Navigation Display

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

I also agree that depth is important..

Gentlemen -- you are crossing up a "depth finder" with the Sonar Transducer!

Although the side benefit of the Sonar is acting as a depth finder the designed purpose is to "paint a picture" of the bottoms contour. Most boats today come equipped with a straight forward (thru Hull) depth finder.

My point was that when driving around -- although it is rather cool to look at for the first few trips - it gets rather distracting to watch the contour of the bottom, when in reality by the time it "paints it" / your past it !

I was simply trying to save Moose Tracks some money as he investigates the options --- all said & done (with installation included) the Sonar transducer is NOT worth the expense (in my humble opinion) as a non fisher.

Moose Tracks original question was do I NEED the Sonar feature

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by Phantom

Gentlemen -- you are crossing up a "depth finder" with the Sonar Transducer!

Although the side benefit of the Sonar is acting as a depth finder the designed purpose is to "paint a picture" of the bottoms contour. Most boats today come equipped with a straight forward (thru Hull) depth finder.

My point was that when driving around -- although it is rather cool to look at for the first few trips - it gets rather distracting to watch the contour of the bottom, when in reality by the time it "paints it" / your past it !

I was simply trying to save Moose Tracks some money as he investigates the options --- all said & done (with installation included) the Sonar transducer is NOT worth the expense (in my humble opinion) as a non fisher.

Moose Tracks original question was do I NEED the Sonar feature

Honestly, I didn't read the whole thread, only the comment above mine. I've been lonely and wanted to be involved in something bigger than just myself. Thanks for taking that from me, Phantom.

Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using Tapatalk

[Top-Water]

First few words of original post.

Originally Posted by moose tracks

I am new to boating........

Second reply / post in thread.

Originally Posted by moose tracks

Do I need the sonar feature if I am not going to be using it for fishing? Is the transducer easy to mount?

Well you really don't need it to just navigate, if you are always going to be in water that you know 100% for sure is deep enough all the time. Will you always know that for sure? If your new to boating and Lake Winnipesaukee get a unit that does both. It will help you master the lake faster and safer than without and it won't really cost that much more to have both. So many of the newer ones these days do both seamlessly and can show both the sonar and the navigation features at the same exact time on the same screen, albeit a 6x6 screen would give you 2 3x3 images. But can easily be sized to any meaning "any" combination and size you want. Not to mention even at a full size image on the navigation you can include what is called the digital data on that screen with a small text blocks that would show things like just the depth or water temp each or together. (Like a wrist watch shows the day & date). New units these days are highly customize-able.

The transducers IMHO are a pain in the ass to mount if you want maximum performance. (Just a personal opinion.) Yes the instructions make it look easy and the process is just drilling a few holes and installing a few screws. But again (IMHO) getting the thru hull transducer works better and will do less permanent visible damage to the hull and eliminates having wires going over the transom. However not all boats can use thru hull transducers but most can.

From personal experience I can't imagine having one without the other in the same unit and have had just better overall luck with an epoxied thru hull transducer. (No drilling at all) (However often they don't come with some units standard but can often be acquired free/no cost as an even exchange from the manufacturer in a few days.)

[Top-Water]

Originally Posted by Woody38

Always wondered about the in hull units and how well they work.

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I am a retired workaholic and continuing aquaholic

Having had both on a number of boats, a properly epoxied thru hull transducer is superior to the transom mount. (If you can do it) Can't be done on aluminum or wooden boats. Has to be good solid (non porous) high quality fiberglass mounted where no air pockets can get formed on the outside/bottom of the hull while the boat is moving.

Done correctly you get no surface clutter in rough water and constant bottom contact all the time at all speeds and different water conditions.

[JPC]

Garmin also has "Garmin ECHOMAP Plus 63cv" which comes preloaded with LakeView. I have a Lowrance with Navonics and have looked at the Garmin and in my opinion the Garmin LakeView is better then the Navonics.

[Hillcountry]

Originally Posted by JPC

Garmin also has "Garmin ECHOMAP Plus 63cv" which comes preloaded with LakeView. I have a Lowrance with Navonics and have looked at the Garmin and in my opinion the Garmin LakeView is better then the Navonics.

That’s the one I have...Echomap 5xx something or other. Nice little unit

[Juiced06GTO]

I just got a Dragonfly 7 Pro with Navioncs for my boat. I just installed it in lat august so have only been out with it twice, but it works great! The install took me a few hours being extremely picky with the install.