Sonar questions

[shadman2]

I'm in the market for new sonar this spring, any experts out there with opinions on Vexilar, BottomLine, or Lowrance?

[Guest]

bottomline and lowrance are both very good units with many units and prices.vex does not have the variety that the others do when it comes to lcd or lcr. my advice to you is POWER, spend the money and do it right the first time. try marine electronics.com for search, many dealers and manufactures with specs to ponder over.

[Guest]

Hello and welcome to FM Shadman.
There are many units on the market today. Which application is right for me is a common question. The first thing you need to ask yourself is how much do you or can you spend. This will narrow your search down. You pretty much get what you pay for in electronics.
Unit's with high pixel counts will carry a better resolution. You also want a finder that has a good quality reciever.
Power can be misleading. Most of your high power LCD's are meant for offshore salt water applications. More watts are needed to penetrate salt water because it is much more dense than fresh water. Studies have also shown too much power in shallow water(water less than 15 feet) can spook fish.
Finders such as the Vexilar Edge2 use a high quality reciever with enough watts to display a quality picture. The Edge also has a concept that no other finder has, dual transducer application. This is not to be confused with the dual freqency finder. You can read more about the Edge2 here
http://vexilar.com/products/lc507.html

Good Luck in your purchase.

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MILLE LACS GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/
click here

[This message has been edited by Derek Johnston (edited 02-23-2003).]

[Guest]

You really can't go wrong with a Lowrance. They keep coming out with more units which gives the consumer a chance to match his dollars up with the unit that fits. If you have a $300 limit, the x91 may be your ticket. And if you want a few more bells and wistles, there's always upgrades. Pick up the 2003 lowrance catalog. You'll be surprised how many units there actually are. Lots of options. I just picked a LMS 320. Lots of options with GPS.

[Fisher Dave]

I made a great buy a couple years back after picking up my Zercom Z160 LPG. It far surpassed any Lowrance X series I have had in the past. It has all kinds of power, and is very sensitive .. the readings are outstanding and I don't get constant false readings. I use the unit on the ice also .. and something has to be said about a unit that picks up an ice fly at 35' without a problem. It would probably pick it up at 135'.

The Zercom units are basicly a paper graph with a digital display. THe only downfall is no GPS capability .. but I use a handheld anyways and prefer to have it seperate from the graph.

The only unit I have owned that came close to the Zercom, is an Impulse® unit... but the Zercom cost $1100 LESS than the impulse.

[guideman]

Hi Shadman,
I have been using Lowrance sonar units for many years, I have two X15's and an X91, on my boat now.
The X15 is awsome although it is pricey
I wouldn't trade it for any other unit.
If you do have a problem with one, they
stand behind their products.
Many of them have a flasher mode built
right in and they all come with a temp sensor as well.

------------------

Ace guide service.
Beautiful Lake Vermilion.
aceguideservice.com
[email protected]

[WalleyeSnob]

i am with guideman
i have had my x-15 for two years now and absolutely love it
the unit is almost priceless to me
i have a x 65 bow mount
and i am going to get rid of it and pick up another x 15 right after i sell my books back for this semester of school
ha ha

[Chev_trucks501]

Shadman,

Well I have never been a fan of Bottomline locators. I work in the industry and well I see a lot of bottom lines come in with various problems. I have always been a Lowrance person. I love their locators. Plus as almost everyone has already pointed out they stand behind their units. Since Lowrance owns Eagle, their units have been really good also. Eagle came out with a couple new locators this year. One being the Fish Elite, which is a sonar and gps unit all in one. Sells for around $450 complete! Should be a popular unit for the guys who what one. Lowrance also inproved their units this year adding higher resloution to them...also renaming them the X87 and X97. One company that is appempting a come back is Hummingbird. I am not a Hummingbird fan but parts of their new line look neat. They have a Fish Smart Locator out with wireless transducers. Yep! you will get a 100 ft radius from the unit. You can operate the unit on 2 seperate transducers. Have not heard much about these but should be an interesting addition to their line. Well Good Luck.

Chev

[Guest]

Id go to gander mountain and get a hummingbird pirana 1 if i were you, but there not cheap, great quality.

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Nick Dahlen
~Keep On Rackin' Them

[Kevin Turner]

The Vex Edge gets my vote.

[Scott]

The Vexilar Edge gets my vote also.

[Guest]

I hope your kidding about the Pirana/Edge comparison.

[Guest]

Hummingbird pirana 1 is a lot better that the vex by far!

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Nick Dahlen
~Keep On Rackin' Them

[Kevin Turner]

I have a Vex Edge with the tranducers mounted on the inside of an aluminum 3/16" thick hull. It works great. BUT I haven't used it in water over 30' deep. Is anyone using the edge thru aluminum in deep water?

[JP Z]

The Edge is definitely the way to go. But your $$$ situation needs to allow for it otherwise. Lowrance has a few on the lower $ side that are good.

[bigeyes]

I am assuming that the people that are recommending the Edge have extensive "on the water" experience with it? Not trying to pi@# anybody off, but I thought this was a very new unit? It looks like it could be a good unit, but I just want to make sure that good information is being given.

[bigeyes]

My bad, I thought it was a new unit this year.

[JP Z]

Nope, had an Edge for 1.5yrs I reckon. Good system, a class act all the way.

[Guest]

The Edge has been out for a couple of years now, there has just been some changes to it.

------------------
MILLE LACS GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/
click here

[shadman2]

Gotta thank everyone for the input, checked out everything mentioned including the Piranha, couldn't figure out why it was mentioned though. Ended up the the X-15. I was at the NW sportshow over the weekend and made a pretty good deal I think. I did talk to the Lowarnce guys at their booth, but based on the info I got here and the net I think I was better informed of product choices than they were, I was more than a little surprised. See ya all on the water.