Gday all. I am from Tasmania in Australia, a long way from the USA, but have been doing so searching for some help

[Boyang]

I have a 700 series shark cat and I have just bought a Furuno 295 off a fisherman that has upgraded all his electronics. After a lot of discussions with a lot of people, i am still not sure what would be the best set up for my boat.

Can someone on here point me in the right direction please. Cannot do transom mount as the pods are up from the hull.
Some have said in hull but have a timber keel so makes it rather hard. I really would like to go thru hull but which would be best. Would the R599LH suit this or even the 38BL-9HR ?
Any advice would be muchly appreciated.

Cheers from tassie

 

[Deeptrouble]

helps if you outline your target species and depth

 

[Quitsa]

The FCV295 is an outstanding sounder and deserves a high performance transducer that can utilize its full capabilities. That will come with a very substantial price tag, however.

I think your best bet to attain maximum performance would be to find a location just forward of the transom in one of the hulls where you can fabricate a pocket in which to mount a transducer. While not a contemporary spread specturm "CHIRP" sounder, the FCV295 has the capability of tuning the output frequencies. A CHIRP capable transducer will give better results if you use frequencies away from the traditional center frequencies of 50/200Hz for which "conventional" transducers are optimized.

The CM599LH (pocket mount version of the R599LH) would be a fantastic choice especially if you need to see bottom detail in more than 500 meters depth. However, if your fishing does not require very high performance in deep water, a much easier installation option would be to use a pair of tilted element transducers such as the B175H, B175L, and B175HW. These will be limited to 1kW but the B175L can easily read bottom to 500-600 meters or more. Even the high frequency B175H can read bottom clearly in 300 meters in my experience (I have one on my boat driven by the internal sounder in a TZT 3). The B175HW is a wide beam transducer that is especially good for seeing pelagic fish in the middle sections of the water column from 20 meters to 150 meters, which may also make some sense for you.

A much lower cost option would a single B164 tilted element. This is intended as a fixed frequency 200/50Hz 1kW transducer. It won't give you the full benefit of the FCV295s performance but does a decent job. By way of comparison, in the US a B164 costs about USD$1300 while a CM599LH costs about USD$4500.

Both a pocket mount CM599LH and any of the tilted element transducers mentioned above have the advantage of being nearly flush to the bottom and creating little drag, which is not unimportant on a smaller boat. They also would not interfere at all with putting the boat on a trailer if you need to do that.

 

[FishTech]

@Boyang have you reach out to the crew at JN Taylor / Taylor Marine? They are the Furuno of Australia and have a wealth of knowledge and experience. This forum is a great resource as well but they might have some local experience with the vessel in question.

 

[Boyang]

The FCV295 is an outstanding sounder and deserves a high performance transducer that can utilize its full capabilities. That will come with a very substantial price tag, however.

I think your best bet to attain maximum performance would be to find a location just forward of the transom in one of the hulls where you can fabricate a pocket in which to mount a transducer. While not a contemporary spread specturm "CHIRP" sounder, the FCV295 has the capability of tuning the output frequencies. A CHIRP capable transducer will give better results if you use frequencies away from the traditional center frequencies of 50/200Hz for which "conventional" transducers are optimized.

The CM599LH (pocket mount version of the R599LH) would be a fantastic choice especially if you need to see bottom detail in more than 500 meters depth. However, if your fishing does not require very high performance in deep water, a much easier installation option would be to use a pair of tilted element transducers such as the B175H, B175L, and B175HW. These will be limited to 1kW but the B175L can easily read bottom to 500-600 meters or more. Even the high frequency B175H can read bottom clearly in 300 meters in my experience (I have one on my boat driven by the internal sounder in a TZT 3). The B175HW is a wide beam transducer that is especially good for seeing pelagic fish in the middle sections of the water column from 20 meters to 150 meters, which may also make some sense for you.

A much lower cost option would a single B164 tilted element. This is intended as a fixed frequency 200/50Hz 1kW transducer. It won't give you the full benefit of the FCV295s performance but does a decent job. By way of comparison, in the US a B164 costs about USD$1300 while a CM599LH costs about USD$4500.

Both a pocket mount CM599LH and any of the tilted element transducers mentioned above have the advantage of being nearly flush to the bottom and creating little drag, which is not unimportant on a smaller boat. They also would not interfere at all with putting the boat on a trailer if you need to do that.

Mate that is awesome. Just please excuse my lack of knowledge in this area but when you say a pocket mount version of the R599LH was does this mean. And does the CM599LH come with a wet Box ?
Once again thankyou for your reply its magic.

 

[Boyang]

helps if you outline your target species and depth

Thanks mate. Basically want a transducer for everything.
5-20 meters for potting for night lobster ( crayfish)
35-70 meters for day shots for potting
40 - 90 meters for Striped Trumpeter , Perch
100 -400 meters, Blue eye , Ling, Raysom Bream , Big eyed perch etc
100 - 500 meters to pick up Big tuna, mako shark , sword fish etc
5-500 meters bottom and bait fish

 

[Boyang]

@Boyang have you reach out to the crew at JN Taylor / Taylor Marine? They are the Furuno of Australia and have a wealth of knowledge and experience. This forum is a great resource as well but they might have some local experience with the vessel in question.

Thanks mate. I will google them and reach out to them. Thank you for that. Much appreciated.

 

[Quitsa]

Mate that is awesome. Just please excuse my lack of knowledge in this area but when you say a pocket mount version of the R599LH was does this mean. And does the CM599LH come with a wet Box ?
Once again thankyou for your reply its magic.

"Pocket mount" means that a recess has been cut into the bottom of the boat and a (usually) fibreglass box has been created into which the transducer fits. Importantly, the face of the transducer is in direct contact with the water. A "tank mount" transducer sits inside a plastic tank that is epoxied to the inside of the hull and consequently the transducer shoots through the hull. The hull has to be entirely solid with no air voids or coring material or the tank mount will not work well. Pocket mount is much preferable if it can be done.

I found this photo that shows a pocket. It is the fibreglass rectangle with the cable emerging from it. That is probably a CM599 judging by the size and shape.




The CM599LH can also be specified as an R599LH which is the tank mount version. The transducer elements are identical.

Based on your responses about the depths and type of fishing you do, I think you would do well with a B175H/B175L pair of tilted element transducers. They just require cutting a hole and mount flush. You don't seem to need to be able to read bottom structure at 1,000 meters. The high frequency side of the CM599LH is not much different from a B175H. It is on the low frequency side that there is a big difference in performance between a B175L and the CM599LH.