Looking for a new fishfinder?so many tho

[kymona]

what is a good fishfinder round about the middle of the road price mark,replacing an old eagle,and where the best place to buy them

[Rogue Wave]

Navman are quite good and so are raytheon I am told that Garmins however aren't too clever.

I allways used to buy practical boat owner and boat mart and get a guide price from the advertisers . Pumpkin Marine always seemed to have a reasonable deal on.

If Dirk Diggler tells you otherwise listen to him for he is truly wise when it comes to buying boat stuff

[Rupert Bear]

I wouldn't buy another Garmin sounder after the last one, a 240 blue

[Hightower]

Have a look here


I bought a Navman that I thought was a very reasonable price (£133 for a 4150 to include speed and temp) could go for the 4200 and also pay £80 and get the fuel transducer that monitors the MPG/KPL

Andy

[swginn]

I'd definitely buy another Lowrance. IMHO I think they are one of the best built fishfinders/chartplotters on the market and ours has yet to give up on us despite taking a fair soaking and battering about. It's a Lowrance LMS 320 DF Chartplotter/Sounder and is the best i've used for high speed sonar readings. Eagle fishfinders are essentially Lowrance, rebadged and in a different colour.

Have a look at www.onlinemarine.com

(Buying from the US generally only works out cheaper if you're buying an expensive product or are buying several products, because of the delivery charge. As for import tax, they shipped my order with the invoice inside the packaging so it just looked like a personal package and I didn't get caught.)

[arn.george]

Originally Posted by Rupert Bear

I wouldn't buy another Garmin sounder after the last one, a 240 blue

I have a garmin 240blue - what problems did you have?

[Andy Gee]

Originally Posted by swginn

(Buying from the US generally only works out cheaper if you're buying an expensive product or are buying several products, because of the delivery charge. As for import tax, they shipped my order with the invoice inside the packaging so it just looked like a personal package and I didn't get caught.)

You have now

[sea bass]

I have at the moment a lowrance gps chartplotter fishfinder lcX 15 ci(now called 18 ci) never had better i am a specialist in fishing seabass testing lures for japanese company
These machine are very accurate in any of their features and very reliable;knowing how manyjumps has made my rib
i had before hummingbird ;one breakdown+moisture behind the screen when it was raining
i don't know what you can get in GB but for me no match in France
my only concern they are too expensive

[MeMe]

with all the above, however, would add that it's a little like buying a T.V - Video - Camera - Microwave, etc, etc. They all pretty much do about the same, are made to pretty much the same standard and cost pretty much about the same. So, buy what looks easiest to use based upon the needs you have and the functions required to meet the same whilst not breaking the bank. Oh, and whichever one looks the prettiest on your dash

[Rupert Bear]

Originally Posted by arn.george

I have a garmin 240blue - what problems did you have?

It keeps losing the bottom especially between 5-15 knots, moving the transducer about improves matters but it is still not a patch on the Lowrance sounders I have used fitted to other boats.
Once it loses the bottom it takes ages to reaquire, sometimes gets confused about what range it should be on and shows two bottoms occassionally when near a steep slope due to the signal being bounced about. sometimes it needs switched off to "unconfuse it"
None of the other sounders I have ever used exhibited these problems.

[Andy Gee]

Originally Posted by Rupert Bear

Once it loses the bottom it takes ages to reaquire, sometimes gets confused about what range it should be on and shows two bottoms occassionally when near a steep slope due to the signal being bounced about. sometimes it needs switched off to "unconfuse it"
None of the other sounders I have ever used exhibited these problems.

I had that problem on a Lowrance X75?? when it was set to Auto on the range....a real pain in the arse when you were trying to shot a wreck and it kept jumping about especially on the wrecks that lie on a slope. When I reset the range to manual it was great and I would buy another one. Previous to that I had 3 Raytheon 465 in two weeks, would NOT buy one of them.
Andy

P.s The new Raymarine Hdf sounder is fantastic for clarity....just hope its lasts longer than the 465 did

[Rupert Bear]

The Garmin 240 had a bug that made it "funny" on auto, uploaded the new software supposedly with the "fix" but it doesn't seem to have made it any better. It does this on set ranges anyway so I wasn't expecting much. I am looking into putting the transducer in the hull to see it it helps

[Garygee]

Hi folks

Had similar problems with my Garmin 160 Blue as well.

Would not buy another Garmin sounder.

Went Lowrance X51, was about 150 quid and it works great.
Screen a little small but great detail & resolution.
Very seldom looses bottton lock and only when conditions get rough and the transon start to get air ubder it.
Had a Eagle a while ago which was also good (but as already been said these are rebadged Lowrances)

Regards Gary

[marknj]

I've got a Furuno LS4100 retails at £210 inc. Really good and I've got my choice as I'm in the trade.

Mark

[arn.george]

Rupert Bear,
Correction - mine is 160 blue not 240 (getting carried away!) - but can't say I have had problem of loosing bottom unless transom out of water. I have the transducer "shooting" through the hull - better on polyurethane sealant - only problem is it keeps showing fish which I can't catch!!

[Rene]

I have just recieved a Garmin 320 to try out, don't know much about it yet.

I'm having a little problem with it loosing to bottom at arounf 23 knots, but I think I just have to lover the transduser a little

Beforehand I had a Furuno, it was super, but the front was not waterproof

Rene

[marknj]

Furuno LS4100 is waterproof, some of the earlier models were not but now very good