Upgrading Fish Finder?

[trout21]

I have a 21 SE. I have a Furuno FCV600L with a Airmar P79. I have a shoot through set up.

I have found the unit frustrating.

In automode I get so much noise that I find it of only modest value. I get noise from the surface down ten to 20 feet. I find that by using it in manual mode and adjusting the range and gain, I get a better view.

I fly fish for striped bass and am only really interested in the first 100 feet of the water column.

One of my favorite areas has a major drop off that goes from 25 feet to one hundred and fifty feet. This means that I am constantly having to adjusting the range and gain.

I am thinking of upgrading. I am assuming that in the six years since this unit was bought (I bought the boat used with this equipment installed) that the technology has improved. I am a computer programmer and I would expect that the software to address the technical problems of addressing depth and gain have probably gotten better.

I have read the threads extensively. I talked to Parker and they said that because of the construction of the hull, it is particularly adaptable to a shoot through transducer. I would like to avoid having to cut a hole in my boat but if that what it takes, I would do it. I also have seen enough threads in which people who have shoot throughs are happy to suggest to me that while one might get better granuated view with a through hull transducer, a well installed shoot through should work.

It also would be nice to minimize the work to install a new unit if the cables were compatible for what ever I end up using.

I am looking for any advise, particularly for those familiar with my boat model.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[TimC2520]

I have the FCV 600L on my 2520 and LOVE the unit.
My transom mounted 'ducer was torn off during haul out and
I plan on replacing it with a thru hull, airmar tilted b60. I was very happy with the transom mounted, but figured what the heck, it's off now, may as well upgrade and cure the problem of possibly having it torn off again.
Plus, it'd make a future tab install easier for me with that out of the way. Heard good things about it (the b60) and will have a pro install it as drilling a 2" hole in the bottom makes me a bit nervous.

 

[TimC2520]

Fish, are you running the same machine?
What sort of differences/improvements can one expect?
I've never really lost bottom, except in a wake or something, I considered
a shoot thru but really want to keep the temp.

 

[trout21]

I spoke to the technical peope at Foruno.
They basically told me that the new units 585/620 have superior software that makes using them easier. As I noted in my original post, the fact that I fish a drop off ends up requiring me to constantly readjust it. The tech claims that the new software options will minimize this problem.

He said that I would lose some sensitivity with my P79 Airmar shoot through. This will make little difference in terms of marking game fish but will not give me the maximum clarity when viewing bait. He said the the current units are completely compatible with the P79 so that all I have to do is remove the old unit and put the new unit on and then hook it up to the existing cable.

As a software developer I always go with the K.I.S.S. approach. I figure I will try this unit with the old transducer. If I am not happy I can re-evaluate which transducer to upgrade to and where to put it.

BTW the 620 only supports the 600 w transducer while the 585 supports both 600 and 1kw

 

[DaleH]

IMHO your problem is the shoot-thru xducer. You have a gold-rated unit with a tin-plated xducer install ... :shock: .

FWIW I run the same unit on a transom-mounted xducer, and not the $600-$1000 version either, and I get EXCELLENT details in FISHING-AUTO mode when I fish drop-offs that go from 80' to > 400' whilst out for toona.

You may want to reset your depth ranges in the setup screen, plus adjust your "auto" mode noise limiters there. I feel your shoot-thru istall is blockig your signal return too much for AUTO mode to be as effective as it can.

Glass a piece of mahogany on the transom (means NO holes in the hull!) and stick a < $100 transom xducer on there and I'm sure you'll be impressed!

 

[trout21]

Hmmmmm.. interesting idea, Dale, glassing the wood and hooking up to it. I will look in to that.

 

[DaleH]

The even better answer, is of course, the "in hull" install like Capt Kevin 'Megabyte' did to his hull, using the new tilted-element transducers from Airmar.

I just haven't pulled the trigger on that expense yet ...

 

[trout21]

Can you point me to where Capt Kevin 'Megabyte' discusses his installation?

Still not clear about the need to put something on the rear of the boat to install the transducer.

 

[DaleH]

See: http://classicparker.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=135

 

[Megabyte]

The even better answer, is of course, the "in hull" install like Capt Kevin 'Megabyte' did to his hull, using the new tilted-element transducers from Airmar.

Here is the Airmar 'tilted element' transducer (to the left of the bilge pumps).
It is hooked to a Furuno FCV600L.

 

[trout21]

"In Hull"? Is that a shoot through?

 

[Megabyte]

"In Hull"? Is that a shoot through?

No sir. That is a through-hull transducer which requires a 2 3/8" hole.
There are several project posts here detailing the installation.
Do a search using "Tilted Element" and you should find them.

 

[trout21]

I looked at the link on the tilt element. Is there somewhere that there is a good explanation for a lay person on this technology.
It appears that the purpose of the tilt is to keep it pointing down properly, is this correct?

 

[Megabyte]

I looked at the link on the tilt element. Is there somewhere that there is a good explanation for a lay person on this technology.

See if this link explains your question.
http://www.furunousa.com/ProductDocuments/B60-inst.pdf

It appears that the purpose of the tilt is to keep it pointing down properly, is this correct?

That would be correct.