Fish Finder Recommendation

horndog · Mar 19, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

this is the tranducer it has: model# HS-WSDX

rterrian · Mar 23, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Hey, They are all good, just remember the Eagle is made in the good old U.S.A. and I would buy nothing else.

Valv · Mar 24, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

I have to defend the Eagle FM 320, I am very impressed with unit. I had a Garmin 160 and it was great until I tried the Eagle. But Boatist is correct, it all depends what and where you fish, I am in Minnesota and fish lakes and rivers which won't be any deeper than 150ft, sometimes I try Superior, I think we are still doing fine, but I cannot speak for sure about deep sea fishing, I've never tried.

Boatist · Mar 26, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Horndog Since Eagle did not have good spec on their web site I sent them a E-Mail and ask for specs on your HS-WSDX transducer. Here is what they sent back. Thank you for your inquiry. The model HS-WSDX is a transducer commonly used on many new Lowrance and Eagle sonars. It is a 200 kHz transducer with a 20 degree cone angle of sound pulse emission measured at a 3 dB drop. There is no "power" rating. This transducer may safely be used on our most powerful (3000 watt RMS) sonars. The cable length on this model is 25 feet. Thank you again. Eagle Customer Service 12000 E. Skelly Dr. Tulsa, OK 74128 Customer Service: 1-800-324-1354 Eagle website: www.Eaglesonar.com LEI: Parts & Accessories 1-800-324-0045 online at http://www.lei-extras.com #16

horndog · Mar 28, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

interesting... thanks for the tidbit. So on the box for the fishmark 320, it says 60 degrees, so are they lying then? Then I read the manual and it said 20 degrees and then with some setting on high, it will then do 60 degrees. so what the hell is this, some sort of evil marketing tactic?

Boatist · Mar 28, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Horndog "Are they lying" Probably not but it is very misleading. Every time I have looked at these units they say up to 60 degrees and never say 60 degrees cone angle. Look at the link below and check the picture on the left. Note the red line is the -3DB power level the industry standard. Note where the red line meets the transmit lobe is 10 degrees on both sides or a 20 degree cone angle. If you rated at -20 DB level it would be about 20 degrees each side or a 40 degree cone angle. Problem with this is to see fish at a -20 DB level you need to turn the sensitivity up so high that the screen will turn black because air, sand or anything but pure water will return a signal and black the screen out. Now if you could find a pure lake with no plants to produce air, no wind to sture water, no boats with exhaust and oil, no mineral, no waves then maybe you could turn the sensitive up high enough to see fish at the -20DB level. In a crystal clear lake probably can turn up enough to get over 20 degrees but in saltwater or a muddy river probably can not actually reach 20 degrees. The industury standard has been -3DB level for at least 30 years in the electronic industury. Antennas and transmitters have been rated this way as long as I can remember. I do not know if this makes sence to you or not as hard to explain. Bottom line is they are rating a few of there units different than the rest of the industury to get a advantage and sell units. http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/default.asp?site=1&SECTion=2&Page=619&Parent=40

bowhuntrrl · Mar 29, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

I have a Garmin 160 Blue and it is great !!! I.ve also has Humminbirds, and they are very good with great customer service. Eagle has poor to none concerning customer service. We've had 2 (mine and a friends) go bad just barely out of warranty and couldn't get them fixed, even at a price.. They (Eagle)essentially told us to buy a new one. They offer a trade in deal, but you can buy them cheaper elsewhere with no trade. I'll never own another Eagle!!!! Garmin and Humminbird both have excellent customer service and great products. bowhuntr

horndog · Mar 29, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

maybe I should of popped the extra $100 for the garmin 240, I think they said 60 degree, but am not sure. hmm, I didn't install the 320 yet, and the packaging they stuck that thing in is that indostructo plastic boxes, i actually had to use a tin snips to open it! I think I will send a email to Eagle and tell them and maybe slap around their marketing department

Boatist · Mar 29, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Horndog Garmin does not have a 60 degree 200khz tranducer either, no one does in a single tranducer. What type water do you fish, Saltwater or Freshwater and how deep?? I think Lowrance and Eagle make some of the best Fishfinder out there but I also do not like there customer service or sales reps. They tend to over state power output and depth capibility. I have a 1985 X50 Lowrance and works as good as day I got it. Really only has one problem and one week after I bought it I wrote Lowrance about it. They Wrote back that they were aware of the problem and working on a fix and I would be notified when solved. After about 6 month I called them to find out how things were going, at this point guy I talked to said never herd about the problem. I offered to send him a copy of letter they sent to me that said they knew of the problem and what they were doing trying to fix the problem but he did not want to see it. At this point I ask to talk with the tech that sent the letter but there responce was he was busy and he would call me later. He never did and they never fixed the problem just came out with new units. At this point they went to the new styles that are menu driven so do not have many of the features that made them the best. I think Furuno make best Saltwater fish finders for deep water and Garmin has copied a couple of their units. Still I like to buy Americian so always look at Lowrance and Eagle. If what you want is a wide angle tranducer will need to get a 50Khz tranducer. These come in cone angles up to about 50 degrees. They do not seperate fish quite as good but will see fish much deeper even in saltwater.

horndog · Mar 30, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

I probably won't be in deep water, more likely less than 150 feet. It maybe some in saltwater(gulf of mexico) and in freshwater as well. Don't get me wrong, i love the features of the Eagle fishmark 320, easy to read, plenty of options, easy to use, but to me, its pretty useless if you are only seeing 20 percent of the total picture. I guess I cannot have my cake and eat it too. What irks me is if I knew that fishmark 320 did have a 20 degree cone, I probably wouldn't of bought it, so I feel like a sucker. I guess after your observation, I feel that I know nothing about fishfinders after spending 2 months researching them looking for bang/buck ratio.

Boatist · Mar 30, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Horndog Don't blame yourself it is very hard to get good information. Even at the boat shows the factory reps don't know most of the answers. It really quite sad. Best bet if want a wide transducer is get a unit that has 50 KHZ tranducer. The 50khz also works much deeper. Remember that a wide tranducer also spreed out the power so reduces how deep can get good returns. My X50 has twice the power of Fishmark 320, but my unit in saltwater with the 20 degree tranducer will see Bottom Fish, Rock fish in saltwater down to about 150 feet. To see fish deeper than that I had to install a 8 degree tranducer and it is good to about 350 feet after that only see bottom. The Fishmark 320 does have a better resolution 320 where mine is only 192. However because of the way units work X50 really has better resolution in deep water. Example say fishing 400 feet, with the 320 and times 4 zoom will be looking at the bottom 100 feet over 320 pixels so each pixel is .3125 feet or 3.75 inches. So for a fish to cover two pixels must be 7.5 inches high, a big rock fish. The X50 has a feature called bottom track. How it works expands from the bottom and up any ten foot section. I usually set it to see bottom and up 20 feet. So expand the bottom 20 feet over 192 pixels, so each pixel is .104 feet or 1.24 inches. So for a fish to cover two pixels only needs to be 2.5 inches high. Still my unit will not normaly see fish over 350 feet of saltwater, just needs more power. New Eagle and Lowrance units do not have the bottom track feature only a 4 times zoom. However the top units due have more power and dual frequency. 50khz 36 degree 8000 watts Peak to peak or 1000 watts RMS, 200khz is 12 degrees and 4000 watts Peak to peak or 500 watts RMs. The 50khz tranducers do pick up fish ok but if have a school of bait fish will just see a big ball instead of lots of little fish.

horndog · Mar 30, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

boatist, I sent Eagle a nastygram stating I am disappointed in their marketing trap and their packaging. Sometimes if I scream loud enough I get them to listen and they work with you. I am hoping that is the case. I also stated, they better hope this thing lasts a long time, because this is the last Eagle/Lowarance product I will be buying. I am curious on their response. So what unit would you have recommended for the type of fishing I do? Freshwater/Saltwater to 150 feet. I have a small boat, and don't want to wander out into the deep blue yonder.

horndog · Mar 30, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

oh yeah, there is no option for the fishmark 320 to have a 50khz or 8khz transducer, the only option is 200khz. Am I making a bigger stink of this than I need to?

horndog · Mar 31, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Check this out

Boatist · Mar 31, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

Horndog I think the unit you selected may work pretty good for you. Not sure about seeing fish in 150 feet of saltwater. I think I would have went for the Sea Finder 320 DF. The 200khz tranducer probably 12 degrees but I do not see in there web site. I can almost here their reply to you know, with asp if turn up sensitivy up can see up to 60 degrees. When you go out to see as many fish as possible turn sensitivy up until the screen turn black then down until clears up mostly with just some clutter. Also if has a filter for surface clutter turn it on any time looking for bottom fish. Link to Lowrance same one I gave to Cobraman eariler in thread and a good starting point. Good luck and come back and let us know how it works.

horndog · Apr 1, 2003

Re: Fish Finder Recommendation

also I have another question regarding transducer mounting. my hull is a tri-hull, and the transom is flat then a slight dip and the comes back up again then flat again. On the port side I don't want to put the transducer there because of the swim ladder and probably would get kicked off, on the starboard side, there is more room, but I put it between the outdrive and the speedo pitot tube sensor. Is that an ok place? I could post a picture of its location if need be. Its about 16 - 20 inches away from the out drive. What is your take? here is the picture:

Fish Finder Recommendation

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