600W Transom Mount Transducer for GP-1971F

[ivansfo]

Hi all,

Just ordered a 1971F to replace my GP-1850DF/Airmar P66 combo I bought back in 2002. Now I need to decide which transducer to get and have so many questions. It's going into my Whaler so needs to be a transom mount. Seems the there are only 2 choice if I want a CHIRP transducer, a 300W or 1000W. Why isn't there a 600W model? Will the 300W Chirp (Airmar TM150) outperform my existing 600W (Airmar P66)?

I fish along the coast of the SF Bay area primarily looking for rockfish, salmon, and bait fish. Usually in less than 150 feet but occasionally get into about 250 feet down. On the Airmar P66, I usually leave it 200khz and that meets my need.


Thank you all.

 

[Bfrench7]

You must need to decide Which is more important to you...

Bottom Discrimination w/ Rezboost

Or

Target Separation w/ CHIRP


For us, we couldn’t decide, so we ended up getting a 1971F and pairing it with the 1kw Chirp TM185M

Then we bought a dedicated fish finder FCV628 And paired it with a 525-LTD/20 (aka B60) 600w thru hull conventional 50/200

Now we have the best of both worlds.

 

[Bfrench7]

This is the 1971F with the TM185M

 

[ivansfo]

Hi Bfrench7, Thanks for chiming in and sharing the sample image. Between "Bottom Discrimination w/ Rezboost" OR "Target Separation w/ CHIRP", both are important to me. I want both OK, if I had to choose, I would lean more towards Target Separation w/ CHIRP.

I was just looking on the Airmar website and noticed they just released a new 600W Chirp transom mount transducer. Model is TM165HW. I think this would be ideal for my needs. However it's not shown as supported by the 1971F. Or at least not yet.

I may just run the P66 for the time being and see how that works out.

 

[Bfrench7]

Absolutely! If I know when I was shopping for a unit last year, I had a hard time finding information and feedback because the unit was practically brand new. I also ran into the issue where originally, the TM185M was not supported because they were working out some bugs with the 1kw CHIRP transducers overheating. A software update later corrected the issues, however, within the GP1971, the TM185M is still not an option for transducer selection. I was instructed to use the “B175M” which I believe is a thru hull 1kw CHIRP transducer.

Maybe one of the Furuno mods can chime in regarding the new 600w CHIRP compatibility.

If you’d like to see any other pictures, or have any other questions about the GP1971 setup we have, shoot me a message and I would be more than happy to take a video or send you some pictures.

Overall I am happy with the 1971, just had some growing pains like with any new technology on the market.

 

[Johnny Electron]

Sounder and transducer questions normally get the best answers in the sounder topic area but I will take a stab at it. I would guess the TM185 (which seems to be the same elements as the B175 in a TM package) would work with the GP1871F/1971F if you can purchase one with the Furuno connector on it. (like using one of the Gemeco Mix and Match sets) I don't know if they offer such a thing or not. I will say MF and HF off the transom where there is so much chance of turbulence isn't a great idea. You are much better off with the B175M. If someone was to try the TM185M, they would select the software settings in the sounder as if it was a B175M.

 

[Johnny Electron]

As a follow up, if the TM185 (typically designed for Garmin) is used, it will most likely work but not nearly as well as the recommended B175. This isn't only because of the extra turbulence at the transom. Airmar documents show the power of the B175 as 18W and the TM185 as 12W, so even with clean water, the B175 will have better performance than the TM185. I wouldn't recommend buying a TM185 for a new install with the GP1971F but if you are retrofitting from a Garmin then it should be possible.

 

[Bfrench7]

As a follow up, if the TM185 (typically designed for Garmin) is used, it will most likely work but not nearly as well as the recommended B175. This isn't only because of the extra turbulence at the transom. Airmar documents show the power of the B175 as 18W and the TM185 as 12W, so even with clean water, the B175 will have better performance than the TM185. I wouldn't recommend buying a TM185 for a new install with the GP1971F but if you are retrofitting from a Garmin then it should be possible.

I wish someone would have told us that!