Transducer

[Sans Peur]

I have my new Furuno TZ3's installed and am not happy with the old transducer. In transitioning from the old Frankenstein system I had (garmin chart plotter and auto pilot / furuno chart plotter and radar / furuno RD33 feeding the Garmin heading and depth,,,,,) I have lost the water temperature reading. Plus the bottom gets very little detail after a few hundred feet.

Right now I have 2 transducers under the boat. One back by the transom that is dual frequency (50/200) that supplies the bottom readings but doesn't give the Furuno's temp and forward an Airmar Smart Sensor under the starboard engine that doesn't register on the nmea system. I am thinking of removing the forward smart sensor and plugging the hole. It has a fairing block we had to do some repair to last time the boat was out of the water and I want that gone.

I am thinking of going to a Chirp transducer in the rear but not sure of what one to use. There seems to be 3 levels of Chirp and gets very confusing from there. My main fishing is trolling but I have bought some new bottom rods and am thinking in getting a couple of electric reels to start doing some deep dropping. Anyone here know anything about all this transducer vodo?

Old.Dash

New Dash and equipment.

[Billinfla]

There's only a couple companies which make transducers. The difference is the wiring and connectors.

[Sans Peur]

Yep mainly Airmar. I just don't know which one to use.

[blaster]

Reach out to Jim at BOE. He will get you straight.

[Sans Peur]

Jim used to answer on here. He just took a bit as I dont think he checked BObB everyday. If he doesn't come.back in a day or so I will email him.

[Parker Yacht]

Jim can answer, but here is my input:
- CHIRP is a marketing term, to me.
- More power, more betta. Meaning 1000kw transducer will reach over 600'. And the BA Transducer with the external BiggerA fairing block or recessed is the Cat's Azz.
- 600w is marginal.

[Tiretyme]

Great job on dash!!
Out of curiosity, I see you went to only one VHF vs two?
Did you mount one in another location?
I’ve generally been a two VHF guy on offshore boats—most recent 34’ Fountain

[Tiretyme]

That’s not something I want to lose in the middle of GOM or Atlantic.
I do have a handheld but the range on that is about good enough for my ditch bag.
Did add a Garmin InReach a few years ago also.

[Sans Peur]

I guess if the radio itself fails.
Usually when electronics have issues it is wiring or a panel goes bad. Unless the radios are hooked to separate panels both would go down at the same time. The only time I had a radio issue it was an antenna failure that developed offshore of Marathon. We had been running hard for a few days and it gave up the ghost. I could hear but it wouldn't transmit more than a mile or so. I guess a second hard mounted radio with separate antenna would have helped in that instance.

[Parker Yacht]

Always Two (2) VHF's.
Stop that scan BS. And duplicity, plus the cell phone doesn't work.

[yachtjim]

I'm here boys, I'm here...

While my knowledge base is pretty darn good on ducers, always best to call our office and talk to Emily, she is one of the most knowledgable in the country. CHIRP is the newest technology and really the only way to go, not much more to say on that. For deep dropping you need power to get deep, 1kW. Also a slow ping rate. The is called Low Frequency (L). A L transducer has a real wide cone angle so you can see lots of bottom coverage, but can be tough to get right on top of something because it could be off to the side of you somewhat and still be in the cone. But, if deep dropping, you'll want Low. Since your main fishing is trolling you'll want a wide cone angle for that to get the most coverage under the boat, and a high ping rate (H) to get the best picture. The airmar 1kW B175 High Wide is our most popular transducer.

Some people will mount one of each to get the best coverage. You can also find a happy compromise in the middle with a Medium Freq (M) ducer that has a wide cone angle, plenty of power for most deep dropping, but a quick enough ping to get a pretty good picture.

[Tiretyme]

Good info

[Sans Peur]

Jim, I will call your Emily to talk about it. I may go with the 2 transducer setup. I already have two holes for it.