airmar transducer

[Mat856]

Fitted my new transducer today airmar m260. Have any of you guys got 1. What's your thought on it

[jonp]

Not to put a downer on it but why did you go for such a deep water transducer living in the UK.

I had the airmar tm 260 which is basically the same transducer. I fish offshore for both pelagic upper water colum fish as well as deep drop fishing with big ellectric reels capable of fishing 1000m +.

Most of my deep drop fishing was in water 300-550m deep, at these depths I saw no improvement over the lowrance transducer $1100 cheaper. The cheaper transducer could easely show fish on the bottom as well as show my 5kg sinkers when using the units menu to select only the bottom 50m of water.

The 260 more often than not flipped out in deep water often telling me I was in 2m off water, it rarely stayed connected with the bottom. Just to add the correct transducer was sellected in the head units menu and the second transducer was disscinected.

For shallow water work in 60-80m once again I saw no improvement and the narrow beam also missed structure and fish that the wider beam would show.

I worked closely with Lowrance tech team over several months not wanting to give up on this transducer but eventualy sold it on eBay for next to nothing

Not wanting to put you off as you may have far more luck tham me, also the warm clear water I work in will have a huge influence on why I get such good results from a $200 transducer

Jon

[Mat856]

Originally Posted by jonp

Not to put a downer on it but why did you go for such a deep water transducer living in the UK.

I had the airmar tm 260 which is basically the same transducer. I fish offshore for both pelagic upper water colum fish as well as deep drop fishing with big ellectric reels capable of fishing 1000m +.

Most of my deep drop fishing was in water 300-550m deep, at these depths I saw no improvement over the lowrance transducer $1100 cheaper. The cheaper transducer could easely show fish on the bottom as well as show my 5kg sinkers when using the units menu to select only the bottom 50m of water.

The 260 more often than not flipped out in deep water often telling me I was in 2m off water, it rarely stayed connected with the bottom. Just to add the correct transducer was sellected in the head units menu and the second transducer was disscinected.

For shallow water work in 60-80m once again I saw no improvement and the narrow beam also missed structure and fish that the wider beam would show.

I worked closely with Lowrance tech team over several months not wanting to give up on this transducer but eventualy sold it on eBay for next to nothing

Not wanting to put you off as you may have far more luck tham me, also the warm clear water I work in will have a huge influence on why I get such good results from a $200 transducer

Jon

Was hoping forda clearer bottom at speed, o we'll

[jonp]

You may well do so, just didn't notice it on mine. The continental shelf starts it drop off around 250m here, I have no problems around 40kmh (20kn) holding bottom on 200 htz.

When I get over 350m I tend to use 50htz and slow up to around 8kn. This image is from my old boat and the cheap transducer, on my new boat I get better results out of the unit.

[Pikey Dave]

I've had M260 txrs in my last & current boat. Previous boats had transom transducers. I find that the M260 gives a much better bottom trace at planing speeds (30kn) where the transom mounts lost it at around 15kn. They can be a faff to fit especially through an 8" Bailey hatch, but once done right they just do what it say on the tin. I like 'em

[Mat856]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I've had M260 txrs in my last & current boat. Previous boats had transom transducers. I find that the M260 gives a much better bottom trace at planing speeds (30kn) where the transom mounts lost it at around 15kn. They can be a faff to fit especially through an 8" Bailey hatch, but once done right they just do what it say on the tin. I like 'em

had a big anoth hole to work luckily, just need some better weather to try it out

[jonp]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I've had M260 txrs in my last & current boat. Previous boats had transom transducers. I find that the M260 gives a much better bottom trace at planing speeds (30kn) where the transom mounts lost it at around 15kn. They can be a faff to fit especially through an 8" Bailey hatch, but once done right they just do what it say on the tin. I like 'em

What depths do you use yours at, my 260 was also ok out to 200m at any speed but so was the cheap one.

With narrow beams in deep water once you get wave and swell action the beam misses on the return ping then flips out the unit.

Jon

[Mat856]

Originally Posted by jonp

What depths do you use yours at, my 260 was also ok out to 200m at any speed but so was the cheap one.

With narrow beams in deep water once you get wave and swell action the beam misses on the return ping then flips out the unit.

Jon

I will mostly only be in 200ft of water so nothing really

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by jonp

What depths do you use yours at, my 260 was also ok out to 200m at any speed but so was the cheap one.



With narrow beams in deep water once you get wave and swell action the beam misses on the return ping then flips out the unit.



Jon

Originally Posted by Mat856

I will mostly only be in 200ft of water so nothing really

100-150m tops. The M260 gives me CHIRP & downscan ( or whatever Lowrance call it ) it's dual frequency & I mostly use the 200hz. I find having a split screen with 50/200hz allows me to narrow in on targets, especially in shallow water.