Raymarine Dragonfly review UPDATE FIXED V9.47 OK!
Here is a quick review of the new Raymarine Dragonfly. Note it has only been quickly installed and nothing has been adjusted, all settings left on Auto. I will do some proper screen shots when i get more time.
Installation
When i got my Dragonfly the first thing i did was ditch the bracket, maybe mine was broken but it wouldn't clip in properly so i resorted to a temporary flush mount system using 4 bolts. The Transducer installed quite easily although isn't as firm as most. This is due to the bump up system that transducer has, which would make it perfect for the tinny while skull dragging it through the mud! The 6m cable was only just long enough to get to the helm in my trophy. Apart from that just a standard install. The wiring didn't come with a inline fuse so don't forget to put one!
The Flush mount kit is easy to install and the suncover makes a good seal that should keep water out.
You can see from the photos how the transducer sits lower than my standard p66 due to design.
Trial run
I took it out for a test run tonight, it was dark and i had not changed any settings and the results are remarkable, they leave my E7D with 600w transducer for dead, the clarity is amazing and it clearly shows separated fish (and proven we caught fish where it showed fish) I managed to get a couple of shots of the D9 and another wreck. Note the photos i have i did not set up, it was a quick drive over and take a photo.
The image becomes a bit patchy as you can see in the images when the depth change quickly but it wasnt a problem.
The sounder read perfectly at 20kt and It made seeing the difference between weed and sand so easy.The Chirp and down vision on the one screen make defining structure so easy, you can clearly make out edges of boats and moorings which would be a blob on most sounders.
Conclusion
All in all it seems like a remarkable bit of electronics and for under $700 you cant go wrong for the smaller boats.A little bit of tweaking and i should be set.
I cant wait for a designs of a bigger unit about 12'' with a 1kw chirp and downvision, the future looks bright!
Carry
Posts: 657
Date Joined: 22/04/09
Pretty impressive
Pretty impressive there vinesh i been looking at upgrading my little lowrance might be the go
We feel nothing but a certain difficulty in continuing to stand
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Look cool
Looks cool , Ive got the E7d too and havn't installed it yet ( boat in progress ) and am starting to think i should have waited for the Dragonfly .
Do you run both sounders on your boat ? 'im thinking about installing both but not sure if you could run them at the same time without interference .
thanks for sharing your results .
Cheers Grant . .
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Yeh i put both tranny's 4''
Yeh i put both tranny's 4'' apart due to restricted mounting options and i cant run them together, the chirp gets a fair bif of interferance. Next time i take it out ill take some photos of it. Ill PM you about E7D's a bit later!!
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Cheers
Cheers mate , would be awsome to get get some info on the E7d .
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Impressive Vinesh. Worth
Impressive Vinesh. Worth buying now, but even better scaled up.
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Yeh Jamie lots of playing
Yeh Jamie lots of playing around to do for sure this was straight out of the box.Hopefully tomorrow ill tweak it a bit, but am pretty impressed!
pricey10
Posts: 486
Date Joined: 07/01/12
Cheers vinesh that looks
Cheers vinesh that looks pretty awesome. Hey what's the deepest water you have had it working in?
Karratha. WA
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
About 22 I didnt get out of
About 22 I didnt get out of the sound last night, possibly heading deep tomorrow not sure yet but I will do another review when I do!
Tank
Posts: 358
Date Joined: 12/05/12
Decisions
Do I do I not...like the report thank for that...what's the GPS function like same as any other GPS interested in the deep report when able....
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Yeh The GPS is basically same
Yeh The GPS is basically same as my E7D but not touchscreen, pretty easy to use but i havnt used it much as i have a dedicated GPS, its a bit small to do both for me, but certainly for a smaller boat no worries.
Sorry going to have to wait for a deep review until next week now i couldnt get a crew together for early this morning !!
Tank
Posts: 358
Date Joined: 12/05/12
shhhhhhhh
its on order
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Excellent!
Excellent!
sstevee
Posts: 466
Date Joined: 15/11/11
Nice write up Vinesh, can I
Nice write up Vinesh, can I take advantage of your knowledge of downscan and ask a stupid question?
I'm trying to get my head around my DSI cone of vision in regards to what I'm seeing scrolling across the screen. (I have a lowrance dsi unit)
So I'm going to try compare it to what sounder shots are showing. From what I can gather a Downscan cone is wide (port to starboard) but thin (fore to aft).
So, in your first image of the D9 you can see the full length of the boat because you were travelling parallel with it. Therefore as your moving along the length of it the sounder is showing the height changes, which once you've gone past it results in the picture you can see.
Then, the second picture is you crossing it in a perpendicular direction. So as the sounder is scrolling you get to see (what looks like) the bow, because once again the sounder is showing the height changes which result in the picture.
Or am I completely confused and need to start again?
Thanks in advance, Steve
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Gday mate Sorry I honestly
Gday mate
Sorry I honestly cant help you yet! Only had one run so far snd pretty unsure of how it all works myself. The first image is the d9 but the second image is of a sunken boat haha!!
Will post more soon.
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Have updated to include flush
Have updated to include flush mounted and the transducer mounting.
flexn
Posts: 232
Date Joined: 19/03/12
been out deep with it yet
been out deep with it yet mate?
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Yeh i have and it looks like
Yeh i have and it looks like it reads depth well at speed up to about 22kt but i didnt have much time and didnt find any decent ground to test it on so it wasnt a good test.
But it finds pinkies good !!
Will post more soon hopefully
MattMiller
Posts: 4171
Date Joined: 15/06/09
Where
exactly did you get yours for under $700?
Everywhere i've looked is $850+
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Ch Marine $640 Without
Ch Marine
$640 Without Card
http://www.chsmith.com.au/Products/Raymarine-Dragonfly-Sonar-GPS.html
Or what i did was pay $820 for the Dragonfly and Card and sold the card for $270 = $550 and i upgraded my current card to the latest haha
Vin
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Fitted one last week
I fitted one ( Dragonfly ) last week to my friends 4.3 Clark . As you said the mounting bracket was a bit funny to use but we got the hang of how it worked. You have to press it into place a certain way or it dosn't want to click in . (bit hard to explain how it works )
The transducer mount appeared to be very cheaply made as well . They way it clipped on the mounting plate was a pain for us because there is a step plate on the boat above the mounting point. I had to have the bracket all togeather and hold the trany up to get the screws in place . But in the end it was a simple unit to install .
We tested it in the sound on friday arvo and into the evening ( sorry no pictures, we were too busy avoiding the tug boats that continued to annoy us )
We were very impressed with the sonar and downvision features , the D9 looked great on the screen pickng up alot of detail around that area. As we put burley in you could almost pick out the individual chook pellets until the yellowtail filled the screen .
Sunday we were out in 30m of Mindaries and having the two types of images realy helped clarify the botom structure and pick out the fish right on the bottom. ( caught a few sharks, KG's and undersize snapper. )
Over all the unit is very simple to use, the images it produced ( even at speed ) were impressive and the guy's were very happy with their new sounder.
The screen is very clear and easy to see, even in direct sunlight and with polaroid sunny's on. Altho it gets marked easily and was hard to clean without a propper cleaning cloth . I think a clear screen saver would be worth looking at to protect the unit.
On the down side, it has limited features on the GPS with creating routes . ie : i couldnt make routes at home on the unit, only once on the water could you start a route then save it . ( this feature might be there but i couldn't find it at home ) . I couldn't find the feature to measure distance between waypoints either and boat symbol on the map is also too large and covers the waypoint at times, on my E7 you have options to change this but not on the Dragonfly .
Over all , for the price $680 with an Australian Gold map card i think it is a great option for the small boat owner ,or even as a second unit on larger boats. I'm definately considering adding one to my rig .
Cheers Grant .
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Good to hear!! Yeh i coouldnt
Good to hear!!
How low did you put the tranny ? after a few threads of late i think mine is wayy to low but i thought the lower down the better but maybe not...
Yeh i coouldnt get mine to clip in so i binned it and flush mounted it haha.
I was able to see whiting on mine and big pinks with solid archers. Still very happy with it and will get some more images up soon.!
Tank
Posts: 358
Date Joined: 12/05/12
Vinesh87
Got a photo of ya transducer mounted avail...mine may be too low?
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Yeh ive got one in the
Yeh ive got one in the thread pics above !
Tank
Posts: 358
Date Joined: 12/05/12
Geez I'm blind
Mine is mounted about the same I reckon...maybe a bit more away from the chime? So far so good just need some decent weather to give it a good crack
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Yeh mine seems good to 20kt
Yeh mine seems good to 20kt and still ok to 26kt.
Just wondering about my noise at the top hmm. might have a play around, like you its just finding the time for all this haha.
Do you get the noise right at the top like ive got ?
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
20 Kn max
Yeah we got 20kn max , but the boat is old with a ribbed hull. So i don't think there is much we can do about it. After the trial, i think the trany is a little bit low and can come up about 3mm . I'll try to get some photo's of the mounting point.
In the sound ( 12m or less ) around the D9 we had no problems with surface clutter, but at 30m there was quite a bit. But we didn't play with the gain or fillters. When we set the range from 16m to 35m there was no clutter at all.
Seriously with the sonar and downvision in split screen mode, we could pick out single fish on the bottom. I looked at the screen and said "we should mark this spot " i marked it , then hooked a 50cm KG within seconds . Whent back over te mark and hooked a Snapper.
I am very impressed with the unit after 2 trials, and my mates ( boat i fitted it on ) have never been sooo happy. They are resonably new to boating and had no problems using the unit. Very easy to use .
Daaammm i want one on my boat now . lol .
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
PS
PS : Raymarine could add some real info for their sounders and gear .
The mount was a real pain , (i thought i was going to break it ) but once i got it right it was easy . I will try to get a short vid of how to use the mount and post it up .
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Nice one, just get one
Nice one, just get one haha!
Heres a few more images and what i caught.
Bottom Discrimination is brilliant ! Only in the shallow but you get the point!
Sand whiting on the sounder and little pinkies above them !!
Pinkies and yes they were caught!
Still waiting for a deep review unfortunatly!
Everyone feel free to post your images here i look forward to more report from the Dragonfly.
Walfootrot
Posts: 1386
Date Joined: 23/07/12
O crap, now I have to buy one
O crap, now I have to buy one :)
More drum lines, kill the bloody sharks!
axey45
Posts: 1758
Date Joined: 26/11/13
Thats a awesome sounder
Thats a awesome sounder picking up sand whiting, the pinks dont stand a chance, i want one.
tiimmbo
Posts: 694
Date Joined: 16/08/09
i will be keen to see some
i will be keen to see some structure photos from the 30 - 40m range, they look in the shallower stuff though.
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
They will be up soon! I
They will be up soon! I don't predict it will work very well in 30+ to be honest but it still has chirp!!
kamo king
Posts: 190
Date Joined: 30/08/09
I'm the same still waiting to
I'm the same still waiting to see how it performs in the 30m-40m range, screen shots anyone?
If the clarity is the same I'm off buy one and fit it to my tub. Cheers vinesh for the updates
jarrid
Posts: 363
Date Joined: 20/08/10
good shots. is that a wreck
good shots. is that a wreck or just a lump?
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
A wreck but average pic as I
A wreck but average pic as I was too busy catching fish to get a good shot haha!
kamo king
Posts: 190
Date Joined: 30/08/09
With all this fine weather
With all this fine weather surely there
are a few more updates for the thread any deep shots yet?
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Not me, 80hrs a week at work
Not me, 80hrs a week at work stops my chances dead haha!
buddharock
Posts: 92
Date Joined: 19/09/12
dragonfly
Vinesh, Have been following the thread with interest and thankful for the photos of the transom mount. Going to attempt the mount on Friday and hopefully get out on Saturday or Sunday. I only have a 475 Bayhunter and the dash space is limited. The suggested distance from the compass means that I will have to mount this on the starboard side, away from my compass. Any thoughts? I'll send a PM as well.
Pretty excited about getting it out and catching some decent fish.
Quintrex Bayhunter 475
Randell 28 Cabin Cruiser
Savage 4.2 Centre console
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Will reply. For everone else
Will reply.
For everone else I had it out in 50m and it was brilliant up to 24kts. Found new dhu ground and all forgot my msd card so no real pictures yet. I was running chirp only as I needed zoomed bottom lock. It is not possible with chirp and downscan!!
Sorry!!
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Have added 1 deeper pic but
Have added 1 deeper pic but from my phone its pretty average
MiSh
Posts: 81
Date Joined: 29/06/09
Great reveiw. Anymore
Great reveiw.
Anymore updates. Looking at purchasing one myself
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Only update is i still like
Only update is i still like it haha. The CP100 is out now if you want a bigger screen!!
brenno
Posts: 60
Date Joined: 17/04/12
I have one on my 17.5
I have one on my 17.5 swiftcraft runabout to the boat and sounder out for a test the last couple of days and im blown away by it I had the boat upto 30knts and sounder didnt skip a beat just had minor and I mean very minor cavitation problems on because I had to mount transducer away from all my power cables etc best sounder ive ever bought the down vision is amazing and it is so easy to use
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Good to hear! I am still very
Good to hear! I am still very happy with mine !
tot
Posts: 1149
Date Joined: 31/01/10
as a stand alone sounder Vinesh
would you have rather gone the furuno of the same size-627?
Reverse cycle a/c supply and install - Ducted and wall splits
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Hard question. but for deeper
Hard question. but for deeper water stuff def the fununo. But for shallower stuff i def rate the downscan so the ray!
hilly9
Posts: 282
Date Joined: 13/10/12
transducer mounting
Hey Vin,
Mounted mine higher...not sure wether to drop it a bit was just trying to get the bottom in line with the bottom of the boat. Reads at 20knots as well, drops at 25.
I seem to get a second echo off the bottom when using the auto settings and have to adjust it out though.
Pete
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
If your getting good reading
If your getting good reading to 20 i would probably leave it, im no expert. I think mine is a bit too low and if i did it again i would go slightly higher.
Where is tyhe second echo? Just off the bottom or cavitation of the top ?
hilly9
Posts: 282
Date Joined: 13/10/12
Yeah the second echo is just
Yeah the second echo is just off the bottom but I also get a lot of noise up the top like your earlier photos. Need to play around with it some more but still waiting for some good weather to coincide with my days off work.
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
It seems the Raymarine
It seems the Raymarine Dragonfly 7 is coming out soon!
Hoepfully theyre a good price, will be a killer little unit! The 5.8 is just a tad small!
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Has anybody done the
Has anybody done the Dragonfly V9 update ?
I did it ( its the just just nicer bars... boring)
Now i can't find how to split the screen like i did in my last picture. 2/3 bottom zoom and 1/3 full bottom. I cant do any split screen at all?
Anyone else got any ideas!!
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
DO NOT UPDATE YOUR
DO NOT UPDATE YOUR DRAGONFLY!!
you lose the split screen bottom zoomWaiting for a fix from raymarine now!it
flexn
Posts: 232
Date Joined: 19/03/12
any word on a fix for the
any word on a fix for the update?
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Na still waiting, will follow
Na still waiting, will follow up tomorrow!
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
FYI The newest update V9.45
FYI
The newest update V9.45 that works on the all the other raymarine stuff will NOT work on the dragonfly as hoped. The V9.40 sucks not even sure why its on the website.
I have gotten a copy of the V6.31 which is the original software so keep it. If you already updated and hate it i will send you the copy of the downgrade.
Vinnie
Ps V9.45 on any other raymarine looks very nice, i like it a lot on my E7D!
tot
Posts: 1149
Date Joined: 31/01/10
dragonfly 7 in 2 weeks
and looking forward to it. will make sure I don't update, cheers for the heads up!
Reverse cycle a/c supply and install - Ducted and wall splits
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
What did the D7 cost ya? I'm
What did the D7 cost ya?
I'm looking at my next options. Hopefully they come out with a unit more powerful than the cp100. A combo chirp with 1kw to go with a e127 would be sweet!
tot
Posts: 1149
Date Joined: 31/01/10
they are around a grand
with the gold card but I have that already. im not sure if I have run out of time that I can update the card, how long do you get with them??
Reverse cycle a/c supply and install - Ducted and wall splits
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
How long with what haha ?
How long with what haha ?
EricBananaMan
Posts: 176
Date Joined: 18/08/13
Am thinking of getting the
Am thinking of getting the 7" model. Bias have them for $879 no card, $1049 with navionics gold card. Apart from the software upgrade, are you still happy with your dragonfly vinesh?
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Yeh mate. Bang for ya buck i
Yeh mate.
Bang for ya buck i dont think you can beat it.
Check out the new Garmin chirp units like the 547. They have chirp and are 1kw. Bit more expnsive but possibly worth it if fishing deep!
EricBananaMan
Posts: 176
Date Joined: 18/08/13
Cheers
Is the dragonfly good at 50m depth? That's about the deepest I fish
adamibinfishin
Posts: 74
Date Joined: 16/03/14
good to know this guys
thanks for the heads up guys,currently running a older A series 70D with the dragonfly as a 2nd option plotter sounder option depending on what I am doing. Handy to know this,cheers fellas
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
The new Version 9.47 is out
The new Version 9.47 is out for dragonfly.
I have installed it and all looks good, split screen bottom Zoom is back and operational.
Goodluck!
adamibinfishin
Posts: 74
Date Joined: 16/03/14
worth updating to the newer 9.47 software?
Hi guys,
I have the original software that works fine,is there any improvement or reason to go the 9.47 update version.Reason I ask is that my boat has been resting up for several months now due to other commitments and no where to put it,next couple months I will be back in the game again and be good to know if worth doing,cheers
regards Adam
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Hey mate It looks nice ?
Hey mate
It looks nice ? Thats about all i the difference i could see!
adamibinfishin
Posts: 74
Date Joined: 16/03/14
thanks
sounds like it well may be worth doing then if picture quality is improved. may have a chat with my local raymarine guy and see what he says about the update,cheers Vinesh87
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Na no picture improvement,
Na no picture improvement, just nicer looking menu and all the stuff that doesnt matter haha
fixed the terrible 9.45 update which had no zoom which sucked. Theres a list of changed things on the website but.
adamibinfishin
Posts: 74
Date Joined: 16/03/14
haha
stuff that doesn't matter,haha,sounds worth doing,haha
Tank
Posts: 358
Date Joined: 12/05/12
Dragon fly busted
My dragon fly turns on to show the dragon fly but that is it ....ideas folks
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
So dragonfly logo comes up
So dragonfly logo comes up then goes blank? Sure the brightness isn't right down?