New Sounder and Chartplotter setup
Evening all,
After going through countless previous posts on this website in regards to chart plotter and sounder recommendations, unfortunately I still find myself no closer to making a final decision on my setup.
Just when I think I have finally made my mind up, I find myself back at square one. As I'm sure you can all imagine, when your about to hand over five grand for your electronics setup, you want to make sure your getting the best equipment for the job..... Its a big decision.
I have ordered a new Bar Crusher 615c from All Boats, which should be due for delivery sometime around September. I have tentatively ordered a Furuno 587 sounder coupled with a 1KW Transducer, and a Furuno 1870F which will be used as my chart plotter.
I have to say, after watching You Tube video's (one from Mr Thipthorp in particular) I think the 587/1KW system is probably the best fish finder out there. Topics on this forum back that up too....
The 1870F is where I have a problem. Whilst reading about the chart plotter side of things, Navionics appears to be the mapping software that everyone uses and recommends, although the Furuno is only compatible with C-map, which hardly comes with rave reviews.
I would ideally like a chart plotter and sounder that "talk" to one another, so when good ground is located, when you hit mark on the sounder, it transfers over to the chart plotter automatically. My under standing is that whilst the Furuno 587 is an awesome sounder, compatibility with other brands isn't it's strong point.
So after boring everyone with all that, I suppose my questions are -
1/ Is C-Map that bad that I shouldn't buy the Furuno 1870 and buy a chart plotter that runs Navionics?
2/ Would a system made up of two Lowrance HDS9 Touch (one as plotter, one as sounder) with a 1KW Transducer perform as well as a 587/1kw system?
I would really love some input from the fishwrecked community on this one, I know that there would be countless members that have faced this own situation themselves.
I'm not really set on brands, whilst I like the Furuno, I'm open to Garmin, SIMRAD and Lowrance, but I have to keep that 5 grand budget in mind. If someone has a system setup suggestion setup, please let me know.
Look forward to reading thru the responses.
Cheers in advance, Simmo
FISH ON!!!!!! 
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
I wish I had a $5k budget...
I wish I had a $5k budget... I will be getting a simrad nss7 combo for $1500...... because that's my budget.
Fish! HARD!
crano
Posts: 696
Date Joined: 04/11/09
After seeing your results
After seeing your results from Coral Bay this year I wonder if you need anything better.
dodgy
Posts: 4563
Date Joined: 01/02/10
Why is Raymarine not on your
Why is Raymarine not on your list?
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
Simmo Ryan
Posts: 112
Date Joined: 17/02/10
Open to suggestions
As I said Dodgy, open to suggestions mate, would love to hear feedback as to what people have installed on their own boats and good/bad experiences they've had....
FISH ON!!!!!!
milsey
Posts: 1462
Date Joined: 22/08/07
I have a FCV 295 in the big
I have a FCV 295 in the big rig and a 587 in the small and to be honest i wouldn’t look at any other sounder in the same price range at the moment, both are linked to a HDS and they do talk to each other but it is limited. You have to save and display the co-ords in the furuno and manually pug them into the lowrance. It isn’t the biggest issue because usually it’s pretty close to the current spot on the lowrance so only the last few digits need to be changed. To be honest i don’t really bother most of the time as if I’m sounding I’m doing under 10kn and turning around and approaching from another direction isnt that hard when track is on. In saying that it has come in handy once when on my way out sitting on 18kn, being able to pan back and save the exact co-ords.
I have used HDS's as sounders and both mine have trannys set up but the furuno’s are in a different league, also i can’t really comment too much on 1870F as i have only fiddled with one on land but from what i hear and see the FCV+HDS combo is the way to go on a trailer boat.
Simmo Ryan
Posts: 112
Date Joined: 17/02/10
Thanks milsey
I starting to think the 587/1kw combo and a Lowrance HDS9 Chartplotter may be the best setup I can get in the price range.
FISH ON!!!!!!
milsey
Posts: 1462
Date Joined: 22/08/07
no worries, you will have no
no worries, you will have no troubles finding fish in sub 300m with that combo. Might be worth seeing the boys at Chivers, they will look after you and were the cheapest place i found metro.
sea-kem
Posts: 14859
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Hey Simmo, I have the 585
Hey Simmo, I have the 585 with 1kw and HDS9 gen2 as my charplotter absolutely superb set up. After doing the John Adams seminar at Oceanside I wouldn't look at anything else for a sounder. He (John) and Ryan rate them as the ducks nuts. And after that seminar and being shown how to configure it properly it's amazing what I'm seeing on the the bottom now and also all the crap has been filtered out.
Love the West!
Simmo Ryan
Posts: 112
Date Joined: 17/02/10
John Adams
Thanks for that Sea-Kem, glad to hear some feedback about John Adams.
I'm booked in to do my RST with him in coming weeks and just also just bought his book. Was also going to get his thoughts in regarding my sounder/plotter dilemma, but you've just answered that question for him :P
587 and HDS combo is looking the goods...
FISH ON!!!!!!
jarrid
Posts: 363
Date Joined: 20/08/10
I have a 295 and a hds 10
I have a 295 and a hds 10 (plotter only) on my boat and my old man has a hds7 on his tinny. The only advantage of the hds on the little boat is being able to scroll back and mark a spot. On the big boat it is a bit of a hassle to go back and find things sometimes, but certainly not the end of the world. I had a fcv585 previously and the furuno is definitely a better sounder. I would go with the 585 and a hds as you have described
wangler
Posts: 607
Date Joined: 26/04/08
Find a simrad
NSS8 for about $1400 if there are any left
Want to make someone mad... tell a lie! Want to get the world upset... tell the TRUTH !
Dougie
bsir
Posts: 569
Date Joined: 24/04/11
Furuno
I run a Furuno sounder (620) with HDS plotter/sounder. I do have them talking together (can ready GPS co-ords in Furuno).
Typically I use the Furuno as the sounder, and the HDS only as a plotter. Both have their own transducer installed, so it is also a handy backup if one fails on any day.
When the Furuno picks up something interesting and I want to go over it again, I generally flick the HDS over to sounder/plotter, find the ground I was interested in, mark it, and then shoot back. This saves having to transfer co-ords from the Furuno to HDS.
uncleben
Posts: 187
Date Joined: 06/01/09
seen a nss12 for 1499 in bcf
seen a nss12 for 1499 in bcf bunno the other day.
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
you sure thats less than 1/2
you sure thats less than 1/2 price ?
RobertMc
Posts: 326
Date Joined: 19/01/09
Yeah there was one there for
Yeah there was one there for $1499
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Demo unit ? Thats a top deal
Demo unit ?
Thats a top deal for someone !
uncleben
Posts: 187
Date Joined: 06/01/09
I know for sure they have
I know for sure they have one only at that price. Yes it was demo but only for about 6-8 weeks. It may or may not be there now if someone who is in the market has seen this post.
mullows
Posts: 738
Date Joined: 25/12/08
If you are going the Furuno
If you are going the Furuno option (you should) make sure you do the research on which 1kw will suit you best as there are a few to choose from. I think this is probably just as important as choice of headunit to get the best out of it. Fishing style, depth of water, beamwidth etc. I have the 585 with TM258 transducer and hds as a plotter. If I had my time again I would have gone TM260 as the transducer or thruhull.
Cheers
Mullows
The Older I get the better I was :-)
Simmo Ryan
Posts: 112
Date Joined: 17/02/10
TM260
Thanks Mullows, I had the TM260 pencilled in.
FISH ON!!!!!!
Ryan C
Posts: 1575
Date Joined: 08/07/10
tm 260
keep in mind that the tm 260 has a very narrow cone angle in depths of below 80m and while I can get a good picture at 21 knots it took some fiddling due to the size of the transducer , I have the transom mount and while it is excellent for detail it makes it harder to find ground while travelling, I am considering running a p66 as well for shallow water work and better readings at speed while chasing demersals.i have spent 3 years fishing with Joffa in his bar crusher with 585 and p66 ( now tim-o's)and it was excellent for clarity at speeds of up to 30kts and read well out to 200m now fishing the same spots the narrow cone angle of the tm260 and 587 is evident , still the Tm 260 shows excellent detail and I'm going to try running it on 50/200 he split next time out as that's what Furuno has suggested to alleviate the narrow beam as the 50 hz is much wider , ill see how it goes.