Fishfinders

bigmart

bigmart

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I am toying with the idea of buying myself a present. I fancy a Fishfinder to play with.

My boat already has all the standard instruments so its not necessary to interface with them. All I want is a good reasonably priced Fishfinder so I can see the shape of the bottom & maybe home in on a few fish as I sail.

What does ther panel recommend?

Martin
 
I'm interested in this too. I also thought I fancied the Garmin range, but what is the difference between the "Blue" range and the rest? They seem to come with transom mounted transducer. Can this be mounted in-hull? Through hull? Which is best?
 
Most tranducers these days can be mounted in the hull, even transom mounted ones. The trick is to make sure there is no air or metal between the transducer and the water. If your hull is solid fibreglass then a tube can be glassed onto the hull, the transducer dropped into the tube, facing the right way and the tube filled with enough cooking oil to cover the transducer. I have seen transducers stuck to hulls with resin and silicone sealant but this is more tricky to get all the air bubbles out. If your hull is wood or some kind of sandwich then go for a transom mount.
 
Transom mount transducer can just be stuck to the inside of the hull with a blob of poxy filler.

but to be honest, the are pretty crap at really telling you about the bottom
 
[ QUOTE ]
Transom mount transducer can just be stuck to the inside of the hull with a blob of poxy filler.

[/ QUOTE ] agreed but silicone adhesive also works even if the manufacturers say it won't, just make sure there are no bubbles.

[ QUOTE ]
but to be honest, the are pretty crap at really telling you about the bottom

[/ QUOTE ] Rubbish. Some research during the Xmas break will show that some echo sounders are considerably more powerful than others which is why divers like Lowrance, we are able to use the sounder to differentiate wrecks from rock or mud. They are also waterproof.
Pete
 
We've used Garmin, Humminbird and now Eagle. All are far better than depth sounders and DO give you a good idea re. the composition of the bottom.
We've stuck the last 2 transom transducers onto the floor of the engine compartment with no problem.
I'd advise on going with a model that has atleast 168 pixels in order to get good definition.
Have fun.
 
aha.. reasonably priced, eh?
In fact, I think a F/F is the only piece of marine equipment that actually seems worth the money. Bloody amazing. God knows why they arent standard. No need for fancy fitting techniques, just do a search-its a regular question.Just think that you need clear, not disturbed water right beneath. If its just a picture of the bottom, a cheap b/w version is fine. All the fancy stuff is for that big game USofA huntin and fishin fraternity. Garmin is good-easy menus. Volume on alarms can be totally pathetic
 
I think that Garmin do a very good range. I actually prefer the grey scale ones to colour. Once you have a bit of experience using them they can give a good indication of the nature of the sea bed. They also give some idea as to when the bed is shoaling off (just before you hit bottom)
 
mine works fine with the transducer sat in a puddle in the bilge next to the engine. I never got around to a more permanent installation. This won't work though if your hull is of sandwich construction.
 
Garmin only do the 120 & 240! B&W quite expensive!! BUT

Furuno FCV 582L costs 1000 euros!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is there a buget sounder fish finder? Ive been useing an Eagle which still shows the depth but not speed nor temp!!
 
Think the cheapest model that shows speed is probably the Navman 4431 @ about £135. But suggest you look at http//www.mesltd.co.uk who list 120 odd models and are also at LIBS. Usually very good service and very good prices.
I've never bothered with speed as I rely on GPS for that, as it seems to be far more accurate than a sometimes fouled paddle wheel. Anyway after about 20knts the transducer is out of the water rather a lot /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif . I suppose you find a speed through the water figure more useful on a yacht.
 
very nice web site!! Very clear why do they charge something called "VAT"?? That makes things to expensive.

that site and http://www.jgtech.com/index.htm are perhaps the most customer friendly site anywhere!! Pity about the VAT!

http://www.mesltd.co.uk/index.php beats all as its not only friendly but gives the spec.of the products listed and it has a good range of things you need for boating!!First class site indeed!!
 
I have a Lowrance X51 which is in my opinion the perfect yacht fishfinder, now the X52 I think. Though I also read Lowrance were bought out, or took over another company, but I am sure in some guise the unit is still built.

It is not much larger than a standard instrument and as I needed a depth sounder it seemed daft not too get the f/f, especially as it was only £20 more than say the nasa clipper depth instrument. I don't see the point in having both, the f/f will work as a normal depth only readout if you so wished.

Good advice on fitting inside the hull, except you lose water temperature if you don't have the txducer in the water, a real shame, I like that personally.

I see no reason why you could not use a transom mount on a yacht, ok some will struggle, but most should be ok. You can choose a proper through hull option on most f/f's but you may have to wait longer.

I have mine suspended between the hulls from the bridge deck which works well except I have to clean off seaweed and fishing line regularly.

p.s. there are no fish left, should really rename these things as bottom searchers (ooer!) or channel finders.

J
 
Thank you to everyone for your participation.

From the responses it would seem a Black & White Garmin would get the most votes, with Hummingbird second & good value for money, or Lowrance if i've more cash to spend.

Now off to trawl the swindleries for the best bargain. I'll avoid LBS. I hate Excel, take the show back to Earls Court.

Martin
 
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