Sonars and the Industry

[mac]

One problem that I have is the user manuals are written for the guy that has to look up how to fasten the seatbelt in his car every time he goes for a drive. When I call Pinpoint wanting to know how do something that isn't in the manual, they will tell me, but it is by following sequences that are not written down. How about an advanced manual if you request one?

That magazine is still being published to this day, in fact its subscriber list has got much longer and the publication itself has improved greatly. Its called Power Boat Reports. They have a website from which you can subscribe of course. Its expensive, because there is absolutly no advertising, but there is a special price for the first year's subscription that is not at all bad.

Thom

Was looking at some units, Eagle, Lowrance and Garmin. A gentleman explained to me that with a 60 degree cone angle the cone diameter will be 1/3 of your depth(18 ft depth, 6ft dia cone on the bottom). I thought that was a nice piece of info. Then I started thinking, "Why do finders only display a side view of what's below? If you think about it the signal goes straight down and up. For sake of arguement we'll say you're in 30' water so the cone base is 10' diameter. So imagine a 10 foot circle. In the middle of the circle is your transducer, now from that transducer position correlate the position of your hull. If your Trans is on the right side of your transom, your boat hull would cover from the 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock position. It would be nice to see a circle(looking from above) and seeing where the fish are located in relation to your boat. The only problem I see with this would be the clutter or trying to distinguish the fish from the bottom. Maybe a combo of the top and side view? If you have a 6" screen the only important reading is the right hand side! Because as your unit gets new signals, it scrolls them to the left, the furthest left is the oldest reading! Your newest reading is the moment something shows coming in from the side. I figure with a "top view" finder one would actually have a better awareness of what's going down below, maybe even witnessing fish coming and going! If you really think about it, I don't think great great great strides have been made in fish finder technology, only the packaging/marketing to sucker us into buying a new one.

Cheers!

[Jess]

Steve,
Thank you very much. I have been interesten in one of these units but was turned off by the service. No web site and If I want to see a video they need a deposit. I was also told they break easily. I am worried I might have problems and spent my time fighting with the company. Are there any units of comparable performance?
Thank you for the info,
Jess

[stevefellegy]

Hey Jess,

I truly don't know of any units that compare to my Genetron, for the application we use depthfinders in. But I have not hunted too much in that direction lately, since I have no reason to change. If these units are mounted right, they are very dependable. But yes, they are more fragile than the lcr technology. But I wouldn't let that scare me. I wish I had dollar for every wave that shook the graph. I never had one fail due to a pounding in the waves.
As far as I know, that security deposit thing that urks you isn't charged to your card unless you don't return it or purchase a unit. I read here, lately, they are considering the website deal also. But I would think the video would be much more enlightening than any website. Or as I said, you surely can find me out in your country this spring, and take a look/see for yourself. Your eyes under the water are the key tool you have. If they ain't there, you can't catch'em. Once you win that battle, catchin' them is a whole lot easier. If I can answer any more questions, please feel free to ask.

[Jesse-WI]

I seen some talk on one of the web sites that talks about a commercial unit that could show you your cone in quarter sections. The problem is the unit costs $40,000.

I've learned to use a paper graph,with great success,and my LCR unit does not catch the same fish it seem's. My trial's on the water show a unit-no matter what it is; is only as good as the operator.I have original Lowrance unit's, to paper graph's to LCR's.My graph,with new stylus and belt are like a very old guitar,produce beautiful music in the right hand's.Only the most expensive unit's seem to have all you need. Don't shop for one on a budget.You only short change yourself.