Cheap depth finders

[Rodg98133]

Are the cheap wireless fishfinders on ebay any good as depth finders? Can you fit the transponder in the hull? If these are no good whats the other cheapest alternative to fit one on my boat? Everything i find is from the usa and you end up paying more for postage than you do for the item.

 

[elton]

Are the cheap wireless fishfinders on ebay any good as depth finders? Can you fit the transponder in the hull? If these are no good whats the other cheapest alternative to fit one on my boat? Everything i find is from the usa and you end up paying more for postage than you do for the item.

You'd more likely get a reply to this on the PBO forum.

 

[gjgm]

Are the cheap wireless fishfinders on ebay any good as depth finders? Can you fit the transponder in the hull? If these are no good whats the other cheapest alternative to fit one on my boat? Everything i find is from the usa and you end up paying more for postage than you do for the item.

A basic transducer f/finder and screen by say Garmin is less than £100, surely? Thats pretty cheap and at least you know it is reliable. The transducer can either be mounted on the transom or inside the hull, though some models are specific, and location both in and out is critical (clear water, no bubbles)

 

[PaulGooch]

A basic transducer f/finder and screen by say Garmin is less than £100, surely? Thats pretty cheap and at least you know it is reliable. The transducer can either be mounted on the transom or inside the hull, though some models are specific, and location both in and out is critical (clear water, no bubbles)

Agreed, a cheap Garmin is the way to go, IMO. Their transom mounted transducers will fit in hull OK, stick them down with slow drying epoxy.

 

[benjenbav]

How about one of these?

No question of electronic reliability!

 

[gravygraham]

How about one of these?

Lol! I bought one of them when I got my first boat. Still in the wrapper it is.

 

[Rodg98133]

Anyone got any links to a suitable garmin so i know what im looking for? Is it a boat depth finder or a fish finder which can be used as a depth finder?

 

[gjgm]

Anyone got any links to a suitable garmin so i know what im looking for? Is it a boat depth finder or a fish finder which can be used as a depth finder?

http://www.garmin.com/uk/products/marine-products/

The echo 100 is about £90, I guess.
Do a search on the forum about various installation options for the transducers (and associated issues)

 

[dingdongs]

one of the garmin chartplotters with a transducer will give you sonar and they do have in hull ones that req no drilling.all in one units anf the 5 series are good quality even though there not cheap but will not know how youv'e managed once you have one.inboard transducer is about £80 on its own.

 

[PaulGooch]

one of the garmin chartplotters with a transducer will give you sonar and they do have in hull ones that req no drilling.all in one units anf the 5 series are good quality even though there not cheap but will not know how youv'e managed once you have one.inboard transducer is about £80 on its own.

The OP was asking about an Ebay fishfinder that costs £23, so i'm not sure how well a 5 series with fishfinder capabilities will fit into his budget. With the black box, transducer and a chart card, the cheapest 5008 comes in at circa £3500

Good kit though.

 

[Rodg98133]

Yeh thats probably a tad out my budget lol. Thats nearly double the value of my boat lol.

 

[mersey]

Have used the Lowrance X4 on someone else's boat, does all you need, showing depth and a view of the bottom.

http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/fishfinders/lowrance/x-4-fishfinder.bhtml

 

[VicS]

One of the Nasa depth sounders perhaps will fit the bill.

http://www.nasamarine.com/products.php?cat=15

Look out for one on ebay ??

If you fancy the old fashioned revolving type then THIS ONE

 

[prv]

Has anyone yet established why the OP shouldn't use one of the £23 fishfinders?

Granted, they look a bit rubbish as fishfinders - the screen is just an LCD with a grid of "fish" positions that turn on and off - but they display the depth in the top right corner so would seem to work as a budget depth sounder. In fact I'm almost tempted to get one myself as a backup / portable sounder.

Pete

 

[Rodg98133]

All i want it for is to tell me the depth when i come to anchor. The £23 will do that joh just fine i think. Only thing is not sure if the tranducer thingy will work through the hull or whether would have to fabricate some sort of bracket to mount it on the transom?

 

[Nautibusiness]

All i want it for is to tell me the depth when i come to anchor. The £23 will do that joh just fine i think. Only thing is not sure if the tranducer thingy will work through the hull or whether would have to fabricate some sort of bracket to mount it on the transom?

Looking at the picture it looks like it has a little floaty thingy that you simply lob out?
That should be fine if it is for when you are at anchor.

However, I think you can get a proper, simple, depth finder for similar money that can be properly mounted.

 

[prv]

For what it's worth I've ordered one of the cheapy fishfinders. Not the very cheapest with the silly individual fish icons on the screen, but the cheapest one with a dot-matrix display for about £30. Thought I might use it for looking at the shape of the bottom in shallow creeks, and there's a small chance that one day it may just come in handy as a spare depth sounder after some kind of failure.

Pete

 

[Peterjfinch]

I guess that the question is, can you afford not to protect your hull?