Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

[catfighter]

So I have an old Humminbird Sonar from like circa 1999 on my 14' tri-hull tiller.

I am looking for the best sonar under $200 that will work well in shallow water (i.e. typically 10' or less, or no more than 30' of water).

These are the ones I'm looking at right now, both of which have gotten good reviews on other sites:

Garmin 160c (I can get one of these for $165)


Humminbird 718 (again, around $165)

I don't care about the color, just want something that sees fish, has temperature, and is waterproof; these appear to be the best I can find.



BTW - I do try to buy from iboats, but their choice of sonars under $200 isn't that extensive.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated. I will mostly use the sonar for cat fishing, and some walleye/bass


Thanks!

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

I got a little Eagle 168 for $100, in black and white nothing extra on it other than temp. Easily seen in full sunlight. User friendly and easy to learn. Goes to 1' then gets unreliable. I usually fish to 30'. It has numerous auto changing ranges with the shortest being 10' full scale deflection. They have it in a thin and fat version.

I had the room and got the fat one with the wider screen whatever number that is. Got 2, one for the boat with display at the helm, and one for the TM with bow mounted display. The boat is for when I'm running and for the rear seat fisherperson when stopped. Obviously the front is for fishing. They come with a streamlined, combination transducer that mounts easily to the TM or the transom. Had them 5 years; zero problems. I can't really say that I have had interference with both of them operating simultaneously.

If iboats doesn't have it Cabellas does.

Mark

 

[ziemann]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

To answer your question-

If I was choosing between the two:

Personally, I would really recommend the Humminbird. If you should decide to replace it in the future ( if you have the $$ to upgrade) and sell it used on ebay, it will bring a higher price. The customer service at Humminbird is fantastic if you should ever have a problem. Mounts, parts, transducers, accessories, and advice is widely available online or in most decent sporting shops (Gander Mt., Cabela's, Bass Pro, etc.). The menus are extremely intuitive to set up and use. My existing 900 series is 5 years old and my 700 series is 3 years old- and they are still releasing software upgrades and support for them.

Do your research and you will see some pretty happy customers out there. For under $200, you get good bang for the buck. If you check reviews of folks using that transducer, you will see it performs well in shallow water.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

I would look first at the transducer. A good signal sent and recieved will help you tell the difference between fish and noise.

The next thing "I" consider important is the screen resolution so you again can tell if the signal is a fish or noise. If the screen resolution is not great you can turn the scroll speed to the max setting to help elongate the features that the sonar picks up (band aid).

The last recommendation I have is to have the thing properly installed. You don't want the thing to only work while you are stationary, and you don't want improperly sealed holes to ruin your transom.

I have a Humminbird cheap POS unit and it is only good as a depth finder. I'm very interested to see your outcome here. I think that using the unit to find fish is much more important in the 20' and up range where you are likely to be trolling and finding baitfish is important. Perhaps Mark_VTfisherman will chime in as he primarily trolls and I'd guess relies more on his fish finder than you or I.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Some unbelievable deals at CABELAS BARGAIN CAVE right now.
can you say half price?

They usually sell out in hours for the best items, so hurry.

 

[John_S]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

So I have an old Humminbird Sonar from like circa 1999 on my 14' tri-hull tiller.

What HB do you already have? The transducer and/or mount may work with 718 you are considering.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

....I think that using the unit to find fish is much more important in the 20' and up range where you are likely to be trolling and finding baitfish is important. Perhaps Mark_VTfisherman will chime in as he primarily trolls and I'd guess relies more on his fish finder than you or I.

Eagle Fishmark 480 is about $165, Fishmark 320 is only $110 at Cabelas

The 480 is probably the best of the brands in your price range. Nice resolution and features, and a mid depth alarm is a nice feature on it. I have one...

 

[catfighter]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Excellent; thanks for all your help!!

 

[catfighter]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

What HB do you already have? The transducer and/or mount may work with 718 you are considering.

It's a Humminbird 100sx.

It works okay, but there is a short in the quick-release and every once in a while screen blinks off; if you fiddle with it, it starts to work again. It doesn't reboot, so I think it's somethingi n the screen.

Also, I think the transducer doesn't work well b/c all I ever see is the bottom . . no trees, no structure, no fish. I tried to mess with the sensitivity as well to no avail.

I was going to move the transducer anyway, or even do a thru-hull transducer (my boat bottom is 1/4" fiberglass) so I'm not concerned about using the existing xducer.

thanks for the insight, though.

 

[John_S]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

It's a Humminbird 100sx.

It works okay, but there is a short in the quick-release and every once in a while screen blinks off; if you fiddle with it, it starts to work again. It doesn't reboot, so I think it's somethingi n the screen.

Check the pins in the connector make sure they are all staraight. Spray some electrical contact cleaner on the pins and the female contacts on the unit head.

Also, I think the transducer doesn't work well b/c all I ever see is the bottom . . no trees, no structure, no fish. I tried to mess with the sensitivity as well to no avail.

But it reads bottom correctly? Fish I can understand, but if you go directly over trees or structure, that should display with no issue.



FWIW: The Tilt/swivel bracket will work with the 718 with just a $7 cable collector change. Power cable will work as long as it is not broken. The transducer would work as a 200kHz only w/718 and you need a cable end changer, around $25, I think.

The SX will not be able to plug into the 718 tilt/swivel and work.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

...and every once in a while screen blinks off; if you fiddle with it, it starts to work again. It doesn't reboot, so I think it's somethingi n the screen...

I know three or four HBs that have that issue. Maybe someone who has had HBs for a while will be able to tell you a fix?

We changed connectors and transducers and different bases back and forth (taking a known working cable/td) trying to figure it out on a 500 series last summer. My friend finally gave up after it blanked out again while we were on Champlain. Two days later he bought a new Garmin, and got rid of the HB.

In conclusion, stay with HB if you want but just getting a new one like you have indicated you would is your best fix- done! Or you can try an Eagle. I don't care for the Garmin my friend bought however.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

There is a used Furuno LS-4100 on E-bay at $151 right now. Commerical unit. Only a couple of months old. Run circles around anything mentioned so far.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Furu...2157336QQptZBoatQ5fPartsQ5fAccessoriesQ5fGear

 

[catfighter]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

I'm not huge on used electronics, unless it's PCs (b/c I can rebuild them, heheh).

Does anyone have any exposure to the Eagle FishMark 320? I can get one for like $120! I just can't find anything wrong with this finder, especially when my main purpose is finding fish in under 30' of water (I won't need the GPS features and the top speed of my boat is only 15mph, heheh).

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

I'm not huge on used electronics, unless it's PCs (b/c I can rebuild them, heheh).

Does anyone have any exposure to the Eagle FishMark 320? I can get one for like $120! I just can't find anything wrong with this finder, especially when my main purpose is finding fish in under 30' of water (I won't need the GPS features and the top speed of my boat is only 15mph, heheh).

The Fishmark 320 is a great basic machine, and at that price- just buy it. I almost got a 320 myself, but I landed a 480 (basically the same with higher resolution) for $165 so that is why I have it. I got it late in the season last year so I am not 100% confident with it yet, but after my initial familiarization I LOVE it.

 

[whofan]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

So I have an old Humminbird Sonar from like circa 1999 on my 14' tri-hull tiller.

I am looking for the best sonar under $200 that will work well in shallow water (i.e. typically 10' or less, or no more than 30' of water).

These are the ones I'm looking at right now, both of which have gotten good reviews on other sites:

Garmin 160c (I can get one of these for $165)


Humminbird 718 (again, around $165)

I don't care about the color, just want something that sees fish, has temperature, and is waterproof; these appear to be the best I can find.



BTW - I do try to buy from iboats, but their choice of sonars under $200 isn't that extensive.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated. I will mostly use the sonar for cat fishing, and some walleye/bass


Thanks!

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...arentType=index&parentId=cat602011&id=0075705

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

They still have some.

 

[Skook]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

You can get a Lowrance X-135 at Cabela's Bargain Cave website for $199.88. I believe this is Lowrance's top-of-the-line monochrome unit. It was $400.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Best SONAR under $200? Any help would be greatly appreciated

You can get a Lowrance X-135 at Cabela's Bargain Cave website for $199.88. I believe this is Lowrance's top-of-the-line monochrome unit. It was $400.

That is a good unit- actually the Lowrance equivalent of the Eagle Fishmark 480

Worth the money for sure