Advice on Sounders
Submitted by Lavs on Wed, 2012-09-12 12:03
Hi Lads,
Chasing some advice on upgrading my sounder/fish finder. My current setup is about 10 years old - a Navman GPS chartplotter (works great), and a Humminbird Wide128 sounder (not so much).
So Im looking to upgrade the sounder, and have a few questions.
1. Given my chartplotter/GPS works well, am I better off going for a sounder only unit? I have the Navionics app as a backup GPS also.
2. Im looking currently at the HDS-5X Gen2. Thoughts?
3. Im guessing I'm going to need to replace the transducer - seems to be a lot of talk about the 1KW options here. Is this the best way to go?
4. Any recommendations on somone to install?
Thanks,
Lavs
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
If you go lowrance, just
If you go lowrance, just stick to the cheap tranny options. They aren't the best, and its totally overcapitalising to put a $1000 tranny on a $700 head unit.
If you want a good sounder, look for a Furuno FCV627, they came out very recently and aren't just hype.
Paul H
Posts: 2104
Date Joined: 18/01/07
Unless your fishing in very
Unless your fishing in very deep waters the 50/200hz tranny which comes with the HDS5 should be fine.
Is pretty easy to install yourself if your 1/2 handy
Youtube Channel - FishOnLine Productions
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbUVNa-ViyGm_FTDSv4Nqzg/videos
Dreamtime
Posts: 657
Date Joined: 21/09/09
lol
just got a hds 5x and installed it myself in an hour. just make sure u do your research about transducer placement. very simple job though.
brenz
Posts: 2182
Date Joined: 15/06/06
sounders
humminbird over lowrance any day of the week , i have run both a hds5 and a huminbird 798c si and there is absolutly no comparison... if however you will be fishing over 70-80 m forget both and get a furuno
Prego
Posts: 136
Date Joined: 03/06/09
HDS10
I've had 4 returned due to faulty screen brightness issues. Great warranty(???) - now 20mths old and still replacing but been without the use of it for way too long. Personally, I'd not buy another Lowrance but not sure what other warranties are like.
RE: fitting - get some thick teflon (20mm) and sikaflex it to the hull then screw tranny to it. Then there's no worries about screw holes if you change trannies later. SOR there's a mob at Success that makes the stuff for fenders etc.
Justo82
Posts: 482
Date Joined: 17/10/11
I have a lowrance hds7 gen2
I have a lowrance hds7 gen2 and I love it. It has put me on fish like I couldn't have imagined. Navigating has become a breeze and picking bottom types and structures is amazing. I've been as deep as 55m no problems.