Airmar p66 v 1kw

[onerabbit]

Hi all,

I have a Furuno 582, a great thing, but with the small transducer, 600w, fishing deep water ( 250mtrs + ) is still not as good as I had hoped.

Spoke to Finding_time the other night on the phone, his comments on the 1kw tranny prompted me to look into ordering one, he says he can see fish at that depth.

$1600 fitted............................................ .....

yeah, WOW, thats with splitter box, brackets, blah blah blah.

Was just looking for some justification for this outlay.

Any comments???

Muzz

[finga]

I always wondered the accuracy at 250m plus if the transducer was a smidgion off square to the bottom of the boat (or vertical to the water profile).
You'd end up looking at something 100m (maybe not that much) away from the bottom of the boat due to a tiny misalignment.
Is that possible??
Just did the sums....a 5 degree misalignment at 250m will look at something, a blonde one off, 22m to the side of your boat.
Not much 5 degrees

[onerabbit]

When you are slopping around in swell up to 2mtrs, do you think it would really matter??
Not being argumentative, I had wondered the same myself, but decided the roll of the boat would be worse.

I'm not overly smart with this sort of technology, but I thought, even with the beam swinging back & forth, the strongest signal would come from the closest point of reflection, ie the closest bottom to the unit??????

Open to suggestions.

Muzz

[Grunter71]

Onerabbit,

I have also considered it as I have a 582 and have been led to believe that a 1kw transducer will provide better information to the sounder, although, still nowhere near as good as a true 1kw sounder. It was explained to me as having a better set of "ears". It can still only use 600w, but will "hear" better.

On the alignment of the transducer, I recently fiddled with the alignment of the transducer by reshaping a piece of teflon cutting board so that the back of the transducer wasn't so low, as I felt it was looking too far forward. I now get a lot of detail that I wasn't getting before. I now believe the alignment can make a difference to the detail that gets back to the sounder, but, as you say, the rocking and rolling of a rough day would be worse.

[Grand_Marlin]

G'day Muzz,

The alignment of the transducer is important ... always try to get it as square to the bottom as possible.
This tends to give best performance even when the boat is rolling, and also when it is "bow up" when planing.

Now, please take this as gospel.

Your 582 has a power output of 600w, so that is all it can ever put out - maximum.

If you put the 1kw (1000w) transducer on your unit, you are still only ever putting a maximum 600w through the 1000w transducer, so you get no power gain at all.

All you do get is slightly better target discrimination because the 1kw transducer is a better quality.
As for deep water, you will not read any deeper or better - you are wasting your money.

If you want to go to 1kw - upgrade you unit to the new Furuno 585 - awesome unit. Ok, it costs 3 grand to set it up with a 1kw transducer, but gee it is worth it.

Also, what type of transducer were you looking at? In hull in the box like Ians, or the thru hull unit?
Who was fitting it for you?

Cheers

Pete

[onerabbit]

Hmmmm, interesting comment GM, the last thing I want to do is throw money at it for nothing.
Bummer is, my 582 is only 12 months old, bought it just before the 585 became available, as for the transducer, I was looking at the rubbery one about the size of a house brick, not sure of the exact model.
Sailfish was going to fit it to the transom.

Muzz

[finding_time]

Muzz

As GM has said the 582 is only putting out 600w and although the 1 kw will pick up more due mainly to a more sensitive transducer( 12 times more sensitive in 200khz mode and a staggering 50 times more sensitive in 50khz mode, figures from the airmar site www.airmar.com ) and a more focused beam your only going to get a real benift by going to a 585 with a 1kw output.

As i said on the phone i was picking up great shows in 460m so there are benifts for the type of fishing your doing but it's going to cost.

Ian

Ps haven't got wide yet but it's going to happen soon

[Trevor2]

600W units can be connected to a 1kW transducer. This does not increase the output power but it greatly enhances the receive capabilities. These better results are obtained because of the multi element design of the 1kW transducer and the physical size of the transducer face.

I have not seen this 1kw connection (on the 582 or the 620) to compare the results.

Kind regards Trevor

[Grand_Marlin]

With all the controversy and "unknown" on this subject... trust me, I have spent numeroues days droplining over the shelf, and fit sounders etc for my profession (Valet Boat Services)

Putting a 1kw transducer on a 600w unit is like putting a 4 cylinder motor in a Nascar ... a waste of friggin time and money.

You can pussy foot around all the maybe's by doing it once and doing it properly.
1kw head unit with 1kw transducer ... anything else is a compromise.

Also, we as recreational fishermen are just starting to explore the benefits of higher powered units.

Commercial people who fish the shelf are commonly usint 3 - 10 kw machines to do the job properly - If you asked a serious pro fisherman to use a 1kw unit he would laugh at you.... toys they call them.

Anyone is obviously free to do and try whatever they like, but if I you are serious, do it properly - skimping on a few $$$ when it comes to higher level equipment will only end in heartache.

Cheers

Pete

[indy]

G'day pete,

I have an old Furono fcv-668 it only comes with a 150w transceiver its frequency is 50 khz or 200khz what should i be running it on the 50 or 200 for better display etc.

[indy]

Also with the new furuno 585 with the 1 kw transducer and the 1 kw head unit with you installing it what sort of figure am i looking at.


cheers pete....

[finding_time]

Also with the new furuno 585 with the 1 kw transducer and the 1 kw head unit with you installing it what sort of figure am i looking at.


cheers pete....

At a guess ! $3500.00

[Grand_Marlin]

G'day Pete,

Any sounder runs best on 200khz up to 150 - 180 metres, 200khz gives better target identification and discrimination.

50khz is designed for deep water use.
It is less likely to pick out fish from structure and it is generally affected by any speed over say 4 knots.

The newer digital sounders seem to be better with the speed / interference problem.

Through me (Valet Boat Services) A new Australian delivered and warranted 585 with an M260 in hull 1kw transducer will cost you $3349

Installation varies from boat to boat ... flush mounted sounder, bracket mounted sounder, access through boat for cables, type and mounting position of transducer, condition of existing wiring etc etc etc

Generally any sounder / transducer can be mounted in a full day at the most.
So installation will be approximately $400 - $600 ... everything done properly.

Snelly has looked at importing the same setup ... around $2300 from the States.

Cheers

Pete

[banshee]

When I bought my 582 about four years ago I wanted to do the same thing (1kw transducer) The bloke I bought it off serviced and sold units to the Tuna fleet opperating out of Southern NSW,his advice to me was nearly word for word what Grand Marlin has writen.

[Grand_Marlin]

his advice to me was nearly word for word what Grand Marlin has writen.

All except the Nascar quote I am guessing

Cheers

Pete