (old boat use to have a tm260 with furuno 587). At 30 metres the tm260 will only be making a footprint of about 3.3 metres which doesmt seem to be much. I'm all about putting time into finding new spots i just want to maximise my chances of finding these little nuggets in the deep. There' always good fish and crays between 20-40M and that's what i like diving.
Any thoughts would be great!
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Stevo81
Posts: 1278
Date Joined: 16/04/12
The HW will make it harder to
The HW will make it harder to get on top of those small bombies too. Narrow beam transducers have always been the go to for pinpointing bottom structure.
Can you install two trannys?
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Mitch Westy
Posts: 28
Date Joined: 16/07/19
What's the best setup with the 587.
Yeah mate I've got plenty of space and 2 big inspection hatches towards the transom. Could also transom mount if i wanted to but theres already a hole in the hull so i wanted to replace that. And by the sounds if it the in hull is the way to go. What are you suggesting?
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resurgence
Posts: 575
Date Joined: 23/04/14
Two cone angles
Wide beam to locate the bommie, narrow beam to pinpoint its exact location.
Stevo81
Posts: 1278
Date Joined: 16/04/12
There’s a few options. Two
There’s a few options. Two flush mounts like you’ve mentioned. A dual frequency like a tm260 has always been great with Furuno. A b260 will be too big for a 5.8 but even a 600w b744 thru Hull in a fairing will be great in those depths and will return bottom readings at cruising speed.
What plotter are you running? Can you did a structure scan tranny to that to go with a narrow beam flush mount?
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Mitch Westy
Posts: 28
Date Joined: 16/07/19
Transducers.
I have actually got a lowrance hds 8 that has the structure scan but I didn't bother installing the transducer because i thought the furuno set up would be a lot better. You think run the furuno through hull for the narrow beam to pin point and use the other sounder to scan a bit wider?
I won't be able to run both at the same time though will i
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Stevo81
Posts: 1278
Date Joined: 16/04/12
Not sure on Lowrance but the
Not sure on Lowrance but the Garmin GT51M-TH is a great transducer for finding ground. All in one medium band chirp, downscan and sidescan. Available in thru-hull so great readings and will be able to run at the same time a high frequency 200khz flush mount on your Furuno without interference. Obviously would need a Garmin unit to run the GT51. Lowrance might have something similar that can run off your HDS
All depends how much money you want to spend...
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Rowanhill
Posts: 69
Date Joined: 28/01/14
i have the SS/164/20 in my
i have the SS/164/20 in my boat currently to a Furuno 588. Very fussy with my sounders and set ups. I find it amazing, especially in HF upto 120 m-at speed too. Getting great readings in 350-400 m on LF too
Although it might be slightly harder to find ground with a narrow beam...the postive way to look at is that when u find them.
....u r fishing on top of them, not 10-20 m off to the side.
Speak to Rhyss at Taylor Marine..There is NO ONE better for anything Furuno.
Ive had transmon mounts/TM 260's etc...if u can, go the flush mount. Wayyyyy better than any transom mount in m opinion.
Good luck
Mitch Westy
Posts: 28
Date Joined: 16/07/19
Cheers mate rolled with the
Cheers mate rolled with the SS164, installing it next week. Can' wait to test it out
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ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
Something else you need to bear in mind
A wider beam angle will not necessarily help you "find more ground" . In fact it may make you ignore ground. The return over the wider angle means everything is flattened out, as the return is averaged. Minor ledges may not even show to the untrained eye, and these can be your best. In my later years of crayfishing, I went to running dual sounders on different frequencies, after being a solely 50Khz operator like most up here. What a revelation. 50 and 200 worked very well together indeed.
But now you have Side Vision, and this will help you find stuff not directly below the boat, particularly in the sort of depths you are talking about. With the Raymarine RV-100, you can see out to the sides to the depth of water you are in. Ledges and lumps show up in obvious relief, with" shadows" to make them stand out. Have a look at some I have posted here, depths to 27 metres.
fishwrecked.com/forum/sidescandownscan-axiom-pro-shots
Mitch Westy
Posts: 28
Date Joined: 16/07/19
Mate those sounder shots
Mate those sounder shots look awesome. I have ended up going with a SS164 to run with my Furuno and I've got a lowrance hds 8 that has the the side scan/down scan. I have never used the lowrance as a sounder so i will have to get use to how it reads. I'e Got some nice bombies and ledges i know so i will drive around them at differemt speeds and distance away to try see how they show. Cheers for the help
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