Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

As I said before, I have a 200DX that I've had for years and it works great. I boat in waters over 100' deep and no problem. I know they are not top of the line, but I'm happy with it. Very rarely lose signal and it is very sensitive if you set it up right. Fogging is a problem, but I take it inside every night and that solves that. I should mention that on my other boat I have an older Eagle which has served me well. Always holds lock and never failed. Got to be 7 or 8 years old!!

 

[msd58]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

What about Humminbird Legend models? I can upgrade to one and not change the transducer, temp sensor or power cord. I have a Humminbird 200dx works fine. I droped my Eagle once and had to replace it.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

msd58 <br /><br />Personally, I'd go for it, based on my experience!

 

[RICKRICK1]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

Fixed my HB fogging problem by getting a bag of decicant (sp) , heating it(drying ) in oven at 200 degrees over night then putting it and my head unit in a large zip lock bag. Left it in the bag for a week (didn't fish) took it out and haven't had a problem since. Run two Wide Eyes transom and trolling motor with no other problems.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

RICKRICK1 <br /><br />Interesting idea! Wonder why it solved it for good? Can you elaborate any more on this, as it really has my interest! Where did you get the idea for this? And what does the decicant(SP) stand for??

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

Means he ain't gotta clue how to spell it! LOL

 

[Sloleak]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

Ive been doing a lot of research since I need a new sounder and actually the new MAtrix units look pretty good especially with the GPS features. Like stated above you need to set them up right for the type of fishing. I had a Hbird for about 10 years and had no problems and I fish in water between 5-50 feet. The Quadrabeam sonar looks pretty good and the units have 640 vert pixels. I also like the Lowrance x-125 with 480 pixels. My problem is the Lowrance sonars use a 21 deg cone which only shows about 1/3 of the bottom depending on your depth. in 10 feet of water thats only 3 feet! The Quadrabeam will show directly underneath plus 90 deg on either side. Hmm decisions decisions!!!

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

Rickdb1boat – I am guessing here but I think what Rickrick1 is referring to is those silica crystals that often come in a little bag tossed in with electronics, cameras, shoes. The crystals are available by the pound in craft stores, used for drying flowers. Toss them in a 200 deg oven to dehydrate the crystals then place in sealed container with anything you want dried… Rickrick1’s procedure would suck any residual moisture from the ff’s display.<br /><br />Sloleak – you are on the right track to select a ff suited for your use. The pixels are very important to the accuracy you want from the sounder. Units with 128 pixels vertical resolution may be rated for 600-ft, but do the math. At that depth each pixel represents over 4 ½ -ft of the water column, or more if the bottom substrate is also displayed. No way to accurately display what, how many or where the critters are under you. In 30-ft of water you are starting to get location accuracy of about 4-in/pixel but even then the unit cannot accurate display size or quantity.<br /><br />The ability to sound is like GPS in that every unit on the market can do it well if installed correctly. The differences is going to be in the signal processing algorithm and how the results is/can be displayed.

 

[Sloleak]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

18rabbit...Its kinda hard to find one with a wide beam for shallow water. I like the Lowrance but the Quadrabeam will give me the most coverage and still with 640 vert pixels which is way more than I need at 5-10 feet..

 

[Franki]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

hummingbirds are great if you fish from a totally flat bottom boat that is powered by oars..<br /><br />anything that changes the angle even the slightest during running will leave you with a blank screen.<br /><br />I never had the fogging problem people have mentioned.. but the only use for having it on the boat nowdays is so I look more professional on the water. <br /><br />I gotta agree with the other comment about the mounting bracket and stuff.. its very cool the way it clips in.. but thats the only upside..<br /><br />rgds<br /><br />Franki

 

[TPD211]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

This from a newb....<br /><br />I just installed a Humminbird 100SX on my deckboat.<br />I followed the install instructions to the letter, especially the transducer location and angle.<br />So far it works as I expected, reads depth, which is what I really wanted it for, and reads up to 18 mph or so, then the readings are speratic(sp). Fish show up on the screen regulary.<br /><br />Question, What does an alligator look like on the fish finder? Our lakes and canals are full of them here in central Florida. They will start popping back up from their hibernation at the end of February or so.<br /><br />The unit was $69.00 and some change from West Marine on-line. <br />Wal-Mart sells a Eagle for $99.00<br />

 

[Franki]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

wow, I can't believe that your getting that sort of performance from a wide 100 (essentially the same as the 100SX).<br /><br />my halfcabin is about as close to flatbottom as you can get.. so I figured I had the perfect hull shape to get a good reading, but it wasn't to be with the Wide 100...<br /><br />The only thing I havn't tried thus far is the through hull mounting where you basically stick the thing to your inner hull with epoxy.<br />It will reduce the sensitivity, but thats better then not working at all right?<br /><br />rgds<br /><br />Franki

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

You are going to get the best performance from a transducer when it is rigidly mounted and exposed to the least disturbed water. A rule of thump says 1/3 the distance from the bow is a good place for this. Unless you have a really unique design for your boat, the transom will not located there. <br /><br />There are five ways to mount a transducer. In the order of increasing labor:<br /><br />‘Transom’ mounted<br />‘In hull’ mounted<br />‘Thru hull’ mounted<br />‘Faring’ mounted<br />‘Pocket’ mounted

 

[Franki]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

1/3 from the bow?<br /><br />wouldn't that be in and out of the water if your at any sort of speed???<br /><br />I was gonna mount it a meter towards the bow from the transom...<br /><br />rgds<br /><br />Franki

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

Sorry. It’s 1/3 the length of the waterline, in a direction from the bow. It’s a rule of thumb. I’ve thought about high speed boats, too. Seems the rule may not work for them. but then I don't know how often non-transom mounted transducers are used on high speed boats.

 

[Sloleak]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

I had a pretty cheap Humminbird that read the bottom pretty good. My boat only goes about 30-35 mph and it always gave me a accurate depth reading. As with anything you get what you pay for. A 99$ sounder will not be as good as a 400$ sounder no matter what company makes them.

 

[flatsman]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

Just my two cents worth. Most folks never read the darn manual anyway. If ya don't read the manual you most likely won't understand the reading or bottom visual on the screen. I have had two of the hummingbirds and one lowrance. The hummers have been better and yes they read at 43 mph + . The rest of the manufactures can't even draw a fish on they screen. I have friends with furuno and sitex and lowrance and ya know other than a bigger screen and pretty color they are pretty much the same. But the ya don't have to be an electrical engineer to work them. Mine does work in less than 2 ft of water. Do ya wiring the proper way and read the darn maual.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

Originally posted by flatsman:<br />Just my two cents worth. Most folks never read the darn manual anyway. If ya don't read the manual you most likely won't understand the reading or bottom visual on the screen. I have had two of the hummingbirds and one lowrance. The hummers have been better and yes they read at 43 mph + . The rest of the manufactures can't even draw a fish on they screen. I have friends with furuno and sitex and lowrance and ya know other than a bigger screen and pretty color they are pretty much the same. But the ya don't have to be an electrical engineer to work them. Mine does work in less than 2 ft of water. Do ya wiring the proper way and read the darn maual.

The rest of the manufacturers can't even draw a fish on the screen? Which screen are you looking on? Are you talking about the little fish symbols? If so, those are pointless little symbols that could be anything from suspended branches to turtles.

 

[seaswirl54]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

I had an eagle on the boat when I bought it, it showed the bottom if you were going slow but if you increased the speed you would have a blank screen. I bought a hummer 128 wide it lasted for 3 yrs with no problems at all then the 4th year it started to get a foggy screen somtimes, 5th year it started locking up on a fix. I have to remove it from the base and re start it. also it would have a blank or liney screen at thigh speed. I don't know if the transducer went bad or what.I am thinking of trying a raymarine this year.

 

[labzman3]

Re: Are Humminbird fish finders inferior?

I've had 2 Hummingbird FF,,,will not waste my $$ on anymore of them !! The last one lost the signal while travelling and while fishing,, marked all kinds of fish,, but never pulled one out of the water !! My last boat had a Garmin 240 on it when I bought it,, worked great !! I have been told Eagle is owned by Lowrance. My boat now,, I thought I'd give Lowrance a try,, bought the X97 model,, still deciding if I like it as well as my old Garmin,, but when it's marking Lake Erie perch,, we're catching them,, and thats what counts in my book !!!