transducer for fcv1200

mauiadam

New member
hi,
I'm looking at getting the best transducer for fishing red snapper in hawaii in 75 to 150 fathoms for my fcv 1200
looking at the r 509LH
I heard the wide version was not good on the hf for deep drop (covers more ground but hard to see what is directly under boat)
any thoughts on set up
I know that this is not that deep but i would rather have more power than not enough

had this 1200 sounder for a long time but never installed as only fishing palagics
is it getting a bit old now or still worth setting up?
will i be able to set beam width as well freq. in the set up menu on the fcv 1200?
how would you compare this to the newer sounders in performance?
 
Good afternoon mauiadam,

Thank you for your inquiry. To start off with the FCV1200BB sounder is a dynamite meter. You will be happy to have that unit in operation.

To answer a couple of your questions. The beam width is not really controllable, the transducer that you select will have a beam angle that is tied to the frequency and the amount of elements in the transducer. Now if you choose a transducer that has the ability to slew the frequency up and down the beam angle will change as you change the frequency. The rule of thumb for beam angles on transducers usually follows: the lower the frequency the larger the beam angle and the higher the frequency the narrower the beam angle. Of course there are always exceptions to rules: case in point the Airmar wide beam high frequency transducers. Or the transducer for the FCV30BB split beam sounder which operates at 38kHz but has (5) 7 degree beams.

Another thing to look at is what you want to see on the fish finder. Some transducers are better for looking at bottom tails or bottom truthing and other transducers are better for looking for fish and not used as much for looking at bottom truthing or bottom tails which would give you a better idea of a hard or soft bottom.

The 509 transducer has a low (Q), it doesn't ring very much after getting hit by voltage. Which makes this transducer very efficient and really good for looking for fish. What we have seen from low (q) transducers is how the bottom is displayed on the meter. Low (Q) transducer tend to have a smaller bottom tail than higher (Q) transducers so they may not display as much bottom tail which is used for looking at bottom hardness. If this is no concern then it would be a good choice.

A couple of things to verify during setup would be the voltage settings in the transducer installation mode. This voltage needs to be matched to the specific transducer that you are installing.

Depending on the transducer you will want to match the frequency as well. For the broadband transducers we have found certain frequencies tend to be hotter, show more information, so that is something that we could look at once your decision has been made.

If it is a FCV1200BB you will make to verify the dip switch settings for the IF8000. This will affect the color scale of the system if connected to a 3rd party monitor.

Let us know if you have any further questions, we are here to help.

Kind Regards,
C-Bass
 
thanks C Bass,
Great information.
Snipps have also helped me on this one,
He thinks 509 lm is going to serve be better than the 509lh
you can see our dialogue in the other thread.
do you feel the same way?
also what is your thoughts between this and the wide version?
Guess with that your low side would have variable beam angle depending on frequency
and on the medium side constant 25 degrees I think

I have the 1200 lm so I have the screen as well ...not a external monitor
I am looking to see fish on the sounder bottom hardness is less of a concern,
main point is to see fish to make expirmental drops to find my own spots for snapper in 70-130 fathoms
as no-one hands these down to ya!
is furuno thinking of getting airmar to build them 2/3 kw transducers with the built in motion sensors as i have the dff3d and the motion sensor in that tranny works great
thanks
adam
 
Good afternoon MauiAdam,

Sorry for the long delay. I referenced your other post and I have a couple of comments. Please keep in mind that many of the moderators and other contributing posters like yourself have other responsibilities with our duties. We try our best to reply and contribute to post as soon as we can. But trust me I know how it feels when you ask questions and you don't get responses, I know you are just looking to gain as much knowledge before you move forward with your project and I think we can all respect that! I know I do :D

So moving forward, I have to concur with Mr. Snips, he is my sensei, regarding the medium vs. high frequency. The lower the frequency the deeper you can go, especially when trying to target fish. Also it is nice to have a smaller beam angle when trying to stay on top of structure. Looking at the radiation spread patterns of the High vs. Medium frequencies you don't really lose all that much beam angle when comparing. So the medium frequency is still pretty tight beams but that frequency will go much deeper than the higher frequency version.

The wide beam transducers. I guess you are referring to the wide beam high transducer. I have not been able to reference a wide beam medium. Yes the wide beam high is more desired for pelagic fishing due to the wide beam that covers much more water. Also the wide beam high is a better choice for fishermen that need to troll fast. Higher frequencies are not as susceptible to turbulence as low frequencies. So for an installation in turbulent waters the wide high is a good alternative because you still get the benefits of the wider beam angle.

We have learned over the years that the high wide will not find fish as deep when compared to the high standard. So for trying to go deep using high frequency the standard beam angle will be much better. Also as you mentioned it can be nice to have a narrow beam angle to stay on-top of structure.

We would love to see some photos of the DFF3D in action!

Kind Regards,
 
Thanks,
yep its friday and was keen to order before the weekend!!
I just noticed that it does not come in lm wide!
so that makes it easy
509lm it is,
made to many impulsive purchases before so trying to be smart on this one.
you guys are great and thanks for the help
learnt a lot from forum browsing
i will try to send a couple of pics of dff3d in action
 
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