Humminbird Wide Eye - know anything about em?

[Alby_74]

I have a tinny which came with a Humminbird Wide Eye...unfortunately I managed to snap off the transducer (which sunk) first time I launched it...(wont make that mistake twice) Anyway, now Im considering whether its worth spending the $130 odd bucks to get a new transducer, bracket and cables, or to get a new sounder completely...Trouble is I dont kow a thing about this model,,and not much aout sounders in general. Can anyone tell me if these are any good? what aretheir pro's and cons?

ps I mainly fish up creeks, in the bay and a bit of trolling...nothing deeper than 50m.

[banshee]

I had a couple of models up from the wide eye and found it to be the most woefull sounder I ever encountered,I found mine very blocky and extremely unreliable,it constantly had the screen blue over and would show fish in shallow crystal clear water where there obviously was none,added to this it would be totaly useless in anything near twenty metres let alone fifty.Even an entry level sounder from Lowrance or Garmin would perform much better than this unit,my advice would be to put the money towards a higher res unit from one of the pre mentioned companies.

[Alby_74]

cheers banshee...doesnt sound too promising....

Anyone else had any trouble with these?

Do you know if they are comparable to other Humminbird WIDE series fishfinders (Wide Paramount, Wide 100 etc?)

[SundownMarine]

Alby_74

The wide eye is an old unit , cost of repair is worth more than the value of the unit.
Our advice is to put aside at least $250 and have a shop around for a new sounder that will suit your purpose.
Give us a call here at the shop and we may be able to help you out

Keep in mind after spending the money on a new transducer and such you will still have no warranty.

Sundown Marine.

[2rods]

Don't wast your money on it!

Spend a bit more and get something better. In there day they were ok but these days even a $200 unit will make the old lierbird look like it should be in a black and white movie.

[MulletMan]

I could be wrong here but any sounders that give you a "bigger" picture just tend to magnify the pixels in the resolution part of the display. This will often result in distorted pictures or simply blowing up the return sizes. At days end, it is all about the power of the sounder. Get a decent coloured one from Furuno, NEC, Kodan - to hell with the money!!
You will love it so much you will take it to bed with you!

[onerabbit]

True, they are on old model, but the 350 wide eye in my boat has been great for 5yrs, it was in the boat when i bought it, no problems seeing the bottom in 150 mtrs & good in the shallow water too.
My only problem with it is that it runs out of steam at 185mtrs & is no help to us on the shelf, around 250mtrs.
(I actually have a new furuno colour sounder on order because of this)
Other than that its great, cant fault it.

Muzz

[Stu]

I have a wide eye (it also came with the boat )
Its not a bad unit however I am looking forward to the day the minister for finance lets me buy a coloured sounder.
Much better.
I'd suggest having a look around for a good quality cheap coloured sounder before making any decisions.
Cheers
Stu

[onerabbit]

Furuno 582 (i think) with 600w transducer, over 2k, if I never went past the 48s I wouldn't bother.

Muzz

[ambo]

hi guys im new to this site but would like to ask your opinion on something my boat has a hummin bird wide 100 came with the boat i like to leave it on auto even when looking for ridges and drop offs my mate reckons i need to use the sensitivity settings for better reading of the bottom . im one who likes to keep it simple by letting the sounder on auto

would appreciate comments what ive read so far has been good

[Teejay]

I have a H/bird Wide 100 that would have been new in 1998. I run it on 'Auto" and it does a great job. I fish in 25 metres or less and it clearly nails fish down as close as 1 metre above the bottom. Sure it's not the latest technology, but it's reliable, and it will do me until those ubeaut color jobs come back a bit in price.

Teejay

[trouves]

i have a wide 100 which came with our boat. we recently replaced the transducer with a newer compatible one an its hopeless!!! shows depths of up to 13 metres when we can stand on the bottom when swimming shows fish when there are none (we can see in crystal clear water) i'm looking into a complete new set probably not hummingbird!!

[Teejay]

i have a wide 100 which came with our boat. we recently replaced the transducer with a newer compatible one an its hopeless!!! shows depths of up to 13 metres when we can stand on the bottom when swimming shows fish when there are none (we can see in crystal clear water) i'm looking into a complete new set probably not hummingbird!!

Sounds to me like you are in "simulator mode". For normal operation, try one short jab on the power switch at startup time. Holding the power switch down until it beeps puts you in practice or simulator mode - you get 13 metres and fish where there aint any. It's all in the book mate.
Hope this helps
Teejay

[stilltryin]

Alby 74,

Got a couple of spare transducers that fit humminbird. Possibly one that suits your sounder.

Give me a PM and let me know how many pins are in the busted transducer the end that plugs into the sounder) and I will have a look.

regards

Stilltryin

[Fitzy]

At days end, it is all about the power of the sounder.

Probably not an entirely correct statement IMHO.

IMHO power takes a BIG back seat to pixel numbers & transducer beam widths (depending upon water depth uses).
[hr]

Alby_74,

I totally agree with Sundown. The value for money on the latest models is far better & the technology from then > now is chalk & cheese. Put the $130 into a new unit....

Cheers,

fitzy..