Which fish finder?

simmons0 · 18 January 2004, 19:37

Well an order for a new boat will more than likely go in next weekend(at last).

Decided on a silva s10, Garmin 176c and just got the FF to sort out.

I know theres been a lot of complaints about Garmin fishfinders although the only 2 ive used have worked fine and Andre assures me his Garmin FF does too.

Have they sorted out the problems in the new FF 120?

Im limited to £150, what would you guys suggest?

thanks a lot.

Aging Youth · 18 January 2004, 19:53

I have used several different F/F on all my the various fishing boats I have been on or owned.

IMHO Garmin are the best, followed closely by Hummingbird. However, I get the feeling that most of the people who complain about them not functioning properly are always at high speeds. THIS IS NOT WHAT THEY ARE FOR!

Gps covers the location & speed side of things, if you are trying to search the bottom at 25knots plus for a wreck then good luck.

Fish finders work brilliantly at slow speed giving bottom definition aswell as findfing fish. I fish my the Solent all year, I locate my spot with GPS first, then check F/F to see the bottom to search the sandbanks and holes.

If used correctly at the right speed they will give many hours of service and I always come home with at least one decent Fish.

Regards

Manos · 18 January 2004, 20:09

Concure wirh Aging Youth. GARMIN are great. Always used GARMIN FF and GPS never had a prob EVER!!

simmons0 · 18 January 2004, 20:12

Well thats reasuring, thanks guys.

Garygee · 18 January 2004, 20:12

Hi folks

I disagree with Aging Youth.

I agree that your not likley to find many wrecks or fish at 25Kts, BUT it is very useful to know if your entering shallow water, sand banks etc.

The Garmins I have did work at slow speeds, sub 5KTS.
But other fishfinders I have had Lowrance, Eagle & Echopilot have worked at all speeds. Given the choice I would go for one that works at all speeds and with 1100 quid of props below me I want to know how much water I have at ALL speeds.

Last week when we has out, we was approx 2 miles offshore and I aborted following another RIB when I got down to 6 feet below me, and I was doing 20Kts at the time. Running aground in a force 8 just is not a option.

Given your budget I vote for the Lowrance X51, which I use.

Regards Gary

Alex Brown · 18 January 2004, 20:16

Yeah, although my FF160 Blue doesn't give a bottom picture for around 5knots between 15 and 20 knots, what info it does get back is the depth as a number which is fine for my purposes.

The screen is nice and clear, and the menu is a doddle to work through without ever reading the manual.

The transducer I have isn't the smallest in the world, and it pops up occasionally in the more choppy waters, but it's fine and does the job. I put a pic on another thread last week about these units...
<touch wood> I have not had any water ingress into any of my electronic equipment as yet - the Garmin FF160B, GPS Map 182, and Icom 503 with DS100 seem quite nicely sealed.

edit -> it'd be nice to have a forward looking sounder, but I think they're pretty expensive.
When we went out to The Smalls lighthouse with La Bamba last year, at one point depth reduced to 3 metres from 20 metres, thankfully it went backup again, but doing 25 knots we wouldn't have been able to stop in a hurry if it had dropped any more.

-Alex

Manos · 18 January 2004, 20:17

GaryG I have a Garmin GPS/Map Sounder and works fine to speeds up to 20 knots.

AlexB we seem to have the same ste up of electronics LOLOL

Alex Brown · 18 January 2004, 20:27

This was the bottom image as we went through Ramsey Sound last year - I have yet to find out if 100metres is accurate, but there were some good whirlpools going beneath us at the time. It did however still show the bottom quite clearly.

simmons0 · 18 January 2004, 20:43

How much is the 160 blue?

Alex Brown · 18 January 2004, 20:48

approx £200 I think - can't remember how much I paid exactly without finding receipts I'm afraid.

Rupert Bear · 19 January 2004, 08:30

Mine works not too badly at speed, the problem I have with my Garmin is that the bottom definition is none too clear and it sometimes does't pick up the bottom at trolling speed or in shallow water. I have improved it a fair amount from the original install by moving the transducer around (it was installed exactly as instructions originally) but it is still far from perfect.
I have only had it since November but given the choice again I wouldn't buy another Garmin sounder. I am very pleased with the Garmin plotter though.
I would probably go for a Lowrance, had good results in the past from them.

Hightower · 19 January 2004, 20:29

Hi ya Simmo,

Had a brill day on the last day of LBS and also bought Silva S10 and Garmin GPS. It also leaves me to purchase a FF.

Just to be safe I'd keep clear of Garmin for FF's (too much negative feedback man), and choose a different MNFR's. My fav's are Humminbird, Navman, Lowrance and Eagle.

Navman is the best spec.ed, with Log/speed and water temp at quite a resonable price.

I am attracted to the cheap Humminbirds and Lowrance's range though, but I'll make my desision based on the physical size on the unit as I've not a lot of room to fit one.

As for a depth sounder working at speed (over 20knts), I think if you are wrorried about depth and need useful info over this speed then your going too dam fast!!!

Keep me updated on your FF purchase though

Andy G

simmons0 · 19 January 2004, 20:34

OOh, fill me in, How much did you pay for the Silva s10?

And which plotter did you go for? How much? and did you buy any bluechart chips with it?

thanks.

Hightower · 19 January 2004, 20:40

I'll PM you Simmo as I wouldn't want to shock "the community" in how cheap I got them

Graham H · 19 January 2004, 21:00

How is the s10 as this is the one I am thinking of getting Graham

Daniel · 19 January 2004, 21:12

Just for info i had a Navamn FF which i had a little trouble getting to read well.

I'm still having trouble with the Garmin.

I've never had trouble with Eagle or Lowrance.

Just observations!

I stand by the need to know the depth at all speeds, i like going at 25knts+ and i like 'exploring' new areas, sometimes at these speeds, and i can stop quite quickly, so if it's 25ft deep and drops to 20 then to 15 i'll slow down very quickly. I don't have the data to do this with my current Garmin unit at these speeds.

--edit--

However i do appreciate what Kevin is saying about this not being what they are designed for. Does anyone know if a 'depth sounder' that JUST reads numbers is more reliable at doing so? Does a fishfinder do some maths on the (large amount) of returned data hence more likely to loose a depth reading?

Michael · 20 January 2004, 23:22

My 160 Blue loses signal at c12kts - even Ageing Youth could not make a case that that is high speed. However the culprit may be the Airmar transducer rather than the sounder itself. See the thread below "Garmin 160 Blue and Alternatives" (last post 5 Jan) for more info, incl a link on thro-hull mounting.

Once the signal is lost on the 160 the only way to get it back is to slow to a halt. If you want to spend your day stopping and starting get a 160, if you want to avoid problems get something else.

Mike.

Cookee · 21 January 2004, 07:50

Anyone tried the depth sounder option on the Optimax instruments? Apparently it just requires a transducer so I'm going to give it a go - just got to build the boat first!

Daniel · 21 January 2004, 08:19

It's an airmar transducer which is the same as garmin. I've only go the waterspeed / temp one, i'll be interested how you get on but i decided the display would not be that big.

bogib · 21 January 2004, 08:24

Normally Airmar has various options of transducers pending on the speed your boat is doing (low speed and high speed version) and it would be good idea contact them direct in the USA or their European office in Denmark. They are normally very helpful.
www.airmar.com