Offshore sounder opinions needed.

[dhess]

Not a report but thought I would get the most useful input here.

I need advice on upgrading my sounder. I have read all the posts re furuno sounders on here and have come to the conclusion most people love them.

I have a 5.6m plate boat and do most of my fishing on the barwon banks or off moreton island drifting in depths ranging from 30 to 100m. We generally do pretty well on our existing marks but would really like to find some new spots while motoring around.

My current sounder is a garmin 178c combo unit with a transom mount 400w transducer. In water over 20m deep it is basically useless at cruising speeds. While drifting in 80-90m of water the performance is just passable.

I know its a way higher end sounder but a friend has a furuno fcv585 and gets beautiful shows of bait balls etc in 90m water travelling at 20knots plus.

I have read depth sounder secrets and have no significant improvements after playing around with all of the settings so am convinced I need some better electronics.

My questions are:

1. In water under 100m deep will the furuno 620 with the 600w transom mount transducer perform as well or nearly as well as the 585? Don't really have the money or dash room for the 585.

2. Are other cheaper sounders such as the Lowrance 522 capable of what I want them do?

3. Any tips Garmin 178c users can offer to improve performance?

Any help much appreciated.

[TimiBoy]

I love my Furuno 1920, but it's a bit out of your range.

But I have a Humminbird 797 C2 SI, which would be better on the space, and with a 600 W sounder it does a great job seeing up to 150m (that's the deepest I've been).

Just buy HB overseas, if you go that way.

Cheers,

Tim

[Grunter71]

The 620 would have more than enough power for what you are doing, the larger screen of the 585 would be brilliant, but only if you can physically fit it in.

[indy]

The 620 furuno comes with a 600w trany as well as the 585, i have the 585 and it is brilliant up to 100m and i am not really intrested in fishing any deeper than that (alot of bloody hard work over that depth for me). The 620's for the price i reckon are great and they are chalk and cheese over the old one's. When i installed mine i had a fair amount of problems getting the tranny in the right spot but i am fairly happy with it now getting a good reading up to around 20 knots on a average day. The only real advantage with the 585 is that you can upgrade to the 1 kw tranny where the 620 you cant and also the bigger screen on the 585 is also good. I would strongly recommend one you will love it and finding fish is so much easier and you can really determine whats what down there weather your wasting your time on a spot or not. Also if you did buy the 585 and got the 1 kw tranny you are looking at a thousand dollars just for the transducer so there's almost your 620 right there.

hope this helps
cheers pete...

[stonecold]

Mate Ive got the old furuno 600 and its been great, once you get use to using them you realise just how much you've been missing. Can you tell the differenece between fish species.....you bet

[hookinin]

Well i run a 585 in my boat and also fish in two other boats with 585 furuno's all with 600w transducers and all read fine at speeds. These are all boats around 7m but i have another mate i've fished with in his 5.5m and he runs a 620 and it does equally as good a job and because its a smaller boat you can see the screen from the back of boat no problems. I also think you'll find it a lot easier if you use your combo as a gps and had a 620 as a sounder you'll be amazed at the differance having the individual screens.
Cheers Gaven

[dhess]

Thanks for the quality replies.

I am almost decided on the 620.

Indy, what transducers placement issues did you have. Any tips apart from the usual rules on locating transducers?

Hookinin, Are the 600w transducers on the boats you mentioned tranom mount or in hull/ thru hull? I have previously read that transom mount transducers don't work too great at faster speeds. I reckon that might be a big part of my curent sounders problem.

Also do you guys reckon I will be able to get one cheaper at the boatshow or should I just go into a marine shop and start haggling? Thought about getting one online but there isn't that much in it with the rebate.

[aerordauto]

hello dhess i looked hard at the 585 and 620 furuno and bit the bullet and went for the 585.
I have a 1kw transducer transom mount.
It is a brilliant sounder and can pick up at 20knots.
My issue with the 620 was reading the screen on any angle apart from looking straight at it.
Suggest to go where there r the 2 and look at them from angles.
Cheers mark.

[dhess]

Thanks Mark,

Didn't even think of that. Will have to check them both out at a store.

[Pazz01]

Don't disregard a koden mate.

Had it for nearly 15 years and is still showing strong. We fish alot in the 20-70 metre range up here off cairns.

I did have trouble with it at crusing speeds, but i put a through hull transducer on it. Best money I ever spent.

Pazz

[Spot82]

Myself and mate use Furuno 585's with the 1kw tranny and it is some of the best money you can spend on your boat and will pay for itself in no time at all. I would suggest to buy from overseas as it will save you a lot of cash.

I usually travel at 25-30knots and have no trouble with getting a clear picture of the bottom and am always finding new ground while travelling. You can also tell the type of bottom and types of fish once you are used to using it.

Koden's are also good, but don't know much about their current range.

[dhess]

Thanks Tony, I know you and Jansen use 585's;D

[damo600f]

mate i have a fcv 620 with a thru hull transducer and it works flawlessly on my signature 600f. best money I have spent.

[indy]

DHESS

I was just getting alot of air under the transducer causing it to get lines through the picture all the time, i ended up moving it closer to the centre of the boat and sinking it deeper which made a big difference but it caused alot of spray over the motor which i ended up fixing buy buying a spray cover from northside marine which was only around $30 stopped all the spray works well now.

Going through hole would probably be worth while but i have heard it reduces the performance by 20%, don't quote me on this just what i have heard. Anyway good luck with it either way you go.

cheers pete....

[dhess]

Thanks for the reply.

Beginning to lean towards the 585. Just have to measure the dash and see if it will fit. Had a look at both 620 and 585 at BIAS today and both looked pretty good.
See what you mean about the 620 screen being less than perfect when you view it from an angle.

The 585 is $2100 with a 600w transducer before the $150 cashback. So its probably not worth importing one, especially if I get hit with GST and duty.

I wonder if I can screw BIAS or a marine shopt down on price? Is there usually much room to negotiate on price?

[Alchemy]

Not sure if Whitworths stock Furuno, but they usually have a 10-15% off deal at Brisbane Boat Show time. Might be worth checking out if they do.

Regards,
Dave.

[dhess]

Unfortunately they don't stock furuno.

[Ripples]

Hi Dhess
With all the 585 around there should be some of the older Furuno 582L models around for a lot less than the 585. I run a 582L with a thru hull transducer for a great picture at all speeds .No interference thru out the full cruising speeds. and both 200/50 khz .Check out the electronics for sale.
I also have a brand new transom mount transducer with speed and temp for sale.

[siegfried]

Mate I know where theres a near new fcv 600l cheap gis a pm

[dhess]

Thanks for the replies but have decided on a 585 with a 600w transom mount transducer. Will hopefully be picking it up next week:D

[business class]

mate i have just come from a older koden to the 585 with the 1kw transome mount tranny and i could not be happier honestly. It makes such a difference so if at all possible even if you have to wait a bit longer try and some how fit the 585 in and then just go with the 600w till you can afford the 1kw. IMO i think furuno 585 are the best sounder for its money hands down.

Cheers
Matty

[scrubba01]

Don't disregard a koden mate.

Had it for nearly 15 years and is still showing strong. We fish alot in the 20-70 metre range up here off cairns.

I did have trouble with it at crusing speeds, but i put a through hull transducer on it. Best money I ever spent.

Pazz

I'v got an older Koden as well and have troubles getting it to read at spead. Who did you get the through hull from and what price? Where on the hull did you put it? Great sounder though, if they are there it will find them.

[nathan dumschat]

my advice to you is go to boat show next week and have a talk to trimax marine .these guys are the Gurus on marine electronics . should be able to get good deal at show

[lutjanus]

Here is some points-600w ok for your depths[we use one to 400mtrs ok]Import one from US for about half price -no import duty-check google for marine electronics,It is dead easy. Also heard Furuno about to drop prices.

[dhess]

In the past it may have been the case but Importing a furuno from the US is not half price.

Have done plenty of research.

For example fishonmarine which have one of the best prices are asking $1280US for the 585, $120US for the transducer and $90 for shipping. That equals $1700 AUD. If you get hit with GST thats $1870.

The best price I have got so far locally is $1950 so after the $150 cashback thats $1800, and so posting things hald way around the globe for warrznty work.

When did you hear about furuno prices coming down? Please PM me if you don't wan't to share publicly.

[hookinin]

Sorry about the late reply to your question. All three of us with 585's are running transom mount amar p66 transducers and all read at 24-34 Knots depending on the boat. But the mate with the 620 has gone for the thru hull trany. We fish mostly in 70-110m and the 600w is fine but i would like to see how the 1000w trany differed but would have to see a fair differance before i could afford the upgrade.

[finding_time]

Sorry about the late reply to your question. All three of us with 585's are running transom mount amar p66 transducers and all read at 24-34 Knots depending on the boat. But the mate with the 620 has gone for the thru hull trany. We fish mostly in 70-110m and the 600w is fine but i would like to see how the 1000w trany differed but would have to see a fair differance before i could afford the upgrade.

Hookinin

Mate the 1kw transducer is not all about power, it's more about sensitivity! Airmar state that there m260 ikw transducer is 13 times more sensitive in 200kw's and 50 times more sensitive in 50kw's than there 600w p66 transducer. You simply see so much more, anyone who believes there simply for deep water are kidding themselfs! IMHO there totally worth the money,you have a $1800.00 sounder why run a $150.00 transducer on it if at all avoidable?

Ian

[hookinin]

Thanks for your advice ian but i simply could not afford the 1kw but won't rule it out for the future and that is why i stretched things to get the 585 and what i would advise if you could. As i said i would like to see the 1kw trany in opperation some time but for now the 600w is much better than my old sounder and am very happy with its performance.

[finding_time]

Hookinin

That's the advantage of the 585 over the 620 , being able to update to a 1 kw later on is a huge plus!

[Mindi]

In the past it may have been the case but Importing a furuno from the US is not half price.

Have done plenty of research.

For example fishonmarine which have one of the best prices are asking $1280US for the 585, $120US for the transducer and $90 for shipping. That equals $1700 AUD. If you get hit with GST thats $1870.

The best price I have got so far locally is $1950 so after the $150 cashback thats $1800, and so posting things hald way around the globe for warrznty work.

When did you hear about furuno prices coming down? Please PM me if you don't wan't to share publicly.

Need to add 5% duty and 10% GST if the total shipped price including freight is above $1000 aud. When the dollar was 98c it wasgood for cheaper items but now it is a closed window pretty much.

[dhess]

Got it!

Bought furuno 585 with transom mount 600w. Installed it and ready to go, just need to find time to test it out.

Thanks to everyone for your valuable input.

[Gilli]

Hey mate, im actually looking at going in tomorrow and purchasing my furuno fcv 620. purely because they are one of the best sounders out there for depths up to 800meters. they have a 600w transducer. they are around $1300 up here and that includes a transducer.

Most of the pros up here in townsville use the furunos because they have a good warranty and they are fairly user friendly and excellent when you know what you are fishing for.

regards,
Chris

[dhess]

You should be able to get the 620 for a little cheaper. The best price I have found in Brisbane was $1200 including the transducer.