Sounder/GPS. ~$1500 budget. Ideas?

[gford001]

Hey,
I have decided to upgrade sounder and GPS in the old Seafarer and it is looking like a rough $1500 budget.
I was originally thinking a pair of 5in units (1 sounder, 1 GPS). Or maybe even a 5in/7in pair. I did like the look of the Dragonflies.
I was going to go a 7in combo, but for the sake of a couple hundred dollars (around $1300 vs around $1500) i thought the 9in would be better value.
I looked at the Garmin Echomap 95SV in Northside the other week, and liked it. The bloke there explained the benefits of a single bigger combo. I wasnt sold on the Side View originally, but he explained it well and I thought it sounded like a good idea.
I have been having a look online tonight and saw the new Lowrance Hook-9. Any ideas on this? I know Lowrance sometimes get a bad rap and Garmin have a good name, but for the same price, what would be better? Is the Hook-9 released yet? This could be a deciding factor, as I can be impatient when i buy something and not likely to wait......
Or alternatives?

Cheers
Glen

[Sheik]

Hey Glen
Where would you be using it? For my money I'd be going with a furuno sounder and a garmin GPS.

[gford001]

Hey Glen
Where would you be using it? For my money I'd be going with a furuno sounder and a garmin GPS.

Good point. Didn't cover that. Inside the bay. Out of redcliffe, so northern bay, Moreton, mud island etc.

[VictorOscar]

Glen,

Just had a quick look at the Lowrance Hook 9 and it doesn't seem to have side imagining, only CHIRP and down imaging.

Garmin has DV, SV and HD-ID Sonar (I am not sure if this is CHIRP or the traditional one)

IMO, having the SV would be a greater advantage than CHIRP in the areas that you are looking fish given they are shallower.

Also, not being a touch screen, the unit with more buttons (Garmin) would probably be a bit easier/faster to use.

[Dan5]

Doing the same here mate and the Garmin 95sv keeps coming to the top of the pile..........I have the 70dv ATM and it's a pleasure to use........I'm pissed the 95sv is not touch though

[gford001]

Glen,

Just had a quick look at the Lowrance Hook 9 and it doesn't seem to have side imagining, only CHIRP and down imaging.

Garmin has DV, SV and HD-ID Sonar (I am not sure if this is CHIRP or the traditional one)

IMO, having the SV would be a greater advantage than CHIRP in the areas that you are looking fish given they are shallower.

Also, not being a touch screen, the unit with more buttons (Garmin) would probably be a bit easier/faster to use.

that 95DV does seem to my inexperienced eyes to be the best of the bunch, but I dont really know what I'm looking at .Just seems a good price for a lot of features. Seemed pretty user friendly in the shop too .
Not too fussed on touch screen, would be nice, but having owned a few tablets, I reckon touch screen could be a bit fragile, just one more thing to go wrong.......

[chocolatemoose]

for a laugh!

Hook 9 is due out next week "or... its out, just.. not shipped yet.. its complicated"

the hook...ehh.. elite.. hook.. sorry still getting my head around that, does have some things going for it. i have found the CHIRP modulation "whilst not being total chirp" is still able to produce a nice super crisp image and fish arches in those 60mt and less water.

that being said , yep it lacks side imaging.

the hook series i have found "ehh elite... oh this is doing my head in" is easier to use, in some respects but you get more marbles for your coin with the garmin.

now garmin does have a newer CHIRP series echomap due out in the next month or so, but that isnt to say the older non chirp series echomaps are rubbish. no no no. very very solid units indeed!. plenty of mapping options. CHIRP based side/down vu is a handy tool even if you use it 5 times a year.. the sonar..........the sonar side of things is, its plenty good. 500w puts down enough power for the returns to look pretty good. plenty of ways to sharpen the results

okay.. so.. what the hell am i saying?

bang for buck to get a good big screen system and have a few dollars left in your piggybank. go the 95sv for around that $1400 mark.

Moose
"WHY AM I STILL AWAKE, IM GOING FISHING TOMMOROW!"

[gford001]

for a laugh!

Hook 9 is due out next week "or... its out, just.. not shipped yet.. its complicated"

the hook...ehh.. elite.. hook.. sorry still getting my head around that, does have some things going for it. i have found the CHIRP modulation "whilst not being total chirp" is still able to produce a nice super crisp image and fish arches in those 60mt and less water.

that being said , yep it lacks side imaging.

the hook series i have found "ehh elite... oh this is doing my head in" is easier to use, in some respects but you get more marbles for your coin with the garmin.

now garmin does have a newer CHIRP series echomap due out in the next month or so, but that isnt to say the older non chirp series echomaps are rubbish. no no no. very very solid units indeed!. plenty of mapping options. CHIRP based side/down vu is a handy tool even if you use it 5 times a year.. the sonar..........the sonar side of things is, its plenty good. 500w puts down enough power for the returns to look pretty good. plenty of ways to sharpen the results

okay.. so.. what the hell am i saying?

bang for buck to get a good big screen system and have a few dollars left in your piggybank. go the 95sv for around that $1400 mark.

Moose
"WHY AM I STILL AWAKE, IM GOING FISHING TOMMOROW!"

Cool thanks mate, exactly what I am looking for. Think the Garmin might be the way to go. I will go do some shopping on Friday, might even snag a bargain if there is a new model out soon......
Wheres your shop? You Brissie based?

[StevenM]

Was looking at the Garmin 95sv, great unit.

stop from purchasing as the tranny is about 10 inches long.

not suitable on my 4.3 as the side view would be distorted by the outboard leg and just seemed way too far out for my liking.

[scottar]

Mate's elite stopped recently - can't find a way in to even attempt repair - not that Lowrance carry any parts anyway. Can't confirm that the Hook series is the same - just something to look at. My money would be on the Garmin though

[Dan5]

Was looking at the Garmin 95sv, great unit.

stop from purchasing as the tranny is about 10 inches long.

not suitable on my 4.3 as the side view would be distorted by the outboard leg and just seemed way too far out for my liking.

That's a good point mate but I've used the HDS units in small boats with the tranny pretty close to the leg with no shadowing or issues.......i'm not sure on the "magic" of how it all works but it seems to be fine.........Also the Lowrance tranny looks bigger than the Garmin one to me.

[patrol50]

well i gotta say for a bloke who has all lowrance gear hds gen 1 and 2 plus previously a lcx 27 c and with 3 transducer hanging off the stern a ss2 and two broadband tranducers 50 / 200 and 83 / 200 that the garmin gear looks real good as it comes with sv and ds plus chirp and all in the one transducer hanging off the back and has the quick release clip for the head unit as well so no plugs to undo each time and is very well priced as well - know what i would be buying today if i was in the market - reckon lowrance may be quite concerned

cheer rob

[hazza80]

Does the 95sv have sonar history rewind where you can scroll through your sonar history (create waypoint from past sonar reading)? If so, can it be used with the side view/down view too?

[gford001]

Does the 95sv have sonar history rewind where you can scroll through your sonar history (create waypoint from past sonar reading)? If so, can it be used with the side view/down view too?

Pretty sure it does. I remember this being one of the main advantages of a combo over 2 units when I spoke to the bloke in North side.

[PROS]

I had a lowrance elite 7 hdi (non chirp) a while back and replaced 6 months ago with Garmin 95SV, had a good experience with this unit so far

Bigger screen is more useful than anything.
Traditional sounder returns with Garmin is much clear .

I bought the Garmin with big hopes that side scan will help heaps finding new structure/bait schools.
Bit of a disappointment. The whole sidescan thing looks only good for very shallow water under 5-7mts.
Anything deeper, the image gets too dull.
Sidescan frustrates me, don't be so hopeful on this function for any brand, I think it is more designed for fresh water than salty.

Transducer is long and spits water upwards for some people I didn't have any problem.
You can sort this problem with splash cover.

On shallow water under 7mt sidescan pic is great for both sides, however on deeper water outboard leg comes in the way of the signal cone and stops the image displaying on port side, have to lift the leg up to get the port side working.

Sidescan seem to be only good on flat water conditions, bit of wave and image all over the place.

I recommend Garmin definitely.
I am sure you can improve most of the little problems I mentioned above with bit of practice/research, for eg reduce your sidecan range to reduce leg interrupting signal problem over deeper water.

If I was to upgrade again would try Furuno next without bothering with structure scans.

Max