Speaking of sounders....

[heymagic]

We have a Raytheon L365 on board . It has a temp, speed thru hull. It is faired in and works ok up to about 100 ft depth or so. It rarely reads above 150 ft. It lost bottom in Budd Bay and LaConner though ! Mostly seems like a wussy sounder. We had a Raytheon 265 on a previous boat with similar complaints. I've tried increasing the gain, switching from 50 hz to 200, ducer is clean..nothing helps much. I've had $100 Humminbirds read 300 ft regularly.

So I'm thinking what to get. Raymarine has a color sounder for $299, may not be any better than the old Raytheon though. I see lots of sounders indicating 1500 ft range, likely fresh water but still should be good to 600 ft in salt. I thought about cutting and re-using the present tdcr as to not waste a good hole in the bottom of the boat :lol: I don't care about the temp part, nor really the speed. Boat is an inboard so has to shoot through hull one way or the other. I could just get a new set-up and keep the old for backup , or use in the cabin when anchoring..rarely. I don't fish, just wanna know where the water stops..

What are you guys using and with what results ? Gene

[Randygh]

Gene--I purchased a Garmin 250c last winter and have been very pleased with it. It has a transom transducer, don't know if it come with a thru-hull. I can read the screen well in sunlight because my helm is covered and the screen is in shade. Good detail and color.

[bradvo]

Gene, I would have to agree with you about the hummingbird and I have also had good luck with the small 3 inch Lawrence that was on my 39. I have raymarine tri data and a color raymarine ( model I do not remember) that to me, does not hold the bottom readings as well as the two manufactures I mentioned above.
I really like the wide angle hummingbird I had on the 39. It also gave me better readings while under way, I am sure it also was less expensive. I think those boys just know what they are doing there when making an inexpensive sounder that is dependable. Just my 2 cents. Not taking anything away from the Raymarine or raytheon brands but they cost allot and for what you want to use it for why buy all the bells and whistles?
Brad

[Go Aweigh2452]

my old wideview humminbird has been great with soundings down to 1000 ft. It is a 1996 model and when I can afford it, I will buy the new Raymarine deepthsounder that goes with my single display Raymarine C70. I will keep the old humminbird since it is a nice unit and I can actually read it.

[Numbknots]

Gene,

I have a Hummingbird wide portrait on my 20fter and it works well and is lt cost less then $200. I had a Lorrance on a previous boat and I got great soundings from it.

I take it you aren't looking for a combo chart plotter/sounder? If you are you won't be sorry with Garmin.

My Tolly has a 1989 vintage Furuno color sounder and it still works like a top, just doesn't have the resolution or show bottom contours like the new stuff. When I can scrape together the money I am going to buy a new Furuno to work with the NavNet system, will show the sounding overlaid on the chart plotter. From the tides we've had in Budd inlet lately I am not sure a long stick wouldn't work better. I could step from E dock to the shore, no need for the ramp.

I will be up tomorrow and Wednesday (buffing/waxing) give a jingle if you are down on the boat?

Tim

[TollyWally]

I am quite pleased with my Furuno 4100 installed this spring in my inboard powered vessel. It works great to 500 feet plus at speeds up to 20 plus knots. It didn't fade in greater depths or speeds, that's just how deep I've been and how fast I was going.

TollyWally

[heymagic]

What or how is the transducer mounted ? If I knew mine was accurate and just didn't read over 150 ft that would be ok. However it crapped out in LaConner. It was reading 9 ft or so and then down to 3 , 4 and 2.5, back to 9 etc. No one close in front of us. A little unnerving at the time.