Humminbird 700 series

[Spirit of Jason]

I have recently purchased a new Humminbird 788c GPS/Fishfinder.
When I bought the Spirit of Jason, she had neither a GPS or fishfinder, I had a look around at different systems, I bought  the Humminbird because, everything I needed was in one unit, I am new to sea fishing and the ease of use and bright colour display of the unit was one of the reasons I purchased the Humminbird.
Do any other members use a Humminbird, I cant complete the fitting of mine yet, until she comes out of the water, then I will be able to fit the transducer.

Cheers

Russ

[shanook]

what power transducer did u get SOJ. As u mentioned deep drop fishing where u have to locate bottom of at east 800mtrs.
Apart from that Sorry dont know about hummingbird as I have a lorance with a 600W flush mount transducer. There are others who bought the 1000w transducer to better locate bottom for deep drop.

[Spirit of Jason]

According to the instructions the power output is: 500 watts (RMS) 4000 watts peak to peak. If that makes sense.

Russ

[shanook]

and thats a transom mount transducer i suppose?

[Spirit of Jason]

yes transom mounted

[twoutes]

I have a hummingbird with a transom mount transducer on one of my boats, and can verify that they are a good unit, however on my other boat, the one l use mainly for marlin, and deep sea fishing l am running 2 transducers, a 500w and also a 1kw. They are both fitted in a box (2cm off the bottom of the hull) filled with glissorine fluid and work a treat with no interference whatsoever.

[shanook]

yep thats what i reckon for deep drop with the humming bird u need a 1Kw transducer to see the bottom and get a good reading.

[Spirit of Jason]

In my idiots guide (the manual) it says Depth Capability 1500ft or 500metres.
Went to the boat today and placed the transponder over the side sitting in the water, got perfect readings, I then placed the transponder, on the hull in the area of the engine compartment, but could only get very poor readings, I dont know how thick my hull is, or if the transponder has to be encased in some type of liquid, to enable it to be mounted inside the hull.
She is coming out of the water Wednesday, so over the next few weeks I will probably end up mounting the transducer on the transom.

Thanks again to all the members who gave me a warm welcome.
I am afraid there will be a few more questions over the next few months and beyond.

Russell

[twoutes]

if the boat is coming out of the water. go for transom mount option...its much cheaper, and a much quicker option. When going through hull it is critical that there is no air by means of gaps/space in the hull. The reason for using the dense liquid is to eliminate air...apparently when picking up fish on a depth sounder it is the air in the fish that you are actually marking.

[shanook]

Russ the transducers that twoutes placed inside the hull are made to work that way. U cannot mount a transom transducer inside the hull. there are three types a transom mount, a thru hull and an inhull transducer. they all have their particular mounting place. a thru hull can be mounted as an inhull but will lose some power.
If I were you I would consider all options but an inhull would be less damaging to ur hull if u dont mind a big hole in the bottom of ur boat then a thru hull flush mount would be ideal u get the most power.
I suppose that spirit of Jason is with outdrives (z drive) yes not straight shafts as a transom mount is not good for straight shafts

[Spirit of Jason]

Yes Shanook, Z drives, the idiots guide recommend mounting the transducer, on the starboard side of the boat, below the water line, which involves four small screws, to install the mount that the transducer attaches to. Then one hole above the water line were the main wire comes into the boat.
So I think I will go that way. The only trouble is any readings I get from the fishfinder will be behind the boat, not underneath it. I suppose with plenty of practice I will get used to the readings and hopefully catch a few fish.
Thanks again for your help and comments sir, I owe you a cisk when we meet.

Regards

Russ

[skip]

Depends on the frequency you use, 200Hz is a wide angle opens up infront, behind and partly port and starboard of the boat as a cone that gets wider as the signal goes deeper.

50Hz is more of a concentrated cone.

Also remember that in Salt Water you get around 50% less than the quoted depth. So 500m is more like 250m.

Transom mount is ok if you will mostly be using it at slow speed or when stopped. But if you want to troll around I would consider the inhull with liquid.

[Spirit of Jason]

Thanks again Skip for your help and advice.
According to the idiots guide the 788ci combo, has Dual Beam Plus sonar 200/83kHz.
All I can say at this stage is once I start using the Humminbird, I will let the forum know, what results I am getting, according to the idiots guide, this is an, all singing, all dancing, fishfinder/GPS, but as I say, we will see.

Thanks again

Russ

[The_Gaffer]

The 83Hz is only good for fresh water.  That frequency does not penetrate through salt water.  So in actual fact, all you have is the wide beam 200Hz, which when used in deep water, is not that effective.

[busumark]

i would buy a 50/200 transducer because like gaffer said with the one that you have cant use for deep sea fishing because you need the 50 hz.