Depth Sensor recommendations?

[Jeff Quigley]

After a close call (see "Fateal Mistake? In repair and maintenance/mercruiser) I've come to the conclusion that it might be a good idea to install a depth sensor.<br /><br />I've looked online but the majority of the ones I find are for fishing. Now I'm not much of a fisherman so I don't need the big honking fancy ones that can spot a fish hiding in a log 65 feet below the surface. What I need is a sensor that just tells me how deep of water I am in. Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations of one? Also, let me know your brand and if you installed it and if it was easy or hard.<br /><br />Thanks in advance for your advice.<br /><br />JeffQ

 

[what66]

Re: Depth Sensor recommendations?

HI heres one It only mesures dept not a fish finder.<br /> http://www.iboats.com/mall/index.cg...ounder&**********=340056722&*******=614484490 <br />good luck.

 

[JB]

Re: Depth Sensor recommendations?

Electronics topic.

 

[vipzach]

Re: Depth Sensor recommendations?

Jeff, I just put the Eagle Cuda 128 in my boat. It is fish finder that does depth and temps. It also has an alarm that sounds when you are shallow, I have mine set to 3ft. It was really easy to install and was around 80 dollars. I am not a big fisherman either but I like it and have compared its accuracy with my brothers and they have always read pretty close to the same.

 

[mulv80]

Re: Depth Sensor recommendations?

My father had the Uniden QT206 on his boat and it worked well. It is similar to the Hummingbird brand depth finder mentioned above in that it mounts in the dash. I think you can find them for around $90.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Depth Sensor recommendations?

They are typically in the $125 to $200 range. See the Uniden mentioned by mulv80, the Humminbird what66 mentioned, and the unit made by VDO. They have minimum-depth alarms to let you know dad is reading the numbers wrong.<br />

 

[amirm]

Re: Depth Sensor recommendations?

I highly recommend getting a fish finder, even if you never fish. The fish finder's graphics display shows you clear trends of depth reducing or increasing. You can't tell this with the simple guage. <br /><br />The fish finders also tend to work better in that even if there is turbolance that confuses the depth reading, you can still look at the display and get an idea of what is going on below your boat. With a guage, it just shows random numbers or error and you have no idea.<br /><br />Note that both require installation so by the time you figure the labor, the difference in cost is not that much.<br /><br />FYI, I had both types on my last boat and I actually turned off the simple guage as it was useless most of the time (the builder actually took them out of the next manufacturing run due to complaints about inaccuracy).<br /><br />Amir