Recommendation on transom mount1kw Transducers

 Need some advise guys.

Im going to purchase a furuno fcv 585. Done all the research looks like they're still the best on the market. Now that ive decided on the brand of sounder now comes the next bit.....Tranducers.. Done a heap of research on these as well (transome mount) and im steering towards the 1kw airmar tm258... Biggest question that looks like that gets asked is what depth will you be mainly fishin in? Most of my fishin gets done between 30 to 90metres mainly in the 40 to 50metre mark. Now i can go a 600watt transducer but hay the furuno can push out 1kw better picture apparantly so why not bugger the expense. Its gettin put behind a 6.2m ally they look like a footy there huge.

The choices i have are the tm258 the tm260 or the tm270 

My thoughts are at 200kz that the tm270 is to wide of an arc at 30metre depth your looking at a 14m diametre, i think it's to big. The tm260 at 30metre depth your looking at a 1m diametre which seems quite small and only till you get out to 90 metre it gets to 3metre diametre thats a lot of circle work. The tm258 is more of a oval shape at 30metre i think it goes 1metre long by 2.7metre wide the next bit of info is at 122metres deep its 6metre long by 11metre wide

Ive spoken to Tailor Marine and they say there most popular seller is the tm258.

I would like to know if what your thoughts are on these transducers who's running what and how do you like them. Your thoughts would be much appreciated.


grayzeee's picture

Posts: 2283

Date Joined: 09/07/09

i have the 258it's been good

Thu, 2011-06-09 05:30

i have the 258

it's been good in 200khz tho it shoots a fairly narrow beam

just started to go out deep enough to use 50khz so i can't comment on that as i don't know as yet.

i would get the adjustable height bracket for it but thats another $400 plus.

i think the 258 is the cheaper than the others

 

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Simon C's picture

Posts: 801

Date Joined: 01/05/07

You are in luck

Thu, 2011-06-09 06:28

Morning mate, just went through exactly this process and through a series of stuff ups I have ended up with  a new 270w. I have taken the 258 off my boat and was about to put it up for sale. It does not come with the flash bracket that is now available for $250 but the one it comes with has done the job for the last 2 years on my boat. Was about to put it in the for sale section, $500 if you want it, comes with full stainless mounting bracket as well and is in perfect working order.

 

258 works very well in that 40-90m mark. I have upgraded as i like chasing Tuna etc and the wider beam makes scanning for them a fair bit easier apparently. Yes it will certainly sacrifice some ability to find ground and fish in close, but Ian at taylors did not think it would be too bad. Drop me a PM if you are interested.

r.gates's picture

Posts: 573

Date Joined: 15/11/10

600w vs 1kW question

Thu, 2011-06-09 21:32

Hi guys

I've got a Furuno FCV620 with the 600w transom mounted tranny, and was wondering whether the difference in definition between the 600w and 1kW tranny in shallow water (up to 50m) warrants the bigger tranny?

I'm still learning to interpret what I'm seeing now....how much better do you think the images would be with the bigger tranny?

Thanks in advance of your answers.

regards
rusty... 

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If life is boring, you must be doing it wrong!

Posts: 9358

Date Joined: 21/02/08

I think the FCV-620 is

Fri, 2011-06-10 07:25

I think the FCV-620 is limited to 600W anyhow.

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AllBoatsChandlery's picture

Posts: 118

Date Joined: 17/07/10

TM260

Fri, 2011-06-10 17:01

The TM260 would be the better choice, following info may help.

P66 Good 600 W Benchmark model for comparison

TM258 Better 1 KW  25 times more sensitive at 50 kHz 16 times more sensitive at 200 kHz

TM260 Superb 1 KW 50 times more sensitive at 50 kHz 13 times more sensitive at 200 kHz

Anyhow if your interested i can do the FCV585 1KW TM260 or 258 for $............ just pm me.

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A-SALT-WEAPON's picture

Posts: 103

Date Joined: 07/07/10

600W VS 1KW

Sun, 2011-06-12 12:52

 R.GATES 

from what i read you can run a 1kw transducer and it will give you a better picture i may get called wrong here. The 620 yes is only 600w but you can run a 1kw transducer

 

Scotte's picture

Posts: 1145

Date Joined: 07/12/06

a very good informative

Sun, 2011-06-12 14:00

a very good informative topic..what is peoples opinions on the size of these trannys, is it a problem at all?

A-SALT-WEAPON's picture

Posts: 103

Date Joined: 07/07/10

Tranny issues

Sun, 2011-06-12 20:26

 Its definatly not a problem at all i suppose its getting the best picture for your buck and as there are choices and with every one having all of these different trannys its good to try and get the peoples thoughts on which one they feel is the best in these depth ranges.

 

Dizzy's picture

Posts: 753

Date Joined: 21/02/11

I was googling info on

Mon, 2012-11-05 20:59

I was googling info on TM260's and came across this old thread, and thought I'd chime in because those beam widths quoted for the TM260 in the original post are wrong and very misleading.

The 1m diameter is actually @ 30 FEET, not metres. 

It has a 6 degree beam width, so at 30 METRES the TM260 has just over a 3m diameter footprint - which is actually BIGGER than the 258.

With similar sensitivity @ 200khz performance should be similar, but at 50khz the 260 wins hands down. 

Hopefully this helps someone else who stumbles over the thread looking for info so they don't dismiss the TM260 based on an incorrect beam width.