To CHIRP or not to Chirp?
- Thread starter Fasty
- Start date
CBsqrd
Well-Known Member
1 KW CHIRP > 600 W CHIRP > 1 KW Non-CHIRP
when you say “fishing” assume you mean salmon fishing. In which case, your best transducer would be a high-and-wide model.
Whether it’s worth the cost is up to you. I know I’d spend the extra money on a 175HW model again.
Whole in the Water
Well-Known Member
CHIRP is great for shallower, freshwater, not as effective in deeper, saltwater uses in my experience. Make sure you go with a 1KW transducer whatever you do and pair it with a newer fairly high powered display unit.
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
This topic has been the horse that keeps getting beaten ever since CHIRP became available to the rec fishing sector. Some guys rave about CHIRP....some guys yawn....
I was an early adopter of the B175HW— I installed it when it first came on the market and every time I picked up a different boat, I’d install it again (expensive habit but you can’t just remove a thru-hull from one boat and put it on another....at least without sticking something in the big hole it leaves or glassing over the hole).......Meanwhile.... since the introduction of the B175H (which seems to be the transducer favored by fishermen who fish the upper levels of the water column, say, zero to 200 feet) sonar technology has dramatically improved.
Case in point: Furuno Rez Boost. I can show you screen shots produced by a $ 75 Airmar P66 skimmer transducer hooked up to a newer Furuno sonar head set with Rez Boost that will be every bit as clear and crisp as the screen shot from a $ 1200 B175HW thru-hull. You’ll get the exact same “wow factor” from a plastic skimmer transducer that everybody thinks is “old tech”
I just picked up another boat and decided not to install yet another B175HW........why? I’m big on tracking my gear in relation to bait. And it’s way easier to mount a downrigger closer to a transom-mounted puck transducer like a P66 then it is to dial in the mounting position of downrigger in relation to the position of a B175HW thru-hull. That’s because thru-hull placement is not an exact science—-you’ve got to take rubbing strakes and other thru-hull fittings into account before drilling that hole. And chances are, you won’t always be tracking your gear based on the final placement unless the tides are slack and your gear is directly under the boat
So my new-to-me boat came with Garmin.....I’ve been a Furuno guy for my last 5 boats so that was a tough one for me to swallow. But the Garmin GT51 transom mounted Chirp transducer (approx. 50% of the cost of an Airmar thru-hull) does a pretty good job of tracking gear ——it’s mounted underneath the outboard pod, between my twin Suzukis
But to seal the deal and put something on that boat I KNEW would track gear —-I picked up a Furuno FCV 588 (with the newer Rez Boost technology) and hooked it to that $ 75 P66 (600W) mentioned above—-fantastic piece of equipment! Tracks gear like nobody’s business and I get good clean target separation
So you pays your money and you takes your chances with a thru-hull. I once got so neurotic about transducer placement that in order to have it directly under my downrigger, I paid a guy big money to scoop out the foam of the sponson of an Arima I owned and dig a hole through the deck to get the transducer in the “perfect place” directly under my Scotty......ya, it was perfect alright....every time a boat went by and made a wake, I lost the picture on my screen from the bubbles and dirty water going across the face of the thru-hull....a $ 2,000 mistake
Here’s Rez Boost on a P66 Airmar skimmer: Note the algorithm on the bottom of the screen that produces a pretty consistently correct bottom profile (in this screen shot, it shows rocks and gravel) ——CHIRP won’t do that
I was an early adopter of the B175HW— I installed it when it first came on the market and every time I picked up a different boat, I’d install it again (expensive habit but you can’t just remove a thru-hull from one boat and put it on another....at least without sticking something in the big hole it leaves or glassing over the hole).......Meanwhile.... since the introduction of the B175H (which seems to be the transducer favored by fishermen who fish the upper levels of the water column, say, zero to 200 feet) sonar technology has dramatically improved.
Case in point: Furuno Rez Boost. I can show you screen shots produced by a $ 75 Airmar P66 skimmer transducer hooked up to a newer Furuno sonar head set with Rez Boost that will be every bit as clear and crisp as the screen shot from a $ 1200 B175HW thru-hull. You’ll get the exact same “wow factor” from a plastic skimmer transducer that everybody thinks is “old tech”
I just picked up another boat and decided not to install yet another B175HW........why? I’m big on tracking my gear in relation to bait. And it’s way easier to mount a downrigger closer to a transom-mounted puck transducer like a P66 then it is to dial in the mounting position of downrigger in relation to the position of a B175HW thru-hull. That’s because thru-hull placement is not an exact science—-you’ve got to take rubbing strakes and other thru-hull fittings into account before drilling that hole. And chances are, you won’t always be tracking your gear based on the final placement unless the tides are slack and your gear is directly under the boat
So my new-to-me boat came with Garmin.....I’ve been a Furuno guy for my last 5 boats so that was a tough one for me to swallow. But the Garmin GT51 transom mounted Chirp transducer (approx. 50% of the cost of an Airmar thru-hull) does a pretty good job of tracking gear ——it’s mounted underneath the outboard pod, between my twin Suzukis
But to seal the deal and put something on that boat I KNEW would track gear —-I picked up a Furuno FCV 588 (with the newer Rez Boost technology) and hooked it to that $ 75 P66 (600W) mentioned above—-fantastic piece of equipment! Tracks gear like nobody’s business and I get good clean target separation
So you pays your money and you takes your chances with a thru-hull. I once got so neurotic about transducer placement that in order to have it directly under my downrigger, I paid a guy big money to scoop out the foam of the sponson of an Arima I owned and dig a hole through the deck to get the transducer in the “perfect place” directly under my Scotty......ya, it was perfect alright....every time a boat went by and made a wake, I lost the picture on my screen from the bubbles and dirty water going across the face of the thru-hull....a $ 2,000 mistake
Here’s Rez Boost on a P66 Airmar skimmer: Note the algorithm on the bottom of the screen that produces a pretty consistently correct bottom profile (in this screen shot, it shows rocks and gravel) ——CHIRP won’t do that
Last edited:
Fasty
Active Member
i really appreciate the feedback everybody. thank you
I hadn't really considered having a thru hull installed only to find out it doesn't line up with keeping an eye on my gear.
Ive got twin shafts and a swim grid. I'm concerned with mounting options and prop wash for a transom mount.
The boat won't be out of the water again for at least a year (God willing). Maybe i install a good 1KW thru hull and a p66 so ive got options?
I hadn't really considered having a thru hull installed only to find out it doesn't line up with keeping an eye on my gear.
Ive got twin shafts and a swim grid. I'm concerned with mounting options and prop wash for a transom mount.
The boat won't be out of the water again for at least a year (God willing). Maybe i install a good 1KW thru hull and a p66 so ive got options?
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
You could also consider a 1KW IN-HULL like an Airmar M260 in a wet box....I had that unit on several boats—-nice clean picture (shooting through 3/8” fiberglass anyway; not sure what you have)
Sits in a yellow box bathing in a pool of Glycol to keep it cool.....you can just see the edge of the B175HW mounted next to it
ship happens
Crew Member
I personally prefer a good solid thru hull transducer running 50hz or 200 without chirp.
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