FCV1100L transducer upgrade

[Anonymous]

I have an FCV1100L with a B260 transducer, problem i have is it was a bad installation and im loosing bottom at 10-15 knts. Previous owner pocket mounted the ducer flush with the hull, its completely glassed in top and bottom. I am debating on wether to cut it loose from hull and then patch 8"x5" hole, then mount with fairing, or just buy a new ducer and mount with fairing on other side of hull. Ive been reading about the B265 chirp transducers, and im seeing that the fcv1100 can work with this transducer, just not fully chirp capable. How much would the B265 improve my bottom reading? Looks like I would be able to utilize more frequencies to fine tune my display then just 50-200. Is this correct ?

 

[Snips]

Gil5077,
Yes you can use the FCV-1100 with the 265 series. However (as you have found out) a good transducer can't over come a questionable installation. The 265 is the same shape/size as the 260 and can be used over a wider frequency range. If you go this direction we found that the LF side seems to perform a little better around 42Khz. Depending on your fishing needs, another option to consider is a 275 which has a wider HF beam width than the 265.

Snips

 

[Anonymous]

most of our fishing will be trolling the shelf from 200'-600', but im very interested in the daytime swordfishing we have here off of the texas gulf coast in the 1500' range. Will really need to have a clear bottom reading to locate fish at those depths, would I need to step up to the 2kw ducer? or the B265/275 with my fcv1100 shld read fine at that kind of depth ?

 

[Snips]

Both the 265/275 will see the bottom at 1500ft but I feel fish detection is a different story for a 1kw 50Khz transducer. To go deeper I favor 28Khz first then either a 2kw/3kw 50Khz.

Snips

 

[Anonymous]

would I be better off with one of the newer chirp capable ducers like the R109LH with my FCV1100? If I upgrade the ducer im thinking i should stick with the chirp capability for if/when i upgrade sounder in the future. It looks like i would be able to read 38 khz with the R109. Would that give me that much more clarity in the 1500' range over the B265 for an extra $1000?

 

[Snips]

You can use the R-109 with the 1100. Your targets will come back harder but shorter due to it's narrower forward/aft beam width. The LF side of the R-109 has an elliptical beam pattern with a ten degree for/aft BW at 38Khz compared to the 265's conical twenty five degree pattern at 42Khz.

Snips

 

[Anonymous]

Im still digging through the idea of a chirp transducer with my FCV1100, a furuno tech told me I would loose clarity in deep water readings, would be better to stick with a R209/R309... I have found a good price on a R509 chirp ducer, would I also loose alot with this transducer compared to the 209 or 309? If I used the FCV1100 with the R509 would i need any extra diplexer? or does it just hard wire on splice block like my current transducer does ?

 

[Snips]

GIL5077,
First it would be helpful for me to understand what "clarity" means to you. Next you won't need a diplexer with the 265/275/109/209/309/509. From testing the 309 & 509 have pretty close to the same performance, the main difference is that the 509 has a heat sink built in to dissipate its heat when being used with a Chirp sounder. The 509 and 109 basically have the same beam width characteristics. Below is a LF target comparison between the 265/109/509.

Snips

 

[Anonymous]

so with my fcv1100 i am good to run with any of the new chirp models... and will not lack any performance from the other transducers... as in comparing the B260 with the B265 or R99 with R109 etc...? I also am reading on the new airmar chirp wide beam like the R109-LH-W and R509LH-W...the wide beam definitely looks like the way to go, do the wide beam transducers lack anything on the deep water readings?

 

[Snips]

GIL5077,
It is only wide on the HF side.

Snips