FURUNO L600

[maxi]

LOOKING TO BUY A NEW SOUNDER AND WANTED TO KNOW IF ANY USERS HAVE THE FURUNO L600 OR THE 1650 COMBO UNIT AND WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THEM.

[StevenM]

Have the colour L600. Very happy, top unit and easy to use

cheers steven

[Tony_N]

Maxi

I have spent a fair bit of time looking at various combo units. People say that the 1650 is very slow changing screens (not enough RAM to handle the colour). The 7000F on the other hand is the ducks nuts. Have a look on Taylor Marine's web site for their agents and shop around for a good price . Should be able to get one for about $3400 with map and transducer. Currently only has C-Map, but supposed to have them with Navionics by Xmas. If you are serious about it - ask the dealers about the 1kw transducers. The dedicated 200khz one is about $350 I think

Bias Boating had three 1650WF combos on special recently for about $2000

http://www.biasboating.com.au/runout_electronics.html.

On special because it is superceded technology (replaced by the 7000). I know kingtin has a 1650 - I feel sure he wouldn't mind if you asked him about it.

I have a 1640F which I think is the bees knees. I bought it 2nd hand for $750 (didn't need the fish-finder but it was such a good deal, it had only been on the water a couple of times)

I also run a 600L. This is professional gear and I can't fault it. I bought mine after getting good advice from this forum ( Banshee in particular is a person who really knows his stuff and he is a staunch Furuno fan)

I know that people tend to give a good wrap to whatever they spend their hard-earned on - but that aside, the 600L does everything I need from a sounder. If you intended to fish greater than 50 or 60 fathoms you might need to go the next model up (the 580 I think)

Hope this is of some help

Tony

PS as far as I can work it out, sounder on the 7000F is at least the equivalent of the 600L

[maxi]

Thanks heaps guys thats great advice, just for dumb priks like me how deep is a fathom.

[banshee]

Six feet.

[nhoj]

Tony
I have been looking at purchasing a new color sounder and cannot make my mind up between the FCV600L or the Lowrance X107CDF. I was ready to purchase the Furuno but was told by the salesman that the 600L would not be as good as the X107 in shallow water. My fishing is probably divided 50/50 between the bay and outside and I would seldom go past 120M depth mark. I dont like the performance of the X107 in the demo mode as it seems to smooth the bottom. I dont know what its performance would look like in real time. Any advice would be much appreciated.
NHOJ

[Tony_N]

NHOJ

I don't know a thing about the Lowrance - so can't advise on it. Can highly recommend the 600L though, even in shallow water.

I haven't used mine in more than 40 fathoms . Your 120metres is probably about its limit though. Taylor Marine (or somebody here) would be able to give you more precise info on its depth capabilities. I know Damon33 runs a 600L

Tony

[-spiro-]

i happy with my 600l

[StevenM]

The 600L works fine in the bay or shallow water. At times you need to pull the gain back to stop the double image shit happening. If and when you get one and you want a good set up with all the features drop us a line and will post or pm settings. These are as John Perlomo runs but with a few of my own preferences chucked in for depth ranges. I never run in auto mode and it is real easy to use.

Cheers
Steven

[rockape]

Hi Yo

Would you be able to post those settings, i recently bought a 600L and have a fair idea about using it but any advice would be great!
Cheers

[stonecold]

HiYo,

I'm in the same boat as rockape and took delivery of a 600L last week. Nothing like palying with the settings and gaining experience yourself however some guidance makes the whole show run a whole lot smoother if not quicker!

[StevenM]

Will Dig out and post Friday

Cheers Steven

[nhoj]

Went and purchased a 600L yesterday from Sundown Marine. What a great bunch of guys and eager to help AUSFISH members whereever possible. Only paid $100 more than if I imported it myself. Worth the local support I reckon.
NHOJ

[stonecold]

Couldnt agree more re sundown marine nhoj Thats where I bought mine from. Spoke with Justin over the phone and 2 days later had my 600L delivered to me in Nth NSW. Price was a little more than importing it but I'm a big believer in supporting local business and I've got the added benefit of local backup service if I need it. 2 me thats worth every bit of the $100 or so bucks extra.

Thanks Steven I'll keep a lookout for the settings

Cheers
Mark

[StevenM]

FCV600L Settings

Menu:

Noise Limiter NL1
Clutter 9
Marker VRM
Hue 5 (white background 16 colour Bit)
Gain Adj 200kHz 6
Gain Adj 50kHz 6

System Menu 1

Depth Units - mtrs
Speed Units - kt
Temp - C
Zoom Mark - off
FA level - med
Temp Graph - off
Language - Spanish (kidding)
Disp Sel - GRA1
Draft - 0.0

System Menue 2

Nav Disp - off
NMEA - Version 2
Bearing - MAG
Speed Select - NMEA
Tmp Select - own
Speed Adj - 0
Temp Adj - 0

Syatem Menu 3

Basic Range 1 - 3 mtrs
2 - 5
3 - 8
4 - 12
5 - 15
6 - 20
7 - 30
8 - 60
Zoom Range - 10
B/L Range -10


Front buttons

Gain sits between 3 and 4 and will adjust depending on depth of water, go deep up the gain or go shallow and start to get double image drop the gain

Signal level - SL3

Advance - 1/2 (half)

A Sccope - off

Alarms - set as desired

As I said earlier do not use auto. Select my own range and then shift down to see what I want. In the bay depending on where I am the range is between 5 and 8 metres and shift the window down to where I or what I want to see. If fishing deep (36 fathoms) will use a range of 15 metres and shift down to the bottom area I want to see. If in deep water and looking for bait balls will use a larger range and depends on water depth on what range I will choose.

Hope this helps

Cheers
Steven