Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

[yzf125]

Hey guys, Any recommendations on a low cost fish finder that will read as your driving ? Nothing to fast just up to 20 mph or so.

I have a older Humminbird 200 dx now that does not read anything over 5 mph !! Im not looking for anything special just a basic finder will do, long as it will read while driving.

Thanks.

 

[Splat]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Any modern finder will. Yours probably will as well. The likely problem is turbulence around the transducer. If they aren't in clean water and fully submerged they won't read. Can you lower our move your current transducer to see if you can get a reading?

Bill

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Ive got a Hummingbird 581 HD CI.. those are $300.........not sure what low cost is for you.. it does a nice job... not sure I've gone 20mph and tried to read it tho.. Im usually creeping around looking for structure and shelfs, marking fish not going that fast..... NY yz? where u go fishing?

 

[erie_guy]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Location of the transducer has a great deal to do with performance at speed. If mounted on the transom, you need to get it away from wake turbulence caused by stringers, bottom projections and give the face of the transducer a slight tilt. It should also be even/level with the bottom of the hull at the transom but with the back of the transducer tilted down a bit (~10 deg).

If mounted inside the hull, it needs to be mounted inside a fiberglass hull and glued (epoxied) to the hull where no internal coring is present (i.e. solid fiberglass). On an aluminum hull, I think you are stuck with a transom mount. I would mount it on a piece of starboard and glue it to the stern with 3M 5200 adhesive.

erie_guy
Port Clinton, OH

 

[blackhawk180]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

My Lowrance works great up to about 25 mph IF the bottom is not too deep. Over 400' I have to slow way down to get accurate readings and over 1000' (one of my favorite lakes to fish), the darn thing just gives up trying to find the bottom and starts "making stuff up". My friends HDS 8 does the same thing so I know it's not a setting or something.
20 mph should be no problem with any of the newer sonars if, as others have said, it's correctly mounted.

 

[yzf125]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

I believe it is mounted in the right place, Is it possible its just not capable to read at any speed because its an older unit ?

I attached a pic of its location

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[UncleWillie]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Hey guys, Any recommendations on a low cost fish finder that will read as your driving ? Nothing to fast just up to 20 mph or so...

When you state "Read", do you mean display the Depth, or are you expecting to see Fish and Structure?
Your installation looks OK as far the I can see.
While On Plane, do not expect to be able to pick anything out of the display other than the changing depth.
At 20mph you are moving about 30 feet per second. Each second of display has little to do (No Overlap) with the previous.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

When you state "Read", do you mean display the Depth, or are you expecting to see Fish and Structure?
Your installation looks OK as far the I can see.
While On Plane, do not expect to be able to pick anything out of the display other than the changing depth.
At 20mph you are moving about 30 feet per second. Each second of display has little to do (No Overlap) with the previous.

+1 thats a good call there....... I get depth at most any speed too. dont expect much else going 20mph

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Looking at the photo again...
I see that the hull has a step in it, forward of the transom.
If the step extends in front of the transducer, there is going to be a lot of air in that water flow at speed.
The transducer needs to be in clean water with no steps, strakes, or hull-thru in front of it.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

The ability to see at speed is a function of the units PRR rate. Most of your big box sounders are running a max. 1500 PRR. That's not going to cut it in most applications as you've seen by the lack a definition at speed.

On top of that, most of the BB sounders come with transducers that I will only characterize as "lacking". The best investigate you can make with any sonar is to buy an good, aftermarket transducer. Your sounder's performance will be noticeably better

 

[yzf125]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Thanks for all the help guys, So anything above 5 mph I don't get anything ! the screen just get scrambled and says the depth is like 500 ft. or something outrageous when it really just around 20-30 ft.

I just want the ability to see depth only, so I don't come into real shallow water and not know it !

So you think it could be just the transducer that needs upgrading or should I just change out the entire unit out for something current ?

Thanks !

 

[thumpar]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

My old Hummingbird Wideview (not sure the model number) that was on my old boat would read fine even over 20mph.

 

[YoungMind]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

I just want the ability to see depth only, so I don't come into real shallow water and not know it !

Well, I don't know about the lakes by you, but around where I am it is bad joo-joo to use a sounder like that. In so many lakes, if you don't have a decent knowledge of the layout you can easily come up on a shallow spot and hit it before the sounder sees it. (I have seen this many times at the lake I frequent) lakes in New York could very easily be very different though.

I would suggest you try what UncleWillie said before buying a new sounder.

Looking at the photo again...
I see that the hull has a step in it, forward of the transom.
If the step extends in front of the transducer, there is going to be a lot of air in that water flow at speed.
The transducer needs to be in clean water with no steps, strakes, or hull-thru in front of it.

It is very possible you can achieve what you want by getting your transducer to the optimal position on your hull.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Thanks for all the help guys, So anything above 5 mph I don't get anything ! the screen just get scrambled and says the depth is like 500 ft. or something outrageous when it really just around 20-30 ft.

I just want the ability to see depth only, so I don't come into real shallow water and not know it !

So you think it could be just the transducer that needs upgrading or should I just change out the entire unit out for something current ?

Thanks !

what unit do you have now? what's your budget?

 

[yzf125]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

I have a Humminbird 200 DX. at the drivers seat. Its an older unit and I would like to spend under $200 if possible if that's what I need to do.

I also like the ability to be able to drive around and find drops but there is no way I can do that with this current setup. So I need to do something to resolve this whether it be relocate the transducer or just get a new current finder altogether.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Your pic. Seems to be in ok spot..is transducer being whacked by bunk? Id upgrade.. scratch up another 100. For Humming 581 hdci. Gps.maps.temp.5 inch screen. Good graphics.. nice unit for 300

 

[Bondo]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Looking at the photo again...
I see that the hull has a step in it, forward of the transom.
If the step extends in front of the transducer, there is going to be a lot of air in that water flow at speed.
The transducer needs to be in clean water with no steps, strakes, or hull-thru in front of it.

Ayuh,.... I believe yer Right,.... It's the little step,....

I've got an old Lowrance, 'n an even older Hummingbird,...
Both read just Fine as fast as my ole riveted tinbarge will Go,....

 

[yzf125]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

So what do I do to resolve this then ? Where would you guys recommend I relocate the transducer ? I would try this first before I spend money on a new unit.

If you want a better pic I will take one.

 

[gm280]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

Not to get too technical here, but you can out drive the transducer signal depending on the depth of the water and speed. Math will verify whether you are doing that or if the transducer is angled wrong or out of quality water when planned. If your transducers is pointed back from the boat hull then it will not receive your ping before you are out of its range. A slight forward slant will help with that issue. But the power of the ping from the head unit and the angle and quality of water all have to be optimized correctly to receive a reading. Look at it this way, you are calling a "hello" from the transducer and that has to go down to the bottom and return to the transducer again and be processed and displayed before you are out of its range. The water depth and power of the ping and the receiver's sensitivity all play in that ability... An audio single (actually in the ultra sonic range) doesn't travel as fast as electrons in wires. Water slows that single down and dissipates its power real fast too. Remember the older submarine movies, that unique ping and then a wait for the return? Your system works faster then that, but still has to wait for a return before giving up and re-pinging again...

 

[Bondo]

Re: Fish Finder That reads while driving ?

So what do I do to resolve this then ? Where would you guys recommend I relocate the transducer ? I would try this first before I spend money on a new unit.

If you want a better pic I will take one.

Ayuh,... Of the area of the step,...