Raymarine Transducers VS Other Brands
 

Hi All,

Hoping I could get some feedback on the various transducers available within the market. I'm refitting the electronics on my boat with new Raymarine gear. I've decided on the C127 with built in sonar (rated to 600W)

Here's my dilemma: Raymarine offers a few different plug and play 600W transducers compatible with the deadrise of my boat. I plan to do most of my fishing in and around Cape Cod Bay and the islands for bass/blues/cod/etc, with a few scattered BFT trips here and there. Do I need to upgrade to a separate unit and pair it with a 1KW transducer, or is 600W enough?

Also, how are Raymarine's transducers compared to other brands such as Airmar? I believe with an adapter cord, I can connect any transducer to the machine.

Thanks in advance!

I'm not positive, however I think Airmar makes their transducers, as well as most of the other sounders'. I have a B164 Airmar which has the Raymarine connectors. The B164 also comes with the other manufactures connectors Garmin, etc. I'm very happy with the 1000w DSM paired with the B164. To let you know I have the old technology (C120), not the new CHIRP. The new stuff, even as nice as it is, is out of my price range. Way out.....

Im still learning on the electronics myself but many use Airmar with different brand units. The 1000w b160 works well on the older units and I have read lots of positives about them. The big new thing that everyone is talking about is the new chirp units, if you are upgrading now the time to get the latest and greatest. The Airmar b265 is a chirp capable transducer but cost around $1800. Lots of good reading about them on "that other site". Some have switched back and some love their new chirp units but from what I have read the chirp units will do everything the older units will and then some. You just got to switch settings back and forth.

Hey Frizz, don't forget to add in the cost of the CHIRP capable MFD at a smooth $5,000+

That's a major ouch!!

Thanks guys. I'm with Don. The CHIRP finders seem pretty sweet, but they're out of my price range as the package price increases quickly when adding CHIRP technology. I'm really struggling with the power needed for the transducer, as deeper water requires more power for accurate readings. I'm just not sure if its needed for the fishing I do on a regular basis.

Either of you have any firsthand experience with the 600KW vs 1KW?

No need for the 1KW if fishing in around or near cape cod. That's all I have ever fished on the cape and that's from Barnstable flats out to the regal sword and BB tuna fishing in over 400 feet of water.

Perfect. Thanks Chance. I was already leaning that way, but this helps solidify my thinking. All brands have similar performance?

Most all transducers for most all Electronics brands are made by Airmar.
Only difference being the plug for brand specific.

To cut through the fog of ignorance....

• All oem Raymarine, B&G, Lowrance, and Simrad transducers are made by Airmar.
• 80% plus of Garmin, Humminbird, and Furuno oem transducers are also made by Airmar.
• Of American-made fishfinders, only Humminbird and Furuno make some of their their own transducers, and then only for some smaller or commercial sonar units.
• Garmin, Si-tex and Furuno all also buy a small number of transducers from Nantong Saiyang Electronics of Jiangsu, China.
• Furuno also sources commercial 'ducers from Kongsberg Maritime of Kongsberg, Norway
• Saiyang and Kongsberg transducers can be purchased for most of the above companies' machines, but you may have to get the appropriate connector and connect the pin-outs yourself

Also, a MFD with CHiRP technology is much less expensive than you think.
A Raymarine a68 5" MFD with touchscreen, Wi-fi, and including a CHiRP capable CT100 transom-mount transducer is under $1090 complete from West Marine. Add in the Navionics Gold 2D chart for $190, and you're at $1280 plus tax on the whole bundle, and it's pretty sweet.

Thanks for the feedback. Good to know.

Is CHIRP so impressive it's seriously worth the extra dough? I haven't gone fishing on a boat equipped with CHIRP downvision.

Your fine with the 600w ducer..I have a Garmin 741xs with a 600 watt thru hull,reads bottom great out to about 800-1000ft,its chirp technology but its not the real deal chirp,thats only in the bigger more powerful,and way more $$$ units..my buddy runs a 60 with the real chirp and its incredible..

I think for my purposes, the 600 will be adequate. I guess, at a later point, if I feel the performance is lousy and I hit the lottery, I'll upgrade to CHIRP.

a68/a78 CHiRP will not display radar. Their considered MFDs because they will display engine information.

What the heck, I'm not real smart, however not ignorant, and after a few scotches I might be in a bit of a fog. So, just for grins I decided to see what it would cost to change my old out of date Raymarine system out to an updated CHIRP system. I've got a 12" MFD so I can't see going to a 5" screen, that would show ignorance trying to fit the little one in a big hole. A 12" Raymarine E125 with charts is a smooth $3,500 at our favorite marine store WM, the "ClearPulse" CHIRP sonar module is right at $2,000 and to get a single band transducer that will fit in the same hole as my B164 is $1,100....dual band is double. Seeing how I'm spending money I don't have, why not a color digital radar $2,500 and of course what every 23' SeaCraft should have, a $7,700 thermal night vision camera to make my new 12" MFD useful. I'll have to pass the offering plate a few more times to get all this.

I tend to buy into all the latest and greatest,but I decided to finally stop the madness when it comes to electronics.
My electronics are dated,but they still do what I need.
I have an older 600 watt NorthStar sonar/gps combo that gets me to any waypoint I need,a sonar that reads the bottom,and marks bait and fish at 500' deep,at 30 Mph.
Have an older Raymarine pathfinder Radar that for some reason still works great at picking out Freighters,boats,and other dangers in the fog,and storms that are headed my way.

Would I like to have all the newest latest electronics?,ABSOLUTELY!
Would they increase my fish catches?,POSSIBLY but not likely.
Would they get me to my waypoints easier or faster? NOPE!

Trying to keep up with all the new electronics is for me at least,out of my reach.You can go out and buy all the newest technology laden electronics,and spend thousands and thousands of dollars,only to have them become obsolete two years later.It's a game you can't win.
I'll just have to keep running my stuff till thay crap out,or get so old that are no longer trustworthy.

I will admit though that i love looking at all the new stuff. Hmm,maybe "when my ship comes in".
Sorry for getting off topic.

A new Garmin 1040xs with a sounder module and a downvision chirp and sidescan ducer can be had from Gil on the other site for $2400 complete. A good friend of mine just put one on his boat and the results are nothing less than spectacular.

The 10' inch screen is the smallest I would even consider for the way my eyes are getting plus you really need the screen real estate to enable running the chirp and sidescan at the same time. I am a big Garmin fan for plotters and navigation but have always used commercial bottom machines like JRC and Koden. Seeing the new Garmin imaging at a reasonable pricepoint, I think I may be making some room on my dash.

I share some similar perspectives with all of you. The boat needs an upgrade, as the electronics are from 2000. The finder still works, but looking at the screen reminds me of the old video game Pong. It needs to go. I like the look of one large screen with the least amount of clutter as possible. I will not be upgrading anytime soon, unless there is some unforeseen catastrophic failure; too much money. After comparing prices, I'm content with a 600W ducer and 12" screen. I still need to catch fish to actually make all of this worth it. So if I catch fish, it's because I know what I'm doing. If I don't catch fish, it's because my equipment is junk! JK.

Here ya go Ken, seeing how you favor Garmin, your SeaCraft would look very nice with this Garmin set up!!! Might need a larger dash!!

http://www.marlinmag.com/suites?page=0,1

Don, I'm not far from it. This pic is from 2 years ago and it was pretty cluttered then. I now have added a new larger bottom machine, an 8" stand alone radar display and a new autopilot squeezed in with the two plotters and gps already in the pic. In all reality things work very well and are stacked giving me good visability standing or sitting. I need it all for what I do and have redundencies on certain items because I venture pretty far out.