Colour Fishfinder - What to buy???

[Outrageous]

Hi all! I am currently in the market for a new fishfinder. The Navman 4600 caught my eye with its nice big screen and its compatibility with Mercs (shows guages on screen). I have no experience with Navmans and don't know what they are like reliability wise... I would appreciate any advice anyone could throw my way so I can make an informed choice. I guess I'm looking for ease of operation, clarity of screen (day and night), accuracy and reliability. Also, is through hull better than transom mount - or is it simply a matter of preference? I have a Powercat 288 (which I love ) with twin Merc 225s (boy, do they go!! ) and fish mainly in the waters around Moreton Bay. Cheers!

[redspeckle]

Welcome to the site
You can do a search here for colour sounders or fishfinders heres a short cut to one of the topics on colour sounders if haven't read it yet
http://www.ausfish.com.au/cgi-ausfis...num=1129778499
I hope this helps you
Mitch
ps you must have [smiley=greedy.gif] to burn running twin Merc 225s on the back of it see why name yourself Outrageous

[peterbo3]

What is your budget? How deep are you going to fish? You get what you pay for. Big screen (10 inch) & 1000W will cost more but will be easier to read & provide better bottom discrimination. High pixel count is important for picture clarity.
Transom mount transducers can provide a top picture if mounted properly. My Raymarine L760 transom mount shows bottom outline/depth at 50km/hr & really good pics at 25 km/hr. No experience with through hulls at high speed so can't comment.
I would buy a sounder on it's sounding merits-the fact that it duplicates the engine gauges on the screen seems to be of no real advantage. Probably clutters the screen
That said, JRC FF50 or Raymarine 600 Series have plenty of users on the site. These are 600W units & are well regarded. I am sure that there will be plenty more advice.

[Outrageous]

Thanks Mitch for the link... will check it out now (PS: Mercs more economical than they sound, thankfully!!) Thanks too Peter for advice... taken on board.
Cheers,
Tony

[SundownMarine]

Tony,

If you want quality with no comprimise there is only two choices Raymarine C or E series or Furuno Navnet systems.
They all take 1kw transducers and with a powercat of that size we assume you would be taking it into deep water at some time.
One thing to consider is on a boat of that size while standing at the transom you would want to be able to glance at the electronics as you fish and then you would need to go into 10inch screen or bigger.

Both the Raymarine and Furuno are at the top of the tree and are not the cheapest alternative but by far the best if you want serious gear for a serious boat.





Sundown Marine.

[Grand_Marlin]

Raymarine is the best quality available, with Lowrance being the best value for money.
Navman is like buying a Hyundai in favour of a BMW... say no more
A supplier of ours refused to sell us Navman so as we could uphold our reputation... apparently there have been a large number of warranty claims.
In saying this, I am not biased... just know what I hear and see by being in the industry.
We can supply and fit any brand that you choose if it i of any help to you.
Cheers
Pete
Valet Boat Services.

[Volvo]

Pete would you like to PM me a price on the raymarine 600x with either tx through hull or transom mount as in the market for new sounder ...
Just havin a wee bit of trouble liftin floor up at present for transducer mounting and fuel tank enlarging..
Cheers

[THE_BILL_COLLECTOR]

fruno 582 high power exellent sounder and will last u a life time. any form of blue-water work this sounder will do everything that u would ask for!
good luck!

Bill Collector