Furuno FCV 585 - range scales to 2500 ft what does it mean?

[Ozwald]

G'day all
I'm just beginning to plan the electronics fit out of our new boat with my partner. As we are novices when it comes to sounders its time to tap into the Ausfish expertise for some opinions. I was thinking of buying the Furuno FCV585 although not sure what transducer to pair with it.
My partner thinks we have a problem with this sounder as the specification states that there are 8 customized range scales provided to 2500 feet, and so it will not be able fix the bottom depth after 2500ft. Is this the case? Doesnt the transducer have a major role in the ability of the sounder to pick up bottom?
My partner is keen to get a sounder that will record bottom depths of 5000ft as he wants to be able to work out current speed and drift rates while in out in the blue water.
Does anybody have an opinion on whether this info is essential? The type of fishing we will be doing will be a mix of jigging and trolling for pelagics, particularly yellowfin which are still fairly prolific in this part of the world.
Any advice greeatly appreaciated
Regards
Oz

[bigjimg]

The 585 is a trick unit if you think that is no good what do you think is?You will work out your drift with your plotter and gather you speed of drift from it as well as direction of drift.The current will then dictate if fishable,sometimes you will need a para-anchor to slow your drift.Where in the world are you if your considering fishing around 5000 ft?If you consider yourselves novices I reckon the 585 would be out of your league.IMO.Jim

[ozscott]

The 585 will accept the 1kw tranducer - see the Airmar site for that this transducer can do.

Cheers

[Bowser]

Drift rate etc is gauged by a GPS not a sounder. In reality you wouldn't be using a unit to fish in 2-2500 ft with the sounder showing the full water column. You wouldn't see any fish and any lump on the bottom would need to be significant to even pick that up. The ranges are part of teh auto settings of the sounder, mine in metres will vave 0-1m, 0-5m, 0-10m 0-25m, 0-50m etc. If ifor some strange reason I was fishing in 800m of water I would have the sounder in manual mode showing maybe 750-810m. That way you get some idea of what the bottom was doing.

If you are thinking of fishing in 5000 ft of water don't forget to fork out a motza for electric reels.

[Midnight]

Gday,
I regularly fish in 5000ft of water, but only have my sounder reading the top 100m on one side and 0-200 or 0-300m on the other. I use the plotter to find contours and structure to fish. The sounder is just there to mark bait and any individual fish high in the water column.

The Furuno 585 is one of the best sounders on the market for the money.

Cheers,
Myles

[battler1]

you can use your shift key this is my 620 600w transom mount transducer on a Barchusher off Goldcoast last Nov

The 585 is a trick unit if you think that is no good what do you think is?You will work out your drift with your plotter and gather you speed of drift from it as well as direction of drift.The current will then dictate if fishable,sometimes you will need a para-anchor to slow your drift.Where in the world are you if your considering fishing around 5000 ft?If you consider yourselves novices I reckon the 585 would be out of your league.IMO.Jim

[bigjimg]

Well done Battler 1 only 2618ft to go and your onto them.Jim

[Smithy]

5,000 feet and you are going to be in 2kw or 3kw territory. I think you will need a FCV295 or FCV1150 to achieve those sort of depth. I have achieved 800m and off the scale of my FCV585 with a 1kw transom mount once but usually it is only good for 600-700m.

[DOGFIGHT]

Well done Battler 1 only 2618ft to go and your onto them.Jim

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