Sonar...questions and looking for recommendations

Post by **Steve G** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 11:54 am

This winter I plan to upgrade the cheap sonar on my boat.

I am leaning towards Eagle and Lowrance, because I have an Eagle portable, that I find for the price has been excellent.

Here are the ones that I am considering: All color.

Without GPS

Eagle Fishmark 500C Single Freq apprx $ 349 USD
Eagle Seafinder 500C Dual $ 399 USD
Lowrance X102C Single Freq $ 499 USD
Lowrance C107CDF Dual Freq $ 549 USD
Lowrance LCX-20C Single (recordable) $ 799 USD

or with GPS

Eagle FishElite 500C Single $449 USD
Eagle Seacharter 500CDF Dual $499 USD

Questions:

Is the Dual Freq really worth the extra?
Is the recordable also worth the extra?

I like ET's pic's that he gets of his recorable... but would I use them, and is that feature any good without the GPS?

Any other manufact's that compare?

Thanks Guys.

Post by **fishmaster** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:07 pm

Hey Steve,
I was just wondering where you got the prices from. I am going to buy the Fishelite 500c and the cheapest I have found is $799 cdn. $449 us sound like a awsome deal. Also that price on the Low. X102c is amazing too. Just to let you know eagle and lowrance prices are coming down next year so if I were you I would wait until the new year to buy(I got to see the price list for next year but if I remember right it doesn't take effect until Dec.)

Post by **Steve G** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:42 am

Fishmaster, I pulled the prices off the BassPro Shop's web site. They were easy to access.

Post by **dh99** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:25 am

Hi SteveG

For the dual frequency it all depends on where and what kind of fishing you do. The dual can help when downrigging by switching to 50Khz or 200( not sure which one) it will give you a wider beam and if you are downrigging you can see what depth your ball is at.

I purchased a Raymarine DSX-400 colour sonar this year for 435 CDN and like it. has dual frequency 500 Watts RMS, automatic gain, the only thing I lose tracking when going around 25-30 mph but that can be how its installed. And the screen is not huge.

DH

Post by **eye-tracker** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 9:16 am

Hello SteveG,

The 50kHz frequency was developed for deep water 500+ feet and salt water where a 50kHz frequency penetrates the dense salt water and deeper depths. The 50kHz is popular with great lakes charter captains for tracking down rigger balls and on the oceans to track bottom in 2000 feet of water. The 200kHz frequency is best for walleye and bass anglers and seems to give the best all around results in fresh water with a 60 Degree cone. I have no problem fishing in a lake 300 ft deep with a 200kHz Transducer. The other advantage of the the dual frequency is if you use two sonars in your boat you can have one on 50 and the other on 200 so they do not interfere with each others signal.

As for units you will want to wait for the 2006 price drop on the ones you listed above also Eagle and Lowrance are increasing their lines for 2006. They are adding internal GPS and WAAS Antenna features (iGPS) and Eagle is increasing the colour resolution size for their 5" screens to 640V x 480H pixel resolution.

I would also highly recommend the GPS option when buying a new sonar, the cost of the GPS is cheap in comparison to the cost of a new lower unit or prop on your boat motor. I often enter new bodies of water like sections of Ottawa River and just follow the channel on the GPS map with out worrying about hitting a sand bar or rock pile.

Some of the new units to look at for 2006 are:

Lowrance LMS 334c iGPS - 480x480 pixels
Lowrance LMS-339c DF iGPS - 480x480 pixels

Eagle FishElite 642c iGPS - 640V x480H
Eagle FishElite 640c GPS - 640Vx480H
Eagle FishMark 640c - 640Vx480H

Good luck and if you have any questions about installation or GPS mapping etc. just ask.

Cheers'

-Sheldon

Post by **Seaweed** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 1:21 pm

Steve I just installed an Eagle Status GPS/Sonar combo in my boat this year and I am extremely impressed with this unit. I know that it isn't availble anymore but the Eagle 500 combo is the color version of virtually the same unit. I am a happy Eagle customer for sure.

Post by **Erie-Eyes** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:44 am

Good information everyone. I've been toying with upgrading to a colour/GPS unit and may take the plunge next Spring. I'm leaning to Eagle as I've been satisified to date with my current model, but am very impressed with new colour units.

Post by **ady** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:33 am

Bought the Lowrance 332c this fall, combined sonar/GPS, and installed the Nav chip. Love the split screen function. This has been debated before here, but I recommend going for higher Pixel resolution if you can, this drastically improves the definition and information you get from the Nav chips, I see the piles on the Ottawa around Fitzroy and as I go over them, I see the Sonar confirmation on the split scrren display and the fish "hooks" too. Awesome.