New sounder...

death_adder · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 11:47 am Post subject: New sounder...

Hey guys looking into a new sounder for the boat, dog ate my transducer of my old navman which i think was pretty crap to begin with, seen the furuno 620 for about 780$ from the ebay which looks like a good price. any thoughts on sounders below the 1k mark.
Cheers

frozenpod · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:52 pm Post subject:

Great unit, we have the 585 which I believe is very similar but has the larger screen and 1kw output not sure if the 620 is 1kw output.

I would assume at that price the 620 would not come with a transducer.

Check out the price on good transducers as they make a huge difference to the quality and detail.

Strypes · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 2:26 pm Post subject:

I had the 620 on my last boat. When I purchased it I was told the only difference between the 585 is size. The 620 with a transducer will push your budget but worth stretching for. Very good sounder and best option in that price bracket.

death_adder · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 3:29 pm Post subject:

$909 comes with Furuno 525ST-PWD Transom Mount Tri-Ducer,
the lawrence sounders seeem to be alot cheaper is the quality alot different?
$550
Lowrance HDS-5X GEN2 FISHFINDER DEPTH SOUNDER 83/200KHZ METRIC and includes chartplotter, guessing charts for it will cost a pretty penny but proberly end up being the same as the furuno but with charts.. what am i losing on the fishfinder side by going with this combo unit?

frozenpod · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 5:08 pm Post subject:

I don't know what transducer that is but when we purchased our 585, the good 1kw transom mount transducers were 1.5-2k.

I would suggest you speak with an expert ie Adam at Nautek.

Andy_C · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:54 pm Post subject:

Mate the furuno 620 will be fine with the transom mount. They are almost the same as my 585 . Screen sizeand outputpower differs too. Ive been in many boats that run a good setup 620 and works fine. What sort of fishing will you be doing with it bud?
Should be ok for light offshore and bays etc... When in deeperwater you cant beat the 1kw transducer

death_adder · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:55 pm Post subject:

yeah 95% bays and maybe a few 40-60 meter jobs when the planets align... 1.5 k? sheesh so am i guessing the transducer that comes stock with the sounders is a piece of crap or is it just the extra ower that costs a left arm?

frozenpod · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:26 pm Post subject:

Even in 20m the detail difference between tranducers can be significant.

IMO the transducer is just as important if not more important than the sounder/screen.

redlowrey · Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 11:13 pm Post subject: Re:

Darren_02 · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:42 am Post subject:

I have a 620 with an airmar p66 (I think around $200 on feebay) but not sure how this stacks up against the furuno one.

thehulltruth is great for research on this stuff.

You can probably get something better (I haven't researched 600w ducers since we got this one 5 years ago) but it works fine in ppb.
(Also FYI the upgraded 627 has recently been released replacing the 620).

from memory this image is after a session landing lots of 3-5.5kg snapper in 14m (we don't usually get images this good hence I took a pic)