Transducer cone angles - real world experience sought

Just purchased FCV588 head unit and was recommended a B164 transducer which looks like it is the go except wondering about the narrow cone angle being 6 deg on 200hz......with the trend towards wider cone angles looking for comments from real world experience, very narrow cone angles, issue or not? E.g. Anyone wishing they had a wider cone angle after installing a narrow angle transudcer and conversely anyone running one the newer "W' transducers and glad of it?

I still have the Lowrance Gen 2 p66 combiniation installed so shallow work is OK on that unit, upgrading to the FCV588 is about being able to read the bottom structure / fish at cruising speed in 50-100 metres which the Lowrance cannot do.

Thanks
C

b/tm 260 is the classic combo with the furuno. thats what all the gameboats and east coast bottom fishers use. has the wider 200khz beam which is better for bottom definition. why dont u go that way?

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Originally Posted by myusernam

b/tm 260 is the classic combo with the furuno. thats what all the gameboats and east coast bottom fishers use. has the wider 200khz beam which is better for bottom definition. why dont u go that way?

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So goddam big! Not really for trailer boats..... (I want through hull not TM)

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Originally Posted by Crunchy

So goddam big! Not really for trailer boats..... (I want through hull not TM)

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B260 is thru-hull brass
SS260 is thru-hull stainless
M260 is in-hull (shoot thru)
TM260 is transom mount.



Sent from my iPhone using Ausfish mobile app

Hi Crunchy. I am running the Furuno 587 with a B-164 transducer in the cat. Been there now for just over 3 years and have not had any problems picking up fish or good fishing country at all speeds.

Mine is the zero degree offset unit set up as through hull mounted in the port pod. Gives great returns whether looking for trout in the shallows off 1770 to chasing snapper and pearlies out to 120 metres off Cape Moreton.

I certainly see no reason to change my set up in the forseeable future.

cheers

Jeff

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Originally Posted by Short Fuse

Hi Crunchy. I am running the Furuno 587 with a B-164 transducer in the cat. Been there now for just over 3 years and have not had any problems picking up fish or good fishing country at all speeds.

Mine is the zero degree offset unit set up as through hull mounted in the port pod. Gives great returns whether looking for trout in the shallows off 1770 to chasing snapper and pearlies out to 120 metres off Cape Moreton.

I certainly see no reason to change my set up in the forseeable future.

cheers

Jeff

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Thanks mate, that's the kind of real life experience I was after.

The trend towards wider cone angles has been pushed along by people who have gotten wrapped up in the US marketing hype and spend all day looking for arches on their sounder. They are useful for trolling for pelagics and finding bait as they cover more area but as far as targeting structure oriented species in deeper water they aren't the right tool for the job IMO. With a wider cone there is a noticable reduction in definition. The other issue can be trying to really get over a target with a wide cone angle. An echo is not necessarily directly below you and the wider the cone, the further out to one side it can be. I have found this can be the difference between fishing a small piece of structure or being sufficiently far enough to one side to miss it all together

LOL, after spending $3.5K I want to see some bloody arches too Scott :)

Crunchy, i'm doing the same research, where i have ended up is SS175HW chirp. Constant 25 degree cone. Runs 150 to 250 H which means you lose the low frequency option but depending how deep you want to go you in 1Kw you should get down to 350m or maybe a bit less at the high frequency setting. Or a paired set of SS264W's, once again both 25 degree cones but you keep both the frequencies, not sure they still do the wide version of the 200 though since they brought out the chirp.
Scott

Thnks Mate another option to consdier, would a CHIRP transdcuer work on a fixed frequiency sounder like the 588 though?

Crunchy, I have been using this page https://www.facebook.com/groups/263471507414268/ as a good resource. The blokes at QME (furuno dealers/installers) confirmed with me that SS15hw and dropping the low frequency option is becoming a popular fit up because it covers a few bases (has a depth limitation) pretty well for a reasonable cost (avoids multiple tranny's).

Cool thanks!