Ben punch at Fibrelight boats is pretty handy 

 I don't think anyone will guarantee perfect picture at high speed as all boats will perform differently 

I'm using Ben's transom brackets with 2kw trannies and I can get perfect readings doing 30+knots at shallow depths

i think you are going down the wrong path.

That transducer is proven so if you can't get a reading over 12 knots it is most likely an install issue not a transducer issue

A more powerful transducer can just exaggerate this problem if you don't get the placement right.

At what depth can you only get 12 knots? In shallow under 100 or out deep?

3 kW options on small boats all either require a transom mount in a fibrelight mount, shoot thru the hull or flush mounted on the keel assuming you have a large flat keel, as a fairing for these large trannies will be ENORMOUS and not suitable for anything under 28 ft.

The transom mount 3kW will have similar issues to your TM260, and could quite possibly be worse, as it is a more sensitive tranny and more affected by aeration...the fibrelight housings are pretty good but I have been in a boat with them and only good to 15 knots, although he had yet to optimise it.

The shoot thru may also not be that good, as in smaller boats with chopper conditions, you get bubbles running along the hull and along the face.....

THE BEST but far is a performance fairing, BUT these are ken HOOGE and no good for a small boat. I am putting on a 1 kW with fairing on my 24 ft boat and really it is too large....doing it anyway.

Then you have the issue of a narrow beam with the higher power trannies vs the rocking of a small boat, resulting in the beam going all over the place and loosing bottom....

Big kW on small boats is hard! Big boats...easier.

I would put more effort into yor TM260, drop it down more and put on a big spray deflector to minimise the huge rooster tail you will get.....and see how you go before you go spending up big. 3kW will cost you toward 10k all said and done, and on a small boat, you may not be much better off.

Boats over 25 ft seem to do shoot thru better as the hull sits deeper in the water giving a cleaner water flow, and boats over 28ft can use a large fairing without affecting the boats handling too much.

I have a 24 foot boat.......I am going 1kW CHIRP semi recessed in the hull and cut down fairing, which is the best compromise of power and clean water I have come up with for my size boat.

My mate with a 28 foot boat is going 2 kW keel mount with a fairing.....it should be awesome. If he was not such a tight arse, he would cough up $7500 for a 3kW keel mount.....haha.

Firstly poor transducer readings are always usualy transducer mounting issues or interference. 

I've got a 3kw CM599 pocket mounted (wet face) on my 25ft boat, its sitting in a flat section of hull about 600mm from the back of the boat. The transducer weighs about 15kg and is defiantly not designed for a trailerboat, there designed for displacement or semi displacement hulls that sit deep in the water and has plenty of clean water flowing over it.

If its calm i can read the bottom clearly at full throttle, but if its rough it will start to break up. Im also running a thru hull 1kw that works very well at all speeds. I can send through pics of my setup if you like?

cheers

Hi all,

Appreciated all your help on the forum.

sounf like I better revisit my TM260 mount and tweak it more

I am trying to get a good reading at 100 m plus

sorry JohnF what is a fairing and what is a spray deflector ?

cheers

A performance fairing is a canoe shaped housing the sits the face of the transducer a few inches below the bottom of the hull, in clean water away from turbulence and bubbles. It is shaped hydrodymamically to both cut the water cleanly and promote clean water flow over the face, but are massive for a 1 kW unit and "rediculous" size for 2 and 3 kW. On a trailer boat, this will give THE best reading, BUT there are massive compromises with hanging such a large thing below your boat. Nothing comes for free.

Type in B260 fairing into Google. Let me tell you, in the flesh they are very intimidating.

Do you know if your transducer is the diplexed or non diplexed version? Furuno USA say that you cannot use a diplexed version with the FCV295. The diplexed versions are probably the most common would of had a plug on it when it was new if it were diplexed.

thanks JohnF

cheers

not sure shortfuse

I will hand it to the pro to install it..

 Go see Ben at Fibrelite mate 0410445585

he'll give you an honest answer, if he can help he will...but if he can't he won't just take your cash.....

 Yeah dealt with him before. I agree very helpful guy. Just waiting for a client of him that had similar thing done so I can check it out. Thankds