Side imaging sounders

[Al1969]

Hi all, I am looking at buying a new sounder and have been looking at the side imaging one's (Lowrance & Humminbird) has anyone used these? and are they worth spending the extra money on? My pick would be the Humminbird 798 cxi combo.Are they worth the extra money?

Like moste people I am not loaded with cash and have wondered if a standard colour sounder still puts you onto the fish.

[Why-ting]

Hey Al, no sounder puts you onto fish they just help interperate whats on under the water. most sounders these days are of a very high quality and will help you do this.

As for the side scan sounders i cant comment on the humminbird units as i havent had much to do with them. I have recently added the structure scan to my hds units and it makes so much difference. you cover so much ground while sounding it not funny. with the incorparated down scan i find there is not much that cant be found in the area your sounding. i can not speak highly enough of it. The readings between hard bottom, trees or other structures and bait is well defined and easy to distinguish.

My only advice with the lowrance ss is to buy the biggest screen you can afford. the bigger the screen the more detail you are going to be able to pick up. in saying that i have 2 7in units and a 5in unit and you can still get good readings even on the hds5.

Hope this helps in some way but you deffinatly wont be dissapointed in the lowrance product i wouldnt want to go fissing without mine anymore.

Cheers Whytey

[blackjew]

Hi there ,mate your in the same boat i was 6 months ago, I cant stress enough search, search,search on this site for threads from leelee,and tody_again , these guys are a wealth of info and thats just naming a couple of them,
do google searches the humminbird U.S site is a great one join for free and look at the videos,do you tube searches . On the electronics forum list every second thread has info on either the birds,or the lowrance.both are great units but as one guy told me on the 798 a fish the size of a grain of rice is alot easyer to see on a biggggger screen.
Good luck ,which ever way you go .
Cheers Rob

structurescan

lowrance v humminbird .
Humminbird ..... why would you buy one

[Al1969]

Thanks for the feedback, looks like side imaging is the go, just need to decide on what brand and save some money.

[Thunderace2]

Very happy with my humm 798SI, cheaper than the lowrance too

[Escape with LG]

You can have my 798 si if you want, i had it on the boat for 5months pretty much brand new. Tranny has a minor scratch on it that didnt affect the performance asking round a 1000 if you want to save a few bucks on a new one.
ps its an australian one too not an import.

See how you go.

Cheers Luke

[Angry]

Ive hads a 898 CXSI Humminbird for 12 months now, took a while to get the settings to where I wanted it but now........Truly Brilliant.

You'll hear everybodies version, After having 2 Lowrances & thier shoddy treatment of customres, I reckon Ill stay with my Humminbird, ....and a tip buy the biggests creen you can possibly afford,,,,then get the next biggest size anyway.

[leelee]

You need to work out what is best for your budget, style of fishing, hull and how often you get out and what do you really want side and down scan for? People think it is a fast track to finding fish but that is not the case. There is a learning curve.

I have used both but own the Lowrance and basically either is better then having a traditional sounder. You also need to look into usability and see which one suits you.

Cheers

Lee

and a tip buy the biggests creen you can possibly afford,,,,then get the next biggest size anyway.

Love it. Best advice I have seen in a long time and it is so true.

[La Vida]

lOWRANCE STRUCTURE SCAN, ###### MARINE ON THE GOLD COASTHAVE GOT A RED HOT SPECIAL ON HDS STUFF AT THE MOMENT, CHEAPER THAN ANYONE ELSE CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE OR FACEBOOK PAGES AS THAT IS WHERE I SAW IT. LIKEWISE THE SAME FOR STRUCTURE SCAN

I JUST LOVE MY HDS AND STRUCTURE SCAN AND HAVING HUMMINBIRD PREVIOUSLY I CAN SAY THERE IS NO COMPARISION.. LOWRANCE ALL DAY EVERY DAY

[ozscott]

Have any of you fellas used a well tuned Furuno digital sounder (eg like mine - FCV 620) and moved to a sidescan in the same areas being sounded? I found mine to be a huge jump from a Garmin analogue of only slightly less power. If the 620 says a bait ball or fish is there when properly tuned it surely is. I just wonder to what extent, apart from the picture, the sidescan assists and to what depth they work in that mode?

Cheers

[La Vida]

Structure scan can view up to 300 ft either side of the boat, and I have had mine working still quite well at 70M in the downscan mode. for fishing 24s and under though nothing comes close, love just love it

[ozscott]

Thanks mate. If I had the Furuno turned on and a Furuno in structure scan mode would they interfere with each other?