fishfinder/depth gauge

[redbus9]

can any of the forum members recommend a good fishfinder/depth gauge which is simple to use and gives a clear picture and can be removed from the boat after a days fishing.i am going back to uk on 9 oct and hope to get one there as i am told they are cheaper there thank you.

[Gazzetta]

Eagle Cuda Series 

Chris 

[busumark]

garmin are good

[camkev]

Garmin the best. .Bigboy has one for sale not garmin,but very good price and easy to use.

[spiru]

garmin are good as regards gps.eagle and lowrance give you a much clearer view as a fishfinder.now i bought eagle gps fishfinder 5 inch dialoge full colour with navigation map.i saw garmin colour fishfinders they are not clear as eagle and lowrance.that is my opinion.check e bay prices first cos i got it LM185 from e bay when in malta it was LM285.

[skip]

When i was looking for a GPS/Chartplotter and a Fishfinder I wasn't sure whether I wanted two separate or an all in one. The GPS/Plotter was nearly the same price as the combo unit so I ended up buying from WestMarine the Lowarance 527c iGPS which is a GPS, Chartplotter and Fishfinder with transducer kit for $650 which was much much lower by nearly Lm150 to what they were quoting here.

There's also a 527c with external GPS antenna depending on your mounting location. What I like about the 527c is that it's also a smart display for various NMEA 2000 probes and sensors which can interface with your engine, show fuel flow rates etc.

I would say the only downside to it is that it doesn't have dual card slots and as Navionics are still stuck in the dark ages and their Gold maps come on a very small memory card (128MB or something) there isn't space to save plots, sounding recordings etc and you can't insert another card without losing the map. I blame both Lowrance and Navionics but mostly Navionics. Let's face it a 1GB memory card costs next to nothing nowadays.

[EmicMalta]

if ium not getting wrong, a friend of min have a Foruno colour display fishfinder. Its impressive what performance it gives. We where ancored on a reef at 20 mtr. He had a rapala of 13 cm and at nearly 18mtr we checked the size and it gave us exectly 13cm. I don t remember the moddle but if needed I can get it.

As for a gps, Im using the garmin 72 and Im working fine. Its too handy cos I can take it where ever I go and with what ever I go with.

[benri]

Gold maps come on a very small memory card (128MB or something) there isn't space to save plots, sounding recordings etc and you can't insert another card without losing the map

Can't you copy the Navionics map to a bigger card or is it protected?

[blueskip]

Redbus if you are looking for an "entry level" fishfinder/sounder the Eagle Cuda 68 (or is it 168)? that I have on my boat is adequate, it gives all the usual nonsense such a x2 & X4 magnification of bottom features so that you can pick out quite small lumps & holes in the bottom, it gives adjustable depth alarm, selectable ft or mts reading, variable screen speed etc, & it was as "cheap as chips" I got mine from Marinescene, I think they are in Cardiff, I bought mine mail order, they are certainly worth a look up  www.marinescene.co.uk should take you to their site.
blueskip

[blueskip]

Redbus just checked they are in Penarth, they currently have the Garmin 90 "entry level" sounder /finder for sale at ?65, as cheap as a lead weight, & a ball of string,
blueskip

[skip]

If you try and copy a Navionics map, especially the recent ones or even try and access them in a memory card reader apparently they wipe themselves! As they're not cheap I wouldn't like to experiment

[redbus9]

thanks for your advice guys shall certainly look at the one in penarth as my daughtr lives there and i,ve got to go to see my new grandson

[redbus9]

checked out the site [marinescene in penarth] garmin 160c portable fish finder ,colour ?164.99. how does this compare to malta prices?

[blueskip]

Probably about 50% of the "Malta price", if you can find that particular model, I found Malta prices on most things to be high, probably because there isn't the competition there is here, in the UK, & the US is even cheaper, but the Customs people are getting quite cute at opening "gifts" nowadays!
blueskip

[Lamacca]

do you know if when you buy a gps like the garmin 90 or 140 is the transducer included ?