Lowrance 12" display and transducer recommendations

[TheNootkaRose]

Hey everyone,

I've only had Lowrance, so I'm partial to staying with them. Have a Navionics subscription and card.
Currently have a Lowrance Hook 7 and old transducer( not sure what kind). I'm gettting my boat rewired/re-rigged and I think I'm gonna stick with Lowrance and upgrade the display and transducer.

Any recommendations for a 12" Lowrance display and transducer that'll get the job done for local fishing, but not break the bank? Local meaning, east and west coast VI. I liek to fish, but I don't need the fanciest toys to be staring at screens and setting up.
I can figure out the displays, but the transducers are confusing me. Hoping to stay in the $2000 range if possible or less ideally.

If you've got a specific model you like, please let me know.

Thank you

 

[zurk]

to keep costs down i run a B&G zeus2 12" (made by lowrance) and a smaller simrad nss 7 evo 2 (also made by lowrance) and put them on the same NMEA2K network. The zeus2 just needs a control panel setting to convert it from sailboat mode to powerboat mode once and its good. its also $1000. the nss7 is also below $1000. that should get you a 12" and 7" for your budget. They can both display each others data so you can mix and match as you need. having two screens is much better than 1.

 

[TheNootkaRose]

to keep costs down i run a B&G zeus2 12" (made by lowrance) and a smaller simrad nss 7 evo 2 (also made by lowrance) and put them on the same NMEA2K network. The zeus2 just needs a control panel setting to convert it from sailboat mode to powerboat mode once and its good. its also $1000. the nss7 is also below $1000. that should get you a 12" and 7" for your budget. They can both display each others data so you can mix and match as you need. having two screens is much better than 1.

thank you

 

[ericl]

Short answer is get a 600 watt CHIRP ducer with a wide beam. Transducer cost is closely related to the ducer transmit power, rated in watts. Signal strength is measured in dB (decibels). You can go to www.airmar.com to how much signal strength a particular ducer has. Common ducer powers are 300, 600, & 1,000 watts. If you double the power let's say going from 300 to 600 watts, you only gain 3dB.
The newer ducer technology is CHIRP. One thing CHIRP does is to transmit more pulses per second than non-CHIRP ducers resulting in more power even though both the CHIRP & non-CHIRP ducer are let's say 600 watts ducers. The big markets for this stuff are Bass fishing in shallow lakes & deep sea fishing in 1,000 ft+ deep water. We need something in-between. For a 1kW, your budget will buy a ducer. Your best deal may be a display/ducer package. Another option is to keep the current display & get a CHIRP ducer.

 

[TheNootkaRose]

Short answer is get a 600 watt CHIRP ducer with a wide beam. Transducer cost is closely related to the ducer transmit power, rated in watts. Signal strength is measured in dB (decibels). You can go to www.airmar.com to how much signal strength a particular ducer has. Common ducer powers are 300, 600, & 1,000 watts. If you double the power let's say going from 300 to 600 watts, you only gain 3dB.
The newer ducer technology is CHIRP. One thing CHIRP does is to transmit more pulses per second than non-CHIRP ducers resulting in more power even though both the CHIRP & non-CHIRP ducer are let's say 600 watts ducers. The big markets for this stuff are Bass fishing in shallow lakes & deep sea fishing in 1,000 ft+ deep water. We need something in-between. For a 1kW, your budget will buy a ducer. Your best deal may be a display/ducer package. Another option is to keep the current display & get a CHIRP ducer.

Thank you, great explanation.

 

[ericl]

Gil Travis @semperfifishing on www.thehull.truth.com would be a good person to do business with. He sells this stuff, & is a former military SONAR person. His prices are the lowest, ships for free, & US law says he doesn't have to charge sales tax unless he sells $100K per year or more in your state - dunno how BC works. He would be able to steer you away from the stuff targeting bass/deep water fishers.