Side Imaging Sonar

[fish-n-dive]

OK, so the ads in the mags make them look good......................has anyone used them and are they everything the ads make them out to be?...........................would you say they are worth the $$$?

Cheers

[Smithy]

If you had a spare $30K lying around why wouldn't you?. #Have fished beside guys with them and been beaten by them and other days we have caught more. #Every little bit of electronic gadgetory helps. #This current batch of Furunos are awesome. #Dual frequency and you can actually tag the returns of the Marlin on the edge of bait schools. #Wesmar has had the march but Furuno has caught up by the word on the street.

[fish-n-dive]

I was kinda thinking more along the lines of a Humminbird 987c.

[banshee]

I'm privy to trade only shows I also go to most boat and tackle shows,at every opportunity I ask the Humminbird people how their unit fires through the outboard leg then picks up the signal on it's return(through the outboard leg),answers I've had are, Answer 1, it fires through the gap between the leg and the transome,I had a berley pot on my transome but the unit still showed a perfect return and when I pointed this out he sort of just dissapeared, Answer2, the beam is shot down verticaly it then follows the bottom and bounces off the underside of the surface where it meets the bank then returns "somehow" to the TX, (yeah right mate,not on this planet),Answer 3(the most common),"it just does mate",Answer 4, and this is the best one of all "Piss of will ya". I would personaly want this explained to me before I shelled out for one of these units,if it concerns you I hope you get a better answer than the ones I have recieved.

[insideout]

Arnt those sounders$ 4000+? and if so why would you not go furuno? Far better money spent!!!!

[Fitzy]

The side imaging 900 Series 'Birds are pretty good at just that; side imaging. As the name suggests they look out to the side as well as down to give a total of 180 degree coverage if that's what you want. They're brilliant for showing you country/water that you'd have no other way of seeing other that to take the boat over that area & possibly spook the fish you're chasing. Handy for showing schools of bait &/or fish off to the side etc so you know which way to cast or turn the boat. Eliminates alot of wasted time looking for the fish or structure you're looking for.

On the question of how do they shoot between the leg & the transom. In the use I've had with them, they certainly do shoot between the gap, however I found the better returns from the side that is "open". I recon there are many variables that could come into play, boat/motor combination, trim, motor height on the transom etc

I cannot comment on the burley bucket as I dont have a burley bucket & dont use burley but I cant see how they will shoot through a stainless steel one (impossible), but will probable shoot through a plastic one the same as they will shoot through a plastic or glass boat.

The pic shows the water intake tower at Lake Monduran. You can clearly see the concrete plyons & even the metal grates around the pump head at 70 odd feet down. Can see a couple of big barra hanging around the tower too.

Cheers,

Fitzy..

* Note. I work for the company that distributes these sounders. However my personal oppinion is not for sale. My oppinion is posted by me, in my time to help give some genuine feedback. I have used the units & I do like them.

[fish-n-dive]

Thanks Fitzy,

I think they would be worth the $$$ by cutting down on time by more accurately targeting where your going to fish.

Cheers

[boyzie]

i've been lucky enough to have a look at one of the 900 series' out in the harbour and all i can say is bloody amazing!!!!! it shows the exact hull shape of every passing boat every little bait fish everything!!!! we used it mainly when chasing bait (Mullet) would show up a school 75 metres away, alot easier than throwing the net 100 times! they are overpriced but if i had the money i wouldn't hesitate

[wetaline]

It's funny you know, I remember paying $4000 plus for my first Faruno "Sat Nav", not GPS in the mid eighties. It had a two line dot matrix mono LCD display. An interface card for a speed transducer, flux gate compass and the associated transducers were optional equipment. Sat Nav, unlike GPS did not update constantly in the southern hemisphere so it was neccesary to have "Dead reckoning" inputs for the interval between satelite passes. But for all that we were amazed at the technology. Like everything electronic, the price eventually plummeted and the technology skyrocketed.

So guys, if it's any comfort, it's just a waiting game for now, before you know it you'll be 'scanning' with the best of 'em.

[drdonjuan9]

Hey Fitzy....
How'd you get your hands on one of these?

Just wondering which is better the Hummingbird 987cSI or the 981cSI?
Was looking at them and the 987Csi seemed to have more buttons on the unit, but apart from the additional GPS is there any other differences?

Cheers,
Huey

[Fitzy]

Hey Fitzy....
How'd you get your hands on one of these?

Just wondering which is better the Hummingbird 987cSI or the 981cSI?
Was looking at them and the 987Csi seemed to have more buttons on the unit, but apart from the additional GPS is there any other differences?

Cheers,
Huey

I was luck enough to borrow one......

The difference between the 981 & the 987 is the built-in UniMap in the 987 & the ability to take Navionics Gold charts.

You can add a GPS antennae to the 981 & enable the GPS function; waypoints, tracks etc.

In a nutshell, the 987 is a chartplotter where the 981 can never be a chartplotter, only GPS capable at best.

If you mainly fish in saltwater the 987 is go as you can utilise the Navionics charts. If you think you'll never use charts, then the 981 is probably the way to go & you can add a GPS antennae at any stage later on to give you waypoints etc.

Cheers,

Fitzy..

[Fixation]

I was quite impressed with these units until I saw that the depth limitation was 100ft. I guess I got excited a little too quick. Not bad if your shallow water fishing though. Bit too expensive at this stage of the game.

[Fitzy]

I was quite impressed with these units until I saw that the depth limitation was 100ft. I guess I got excited a little too quick. Not bad if your shallow water fishing though. Bit too expensive at this stage of the game.

The quoted blurb on them is that the Side Imaging (SI) will go to 75 feet depth & 240 feet to the sides. I've seen them reach to around 100 foot in SI mode.

The 900s are still a regular DF unit with 8000 watts (1000 watts RMS) that will reach over a 1000 foot+ with ease.

Cheers,

fitz..