advice on depth finder

sherry marie · 09-17-2003, 03:28 PM

To the experts out there with the big water boats.
We have a garmin fish finder on board the sherry marie. the 240 model. we spend most of our time in water over 200 ft. The garmin is excellent in separation and detail in shallow water but in the deep water it just doesn't read well and takes a long time getting information to read out. I know we need more power.. Anyone out there with a more serious unit that is satisfied with it, I would appreciate advice to get me started on the winter searching, justifying to the wife and installing for the sherry marie.

THanks Ray

rockn'reel · 09-17-2003, 04:24 PM

Sorry, normally I would give you some good info here, but I have not found one that will really get you out in really deep water. I have a x-18c on my boat which has gobs of power (8000 peak to peak on the dual freq transducer). It does have a 50 khz transducer which will get you deeper and if it mounted correctly will let you run at higher speeds and still read the bottom. Of the brands I have looked at this is the most power you will find for the rec. boats. The problem I have is; when you start looking at these bigger machines they have both gps and fishfinders. I like to have seperate machines (safety, just in case one goes out). Just be ready to spend the big bucks when you get into the bigger models. There might be another option out there for you in the raymarine line. It has a new tech. in high definition seperation. This might help when you run a 50 khz transducer and need to get better seperation. Personally I never use the fishfinder to find fish just structure.
Anyway, if you have any questions you think I might be able to answer for you just e-mail me and I will se what I can do...I've got the time!
I really should start selling these things again!

Mr. Fisherman · 09-17-2003, 05:12 PM

I love my Furuno color GPS/DF/FF.

kamloops · 09-17-2003, 05:44 PM

I purchased a Raymarine 10" and smaller 7" combo
FF/Radar and Plotter two years ago. Last year I had Rodgers install the DSM250 digital module.
I highly recommend the unit. The DSM250 unit as advertised takes all/most of the fine tuning out of control of dummies like me. Turn it on and worry about something else not working.

Miss B Haven · 09-17-2003, 08:06 PM

Kamloops- we'll need that for picking out those Widows and buts at 500 feet this weekend. :grin:

[ 09-17-2003, 09:07 PM: Message edited by: Miss B Haven ]

Mark Mc · 09-17-2003, 09:47 PM

Ray, this is a "can-o-worms" question (like "what's the best aluminum boat"). So I'll give you an opinion, based on quite a number of years of commercial fishing & running charter boats, with many different fishfinders.

If you want to see the fishies on the bottom in deep water (like 50 to 100 fathoms or more), you must have at least 500 watts RMS (sorry, the peak-to-peak figures are misleading). And you need a 50 kHz (or less) transducer. Most modern units have combo 50/200 kHz anyway, which is nice because the 200 kHz works better for finding baitfish up high, which is what you use chasing salmon, & tuna to some extent.

Check out the Furuno FCV 582 L:
web page

Yea the FCV 667 & 600L are a bit cheaper, but with 300 & 350 watts RMS they don't quite have the cojones to see halibut & lings on the bottom in 100 fathoms.

The earlier FCV 582, crt models can be had on e-bay for a pretty reasonable price. These are great units, they just take up more space than the new LCD units.

If you really want the cadillac, look at the FCV 1100:

web page

That's adjustable 1 to 3 KW RMS.....you can count the halibut under the boat with this thing.

Have fun....it's only money.

DriftR · 09-18-2003, 08:45 AM

Yup. Furuno would be my choice. I just wish they would make a user friendly unit that you don't have to be a rocket engineer to figure out. The learning curve is always a bear on new FF units. Heck, the instruction booklet on some of the different electronic units (home, car, boat) are more in depth and more detail than some of the books I labored over in college. That 582l received the "Best recreational Fish Finder" award 4 years in a row from NMEA. Great machine. The upper unit FCV1200 by Furuno captured the "Best Commercial Fish Finder" by NMEA. Oh, NMEA stands for National Marine Electronics Association.

Miss B Haven · 09-18-2003, 09:03 AM

I'll put a third on the Furuno. I had a 582 equivelant (color CRT) in my Bayliner and it worked really really well. Furuno equip. is very easy to use, most functions are on the front, knobs and buttons not buried in softkeys and menus.
I put Raytheon on Miss B when I got her cause of the interface difficulty between Furuno at the time (I have dual helms) and the ease with Raytheon HSB. Furuno came out with Navnet right after that. I've been kicking myself ever since. THe Raytheon stuff works jsut fine but finding your way through the menu on a bouncing boat in the dark is NOT fun at all.

sherry marie · 09-19-2003, 08:50 PM

Thanks for the advice.. I have some place to start. The sherry marie has Raytheon radar and Gps maybe that is the way I will head.. I know that the dollars will add up fast but its fishing so it has to be... mel, the raytheon must work good for you.. you were heading in early this morning with , I assume, limits all around.
thanks again
Ray