Whiteman with the Garmin have you set your keel depth?
Whiteman with the Garmin have you set your keel depth?
Tangles KFC
Yep, done that.
Lancair, I have yet to take mine out into deeper water as I am having trouble with the weather, I can't pick the right weekend to sort out my fathers estate, every time I rthink it is gonna be crap it turnsd out to be good but I have already made commitments, but I will get there. Have you tried adjusting the PIC Advance as this may sort out your problem, but then again I could be wrong.Originally Posted by Lancair
Whiteman, I have an old Furuno CRT model which until now was an excellant unit (was planning to keep it origally but has started playing up every now and then), and it matches the Garmin for temp and depth. I am still a novice with the Garmin but I have not found any issues yet other than I don't like Homeport. Both transducers are almost side by side and neither are set for keel offset. I will need to spend a bit more time on the water with the unit and check out all the adjustments, previously I was against a combo unit but I have found this one easy to use and so far hasn't disappointed me.
Dignity, it sounds like I've got a real issue with the Garmin, but ...... They have never come to my attention as a sounder in the past as no-one I knew used one - their plotters were everywhere though. When my frustration with the Furuno 620 (no depth on the plane) finally pushed me to sell it and get something else it was at the same time as my trusty old Navman chartplotter finally packed it in, so the Garmin was purchased because it could do both (for only $1,800) and I really liked the charts in the showroom. I thought that the sounder capabilities would be excellent - the brochure said so!
But for my fishing which is blue water it is not up to the mark. It has lots of great features but in the end, if you can't clearly pick out predators cruising through bait schools or reds sitting on the bottom in 50m of water, then it's not for me. It is my backup sounder and it least gave me the confidence to go back to Furuno for a purpose built sounder which has paid dividends. And a 7" screen is far too small anyway for both jobs so it was always a compromise driven by budget at the time.
Whiteman, agree with you the 750S although not quite a compromise for me as I already had a sounder I was happy with but I figured a back up wouldn't hurt (it was also at the right price) and yes the and the 7" screen did seem a bit small for both although I was pleasantly surprised that with the clarity it wasn't the issue I thought it would be considering I need to wear reading glasses (I had a look at the Ugly Fish with the reading lenses last week which would help) but even with both screens I could easily get the detail I needed. Mind you I have only had a chance to get out in really good weather and might change my mind in rougher conditions, now that my furuno sounder has died I will look to probably getting a dedicated sounder but as I am happy with the result the 750S has given me so far I am now not in a hurry to go out and buy one until I am sure what it is I will be getting. Depending also on the Managing Director and what she says although she did enjoy the last trip out especially with all the whales out frollicing.
I run a furuno 620 and a garmin 750s side by side ( ducers on opposite sides) both are good I like the furuno a bit better but my dad likes the garmin. The garmin seems to smooth out the image but at the same time it shows bait fish quicker better but the furuno seems to have a better definition when looking for reds etc. both are good running standard ducers but they would be better with the bigger 1kw but I only fish mainly to 100 mtrs and with over $3000 outlay can't justify the extra
propdinger I haven't run my Garmin 750S in real anger yet and can't for another couple of weeks but then I will spend a lot of time working on it. I did spend a lot of time checking the transducer placement and ensuring the location, depth and angle was correct, I also ran my transducer cable away from all power cables. I taped the bracket in place before hand and ran a staight edge under the hull to check the alignment and depth was appropriate, there is a very small radius where the transom meets the hull could be just enough for me to make it too shallow, ensure no strakes were in the way and out of the prop wash. It took me nearly 2 hours of fussing around before it was finished but I was pleased with the result. I have reading at speed albeit only to 50 metres at this stage and I did pick up schools of fish on the run and stopped and fished them although it appeared to me to be bait fish with nothing chasing them as we got a few slimies for live bait, fished an area that I normally fish and found fish at about 9 metres from the bottom that looked nothing like I had seen before in this area, turned out to be Teraglin which we have never before caught at this location yet my mate and I have consistently fished this section of reef for over 15 years. The definition I was getting was very good. I do not have my unit set on auto, first thing I turned off once I figured out how.
I have always run a separate sounder to the GPS and that is still my preference but as my sounder has started to play up and is ready to give up the ghost I will have to rely on this unit till I find a replacement and funds to match. You never know I may get to like it and it could be a while, as I mentioned to whiteman I need reading glasses only but could easily read the unit even in split screen mode with out them, I also only discovered the feature of tapping the screen I want if I need full screen for a short time by reading the manual while I have been convalescing (I hadn't read the sonar section as previously wasn't planning on using it). I will need to take it to my Red's spot to check it out and see if I get the yellow marks when I am on red emperor which the old Furuno used to show. My main disappointment is not with the unit but with Garmin and their Homeport software but you have already seen that thread.
After yesterdays trip fishing in 85-105m and seeing "some" slight returns on a few occasions Im going to try once more and try adjusting the sounder angle in the water, its the only thing I havent done. It is set normally with the trailing edge ever so slightly lower than the leading edge as per setup instructions.
Failing that working, Im debating on the purchase of a 1kw tranny.
Maybe Id be better off spending the money on another sounder to use as a stand alone unit and use the 750 as a plotter only.
The question is, which unit for up to $1500 WILL do the job best. Lowrance HD7 and Furuno 627 seem to be the choices ?
Lancair,
I can only add what i've said mate , run it in manual in 50 khz with the noise rejection off in that depth.If you go the 1kw it will find fish in 100m on less than half of it's available power .
If your going stand alone , while the 627 and HD7 are excellent units have a peek at Koden CVS 126 also.Mates I know running the Koden 128 are rating them as the new benchmark .
Birdy
Birdy,
I looked at the Cvs 126 and furuno 627, ended up getting the furuno based on feedback apparently they don't rate the 126 half as good as the 128 and you have to manually tune them for best image.. Took my Furuno to the hards and gobsmacked by definition and clarity.. 60-80 meters on auto.. Wish I took pics now..
Hallcomp1,Birdy,
I looked at the Cvs 126 and furuno 627, ended up getting the furuno based on feedback apparently they don't rate the 126 half as good as the 128 and you have to manually tune them for best image.. Took my Furuno to the hards and gobsmacked by definition and clarity.. 60-80 meters on auto.. Wish I took pics now..
Yeah fair enough . I havnt seen a 126 in action , just another option but if thats the case the 627 would be the go.
Birdy
Can anyone post some pics from a Furuno 627? preferably in deep water.
Sorry, too busy catching fish with my 627. I've got a new GoPro so next time out I should get some action in HD. They are really good - go and buy one.
Well I run a Furuno FCV585 with P66 trannie as well as a Garmin unit with the standard 500W trannie which I originally bought just to give depth readings on my Garmin GPS and at 100m the screens are pretty much identical and both show adequate clarity for me to determine what is likely to be down there. Wouldn't say one was better that the other but the Garmin setup is more stable at speed. I am told that the TM260 will give better images but doubt whether I will catch any more or less fish lol, but if I ever have a spare $1K or more I would like to install one but I have also heard that they can be a bitch to setup for reading at speed so I'll probably opt for a slide down bracket.
A couple of screen shots off the Garmin with standard 500W trannie in 80 + Metres, no tweaking just all on auto, they were pearlies and trag, that's what I was pulling up from memory at least.
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