Sounder for a kayak

[Terry H]

Hey guys, I'm after a sounder for my yak, looking at probably 200-300 if that can get me one that will work :laugh:

Willing to go to 400 if needed:)

for extra info: I will be internally mounting the transducer

Any idea on brands and models I should check out?

[STU]

check e bay mate they have some good ones there some times, I like Lowrance you can pick up a x125 for $459 at bias that is a nice unit for the price(its not colour).480x480 pixel count thats pretty good

[Feral]

Not really, but in that price range go for as many pixels as you can get for your money.

[pcsolutionman]

I got a lowrence x67c on mine full colour and very slimline, would go perfect on your scotty triple mount in the middle. I got mine for under $250 on ebay second hand

Lee

[Terry H]

Yeah, ok 5-600 would be absolute max:P

[username_taken]

pcsolutionman wrote:

I got a lowrence x67c on mine full colour and very slimline, would go perfect on your scotty triple mount in the middle. I got mine for under $250 on ebay second hand

Lee

Agreed! I paid $300 shipped new from ebay for my x67c. Came from the US so might have warranty issues down the track, but saving $300 is worth the risk.

Should have said something at the dam, you could have taken mine for a quick shakedown. I've got a 4AH sealed lead battery which lasted the whole morning at the dam no worries.

[Angus]

Hey mate.

A mate of my dads is a marine goods wholesaler.

I am going to contact him and try and get some good reasonably priced sounders for the shop. I know you prob dont want to wait but just throwing out there. Ill try and get onto him tomorrow.

Angus

[Terry H]

Lee how do you rate your sounder? I liked the look of it etc at awoonga

I'm not going to mount it in the middle section of my triple mount. I saw Dan A's kayak (in a picture on AKFF) looks like a prowler with a triple moutn like mine:) He's got the GPS unit in the middle socket. I was thinking of maybe putting it there, but after seeing the picture of his yak I will most certainly put it there. It looks pretty sweet! Like some other prowlers, he has the sounder located on the centre section slightly towards the angler from the drink cup holder in the kayak. I think it looks awesome:)

/>http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=12506#p134452

[rayke1938]

Whatever you get check that you can read the screen in sunlight with your sunnies on. Doesnt matter how many goodies it has if you cannot read the screen.

Cheers

Ray

[Terry H]

Good point Ray. Is that the LCD + polaroids? or glare on screen

[rayke1938]

lcd and polaroids. My colour lowarance is ok grahams colour humminbird is difficult unless you are square on to the screen.But the sounder itself is brilliant.

I have a garmin combined gps/sounder in black and white. The screen is brilliant but the thing is around 8 years old and the pixel count and power of the sounder is below par. I just use it for the gps function.Bias boating at tingalpa will take them outside so you can check them in sunlight if they are not busy.

Cheers

Ray

Cheers

Ray.

[pcsolutionman]

terry i fond mine great, no problems with sunnies either

Lee

[Feral]

Terry,

Bias have the lowrance X125 on special for $450, it is 480x480 pixels greyscale, most other sounders in the cheaper end of the market are 168x132 or 250x160, or 320 x 320 for the same price

[pcsolutionman]

if you were going to pay that much though id be looking at a colour unit, even if you brought it in from the states

Lee

[Terry H]

Thanks for your input everyone:)

Lee any idea how much the x67c is brand new?

Also - GPS units. Lee you wouldn't happen to be using the Garmin GPS76, would you? I was looking at some GPS units online and this one looks to be alright for a yakking application. (It's waterproof and floats! heh)

Edit:

Ray, just in response to the polaroids, I'll be sitting directly in front of the sounder at all times, so I don't think not being able to see it from the side will be an issue. There's not too many places you can sit in a yak:) Thanks for bringing that up though, it's something I never thought of.

[Feral]

I've got one Terry, pretty old mine, maybe 5 years old? So new ones might have a few more features. I dont pretend to be an expert in using it (heck I only bothered to work it out for following tracks at Awoonga last year) but it works fine for me. Maps available for it are pretty crappy, but so are most GPS maps except for road systems.

Lasts a few days on the AA batteries if it is in low power mode. The only hassle I has was I cant work out how to keep the back light on permenantly at night. It keeps shutting off after a minute, meaning if your following a track you need to keep pressing a button every minute or so keep the light on.

It connects up to my computer and laptop just fine (which is the main way I use it, using mapping software).

I actually prefer it over the new $1500 garmin's we have at work, they are waaay to complex to work out

[pcsolutionman]

I have the gps 72 the 76 is just an upgraded model, mine works great and like you said floats and waterproof

not sure how much the x67c is out here

Lee

[Terry H]

Yeah it was another thing I was impressed with when I saw it at Awoonga:P Plus, like I said it looks like it would handle my uses