Me too, Fish finder

[LubeDude]

Ive been watching Ebay for a while, looking for something CHEEP to mount on the front of the Bass Boat to help watch the weedline! Didnt have to have any bells and whistles! Found one today, a Hummingbird Piranha, $50.00 shipped (NEW) Should be fine for what I want it for, Its a nice small size and wont get in the way! I have Lawrance and eagle elswhere! Ive seen them for $79.99, so this is a decent deal!

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Lube, the West Marine dealership here in town sold 10, and 9 came back.<br /><br />You have a theoretical 10 percent chance of getting a decent unit.

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

LubeDude... This may be worth considering<br /><br /> web page

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Ya, thats me, one in ten, Ill take that bet!!<br /><br />Ralph:<br /><br />That seems like a decent deal, Im just cheep to a fault on some things!

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Lubedude, I wouldn't sweat Waterinfuels dealership experiences. It reflects a small fraction of the thousands of units that are sold. While I have no idea if that particular finder is a bad or good unit, I find it difficult to believe a company would keep a product on the market that is so bad that 9 in 10 suck (but you never know). You always have to remember the human factor. Some people do not know how to care for things, and would probably bring back a Furuno because it is "broke". Some people are technology challenged and don't understand the dynamics of proper set-up. I read through a billion posts over a two day period about what are considered bad and good units, and my conclusion was that some did not set it up properly, some did not care for it properly, and some found that another unit provided functions that were more appropriate for what they were doing. It was a very difficult decision for me to buy the H-bird Matrix 27 after reading all the posts, but I know that if I set it up properly and take the head indoors when not in use (would have to anyway to prevent theft) that the unit should do what I need it to. If it does not live up to my expectations, then it will be Ebayed and a better unit will take its place. Good luck with it...

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Honestly Im not too concerned, I knew it was a basic unit when I bought it, Like I said, all I want it to do is find the weed line in less tha 20' of water and im sur its capable of that!<br /><br />Oh, just a thought for your instalation of your new Depth Finder!<br /><br />I heard this from an old marine guy once about the power line for depth finders, and Ive done it ever sence! Go to radio shack and buy enough CB Coax multistrand center antena wire to go from your battery to where you are going to install your finder, Use the braided part to ground to the battery and the multistrand to positive, hook the braided part on the other end to the ground under the dash! This sheilds from outside interfirence supposidly! Not sure if it makes any difference, but it dosent hurt anything!<br /><br />Ive actually solved Two high speed signal problems this way!

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Interesting idea. Thankfully my battery is about 3 feet from where I will mount the unit, so interference should be at a minimum.

 

[Ken G]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

I always enjoy all of the H'bird bashing. I have 3 depthfinders on my boat. My main unit is an old Lowrance lms350a, I have an Eagle 128 that I bought as a back up when the 350 puked out on me for awhile, and I have a Humminbird Fish ID (I think) mounted on the bow with the transducer on the trolling motor.<br /><br />The lms350a does a good job in deeper water but both it and the Eagle will not read the bottom accurately in water less than 8 or 10 feet deep. I run them both on manual with varying sensitivity settings with no success when shallow, automatic settings are no better.<br /><br />The old H'bird will mark the bottom down to 1' deep and when it goes blank I'm about to drag bottom. I use it when castnetting shad in shallow water. On the occasional times I fish in lakes it will mark the thermocline. I run this unit on full auto because I have no idea how to change anything. It was on the old boat when I bought it. This thing is so technologically behind it marks fish with red or black blocks. Its old but it will be on the boat until it breaks.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

For the record I have owned 2 Humminbirds, 2 Lowrance's and 1 Garmin. <br /><br />Jason, you say it's hard to believe that a company would keep a product on the shelf that doesn't work. Well, it's only been out a year or so. People who say "Don't sweat dealership experiences" are denying junk when they see it. If you went to buy a car and you were told that 10 were sold, and of those 9 are in the back being repaired, are you going to shuck over your money, making the rediculous statement that, "It doesn't represent the thousands sold around the country."? I sure hope not, or you'll spend alot of time in repair shops.<br /><br />Jason, so you'll know, Humminbird does discontinue junk. The H'bird Wide 3d Paramount was discontinued after only a few years because it simply didn't work. Give the Piranaha a chance. It hasn't been out long enough to earn that undeniable "junk" status. <br /><br />I used to swear by Humminbird, until I read the stuff on here, and the problems they were having were identical to mine. I simply thought all depthfinders lost the bottom, had screens fog up, etc etc, little did I know those are Humminbird exclusives.<br /><br />I don't H'bird bash, I junk bash. I also wouldn't buy a BMW vehicle if you put a gun to my head. I know one with under 15000 miles, 11 years old and has been to the repair shop over 20 times. This car doesn't have a scratch in the paint, lives covered under a carport.<br /><br />Junk is junk. Period.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Well put WIF, but let's see how LubeDude's works......Maybe he got a good one, and I hope that's the case as I wouldn't wish trouble on any fellow fishermen....he'll let us know if it ain't a workin' to his liking....

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Water, my point is this forum represents a very small part of the real world. We all have opinions based on our own experiences. It would be foolish for a person to base his decisions on what one or two people said. The smart person spends time researching and researching, looking at reviews, talking to a lot of people, trying to get as much info as possible. Then that smart person looks at what he wants and tries to find a product that is a compromise of feature, cost, and durability. This is no different than the thread where a few people have had problems with Ford trucks and that meant that every Ford truck sucked. <br /><br />To say my comment about repersenting the thousands of units sold is rediculous is right up there with saying that BMW, which makes some of the finest vehicles you can buy is crap because you know a guy who has had nothing but problems with one vehicle. Look at the big picture. How does he treat the car, does he maintain it, could he have got the occasion bad vehicle (it happens), is he just too hard on the car. BTW, an 11 year old car with only 11,000 miles will have more problems, it is not being driven enough. BMWs are meant to be driven, not coveted in a closet. I have a buddy who just cannot keep his vehicles from breaking down, regardless of make, model, or newness. He has settled into the fact that he in fact is not car smart and does a lot of things that cause the problems he has. <br /><br />The same can be applied to these H-bird units. Maybe they do suck, maybe they don't. Maybe those 9 out of 10 people had unrealistic expectations or maybe they abused the product, didn't set it up right, who knows. Its called being objective, too few people know what that means anymore. I myself have no faith in what any dealer would say, they are in business to make money. Of course they are going to say the inexpensive units are problematic, thats how they get people to buy more expensive units.<br /><br />All I am saying is that you have talked to one dealer that has said one thing. That is not representative of how bad a product is, it just represents that dealerships experience. You can't expect to come on here and have people just decide not to use a product because you have had a bad experience. Your experiences are to be considered amoung many, and based on what I read on this forum, it seems just as many people have had success with H-bird as have had failure. I think we all would love to be able to buy a Furuno or whatever, but we have bills to pay, lives to lead, and unfortunately fishing gear tends to come in dead last on the list of priorities (although I would like to see legislature passed that would change that ).<br /><br />This all being said, I am not trying to be a champion for H-bird, I am simply saying that buying products depends on more than what one person says. <br /><br />So how is that transducer clickin' working for you? Maybe those Garmins aren't so great? (just kiddin')

 

[Sloleak]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Well Said!!

 

[Franki]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

JasonJ is right in theory...<br /><br />But by the same token, do a search of this forum for hummingbird threads..<br /><br />And see how many actual owners have complained about them.. <br /><br />I am a unhappy HB owner, and I am far from being alone.. I had a choice between a flash looking one that had a ton more features and was cheaper then my HB.. (was sold at k-mart), or the HB..<br /><br />I looked at the HB's at the marine dealer and decided to pay more for a quality unit. (which the dealer assured me was true.) and they looked the part.<br /><br />Worst decision I have ever made..<br /><br />anyway, my point is, if 500 people smell $hit, the chances are that there is a turd around somewhere..<br /><br />regards<br /><br />Franki

 

[Hasbeen]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Im logged in as Hasbeen, My original name! Im over at my dads and decided to check Iboats forum, (had to have my fix) and hand my old information in my wallet!<br /><br />That said I assure you I am the one and only LubeDude!<br /><br />I had an Eagle unit once that came highly recomended to me and I counldnt keep it from fogging up. It went back and forth from the dealer to me several times and it never was right!<br /><br />You can get a bad unit from anyone! Your right, you will hear how I like it, but it may be two or three months before I get it installed and tested!<br /><br />Thanks for the concern, never expected so many replies on this one!<br /><br />I actually did a search on the unit before I bought it other places and found many that thought it was a decent unit for the money and thought I would like it for the aplication I intended to use it for! Time will tell!<br /><br />Hasbeen<br /><br />LubeDude

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Hasbeen/Lubedude, looks like we'll both be reporting in with our H-Bird experience around the same time. No big surprise there as we don't live that far apart. I got motivated today, the temp reached almost 50 degrees for about 30 minutes, and the sun was out. I am done with winter, spring can come now....

 

[Hasbeen]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

I have family there in Idaho, (Wifes side) Where do you fish mostly??<br /><br />LubeDude

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Pend oreille lake, Pend oreille river. Too lazy to have tried elsewhere so far.

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Me too, Fish finder

Ok, I finally installed the little Piranha Hummingbird fish finder on the front of my Bass Boat. After finally figuring a way to route the cable up the trolling motor so it wouldnt wind up around the shaft when I steer the motor, I was able to test it. It is perfect for what I want it for, (following weed lines and drop offs), and probably would be ok for general use. As the transducer is mounted on the trolling motor, no other test could be made. It actually functions flawlessly, one of my better deals on Ebay, $50.00 with shipping.