Airmar transducer
- Thread starter Augie
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fishin solo
Crew Member
Talk to @Sharphooks about transducers..... I was once told he’s on the lookout for Russian submarines. He’s the guru. I have the ducer that came with the live series the 3n1 and I pretty much use my B60 most of the time
fishbadger
Active Member
What mikep said.
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Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
It’s tough to beat a through-hull B175HW flush mount—-crystal clear picture at 25 knots if it’s mounted in the right spot. But a through-hull B60 (traditional 600 W 50/200KhZ) is also tough to beat...the only thing lacking is that crisp way those 1Kw transducers paint targets
Another option is a stand-alone Furuno FCV 588 with “Rez Boost” hooked to an old-school P66 “skimmer” type transducer or hooked to a through-hull B60—-you’d swear you were looking at a CHIRP return with rez-boost..... and with the P66 costing $100 instead of the $ 1,300 you’ll drop on a B175HW, there’s an arguement to be made for the stand-alone sonar approach
First picture is a CHIRP B175HW on the left (and a Furuno DFF3D Multi-beam on the right)
Second picture is the Furuno stand-alone FCV 588 with Rez Boost hooked to a P66 transom mount old-school skimmer....and with the 588 you get the predictive algorithm of what the bottom looks like under your boat
Another option is a stand-alone Furuno FCV 588 with “Rez Boost” hooked to an old-school P66 “skimmer” type transducer or hooked to a through-hull B60—-you’d swear you were looking at a CHIRP return with rez-boost..... and with the P66 costing $100 instead of the $ 1,300 you’ll drop on a B175HW, there’s an arguement to be made for the stand-alone sonar approach
First picture is a CHIRP B175HW on the left (and a Furuno DFF3D Multi-beam on the right)
Second picture is the Furuno stand-alone FCV 588 with Rez Boost hooked to a P66 transom mount old-school skimmer....and with the 588 you get the predictive algorithm of what the bottom looks like under your boat
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Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
Speaking of how important correct placement of a transducer is, you can have the baddest and most expensive transducer on the market but if it’s mounted incorrectly, it’s a waste of space.
Prior to selling my last boat, I removed a B54 (the Furuno Multi-beam transducer) , deciding to keep it for whatever boat I replaced it with. So, my first mistake was trusting someone else to mount the DFF3D on my new boat: despite the very clear instructions I gave them for the mounting procedure, they bolted it on an aluminum bracket with zero shim to take into account transom slant.....the face of the transducer was shooting all that power at 75 degrees, 15 degrees short of the required perpendicular mounting requirement
I spent all day yesterday removing the transducer and planing a shim out of starboard to get the face of the transducer parallel with the ocean floor. Haven’t tried it out yet but no doubt, a 15 degree slant will kill your target returns no matter what transducer you’re running, especially at speed.
Prior to selling my last boat, I removed a B54 (the Furuno Multi-beam transducer) , deciding to keep it for whatever boat I replaced it with. So, my first mistake was trusting someone else to mount the DFF3D on my new boat: despite the very clear instructions I gave them for the mounting procedure, they bolted it on an aluminum bracket with zero shim to take into account transom slant.....the face of the transducer was shooting all that power at 75 degrees, 15 degrees short of the required perpendicular mounting requirement
I spent all day yesterday removing the transducer and planing a shim out of starboard to get the face of the transducer parallel with the ocean floor. Haven’t tried it out yet but no doubt, a 15 degree slant will kill your target returns no matter what transducer you’re running, especially at speed.
All the above info is great & correct. The airmar web site has great info on transducers; but you probably need some electronics/signal processing background to fully understand the info.
As to being "worth it", that depends on what you think your F/F should be doing for you & your budget.
With today's technology, especially CHIRP, I expect my F/F to tell me whether or not my current location is going to produce Salmon or not; are there marks for bait/Salmon? I tend to be a "mover" - not catching fish? Move. But I pay close attention to tides & use experience/knowledge ( such as the place I am at SHOULD be good on an outgoing tide) to pick a spot to fish, and move to another spot as needed.
In my experience, Salmon are harder to mark than bait, so having a F/F that you are confident will detect Salmon well is important to me.
These 1kw CHIRP ducer's are over $1K US.
As to being "worth it", that depends on what you think your F/F should be doing for you & your budget.
With today's technology, especially CHIRP, I expect my F/F to tell me whether or not my current location is going to produce Salmon or not; are there marks for bait/Salmon? I tend to be a "mover" - not catching fish? Move. But I pay close attention to tides & use experience/knowledge ( such as the place I am at SHOULD be good on an outgoing tide) to pick a spot to fish, and move to another spot as needed.
In my experience, Salmon are harder to mark than bait, so having a F/F that you are confident will detect Salmon well is important to me.
These 1kw CHIRP ducer's are over $1K US.
Thanks Sharphooks. Those pictures are incredible with the B175HW. I’ve emailed Airmar. Going to see what they recommend and make a decision from there. Not worried about the price. It’d be nice to be able to see what’s going on below at cruise and have those crisp clean pictures. Can the bronze be mounted on an aluminum boat? No adverse reaction between the metals?
That’s what I thought. One other question I’m running a Lowrance HDS 9 Live. Will these transducers be compatible?
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
Here’s some info with regards to your question:. Info might be a bit dated but it answers some questions that might arise:
https://www.thehulltruth.com/marine...75hw-mix-match-9-pin-lowrance-hds-carbon.html
https://www.thehulltruth.com/marine...75hw-mix-match-9-pin-lowrance-hds-carbon.html
From what I hear, the transom mount will not give good high speed performance - I am thru hull; the single freq CHIRP's are available as a flush-mount (called a tilted element) but require a big-butt hole 4 " or so. They come in different degrees of tilt which avoids a fairing block & having to cut the fairing block on a bandsaw. The one you need would be a SS175HW, then choose the desired tilt. An angle measurer is quite cheap. Cutting that big hole in the bottom of a boat is rather exciting to say the least.
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
It’s a 3 3/4” hole ,not a 4” hole, but that doesn’t mean your palms will sweat less when you hold that power tool and make the cut......I pulled a B60 and used the hole as guidance to cut the bigger hole for my B175HW
Those pictures belong on an Airmar promo -great stuff. I have been buying my electronics from Gil Travis; semperfi fishing on thehulltruth.com
He is a former SONAR spook. When I bought my Garmin in 2015 or so, Gil said he thought Garmin had the best CHIRP signal processing software; I pressed this issue a bit lately when I bought my newest stuff (still use the Garmin on the upper station) but he was non-committal. I went with Furuno for the DFF3D.
He is a former SONAR spook. When I bought my Garmin in 2015 or so, Gil said he thought Garmin had the best CHIRP signal processing software; I pressed this issue a bit lately when I bought my newest stuff (still use the Garmin on the upper station) but he was non-committal. I went with Furuno for the DFF3D.
Breakin"even
Crew Member
All this talk about transducers got me thinking about upgrading. I bought a lowrance hds5 years ago and it works good finding the bottom, bait balls and the odd fish. It came with the basic transducer. I see lowrance has a 50/200-455/800kHz unit for 300.00
should I upgrade to this unit or is there a better option for the money, or mabey I should save that money for a more current fish finder.
should I upgrade to this unit or is there a better option for the money, or mabey I should save that money for a more current fish finder.
IMO I would not get that transducer:
It is not a CHIRP ducer
The 455/800Khz elements are for side/down-scan SONAR. Those frequencies are very high which give great detail, but only at a very shallow depth; probably 100' or less.
It appears your hds5 does not support CHIRP.
For many, this is just fine. I started out with nothing, then a Flasher which will give you depth, then have progressed over the last 35 years with various LCD screen F/F's. Bigger screen gives you more history so that you could see more of what was marked seconds ago - you usually can't watch the screen & the rod tips at the same time. CHIRP allows me to reliably detect fish to a point where I could troll an area for 30 minutes or so, and if no action on either the rods or the F/F relocate. To me this would mean at least an 8" screen with a 600 watt CHIRP ducer; high CHIRP for Salmon only, medium CHIRP if bottom fishing in 300' or deeper. Most say Halibut will not mark & that showing structure versus fish is more important for bottom fish. Also realize that the vast majority of info available on the internet is targeted towards freshwater Bass & deep sea fishing where deep is 1000'+.
CHIRO involves more signal processing/calculations taking place within the electronics unit via software, so some mfgrs will have better technology for various applications. The guy I mentioned above (Gil Travis) told me when I bought my Garmin in 2015 that Garmin was better than Lowrance for Saltwater. I bought more stuff from him earlier this year (Furuno) & when I asked which mfgr had the best saltwater CHIRP he was non-committal. Gil fishes the salt & uses Garmin.
G
gone fishin
Guest
Nothing wrong with your Lowrance hds other then maybe a larger screen.
It depends on what you are fishing for. I fish mainly Springs. I mark lots of stuff. How many times have you seen members say I marked a lot of fish but couldn't get them to bite. I say if they are looking for Springs they have a great imagination. Coho and Pinks a little different story.
I fish areas that I know from experience is where the Springs hang out, find the bait and generally fish either side of that depth. Winter fishing, just fish the bottom.
If you think a new transducer or sounder will be fun and catch you more fish, go for it.
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I epoxied my transducer to to aluminum hull on the inside and then marked the location on the outside of hull and milled out the aluminum with a milling bit ,then I patched it with fibreglass cloth and tape. Then I farrowed it with thickened epoxy . Turned out great .
capman
Well-Known Member
When it comes to electronics like F/F transducer, could someone recommend a shop or particular individual with very good knowledge to help? I have a Lowrance HDS Live 9 and a P66 transducer mounted on an aluminum bracket, I'm sort of ok with marking fish but as soon as I start cruising at even 15kn, I lose the bottom. I don't mind spending some money getting an expert opinion and having the right equipment.
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