Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
I have a choice between a 600, or a 1000 watt transducer. Would I regret going with the much cheaper 600w? How much difference will there be between the two? Ideas?
Transducer selection
- Thread starter Island Fish Lifter
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Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
That depends what you’re comparing the 1,000 W transducer to. This summer I stepped up for a Furuno stand-alone sonar called the FCV588—it has a new tech called “Rez Boost” —-the advertising in so many words says .....” get CHIRP clarity with either a 600 or 1000 W transducer...”
I have a P66 on my transom (a 600W 50/200Khz skimmer transducer—-cost $ 70 on eBay). I used that 588 with the cheap old-tech 600W P66 Airmar transducer all summer and it was my go-to, bread-and-butter sonar, despite having multiple CHIRP transducers mounted and operable in my boat as well as a 1,000 W in-hull Airmar M260 which I easily could have hooked up to the 588 — but there was no need....with REZ-Boost, the 600W skimmer transducer was just right
In addition to Rez-Boost it has a predictive algorithm that gives you bottom composition—you can see in the following screen shots the bottom-composition on the bottom of the screen—-great for finding safe anchorage’s and for ferreting out halibut spots
The last picture is a screen shot from a very expensive CHIRP set-up just for comparison purposes. (Using too much gain, ha ha)
I have a P66 on my transom (a 600W 50/200Khz skimmer transducer—-cost $ 70 on eBay). I used that 588 with the cheap old-tech 600W P66 Airmar transducer all summer and it was my go-to, bread-and-butter sonar, despite having multiple CHIRP transducers mounted and operable in my boat as well as a 1,000 W in-hull Airmar M260 which I easily could have hooked up to the 588 — but there was no need....with REZ-Boost, the 600W skimmer transducer was just right
In addition to Rez-Boost it has a predictive algorithm that gives you bottom composition—you can see in the following screen shots the bottom-composition on the bottom of the screen—-great for finding safe anchorage’s and for ferreting out halibut spots
The last picture is a screen shot from a very expensive CHIRP set-up just for comparison purposes. (Using too much gain, ha ha)
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MadJigga
Well-Known Member
Who sells Furuno? On the mainland or the island?
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
You can go thru-hull with the equivalent of a P66 transom Mount Transducer—-it’s called the B60 and it’s one of the un-sung heroes of the Airmar 600W line-up. I really regret removing my B60 and shoving a huge CHIRP thru-hull B175HW in the hole...I should have left the B60 and drilled another hole for the CHIRP but man, it’s tough holding the drill steady with a 3 3/4” hole-cutting bit.....in your mind all you can see is water gush through those holes Once you’re finished—-one was enough!
These were with the 70/200-455/800 di skimmer showing bottom composition @ 455 overlayed on med chirp with an airmar tm150. I believe both of these were only 300 watts.
The only negative is i cant search for bait at speed.
The only negative is i cant search for bait at speed.
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That was a magical night. Fish and bait everywhere
600W should be fine for power but there are many other factors in choosing the best transducer. I would consult www.airmar.com for info.
CBsqrd
Well-Known Member
I’ve used Roton in Vancouver and Stryker in Port Hardy (they’ll ship). Both have been great. Extremely happy with my Furuno setup.
Not sure what transducers the OP is looking, but definitely look for one that has a wide angle (i.e. 25 degree) cone if you’ll be fishing for salmon. So much more useful info as the beam is covering a greater area. I replaced an M260 with a B175HW this year and the difference is amazing.
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