New Equipment

[808double.e]

Snips,
Is the screen size the only difference 10" vs 12" between the 295 and the 1150?
For fishing deep drop bottom fishing, in depths up to 1800 feet, what is the best transducer for the 295 or 1150? Using the maximum power of either unit. I guess that would be 3KW. I know some of the frequencies are blocked out, but I don't know what they are and on which unit. I'm planning to upgrade my fish finder, and trying to decide which unit and which transducer to purchase.
Thank you.

 

[Snips]

808double,
Basically the 295 and the 1150 have the same TX/RX capability. The 1150 has a bigger, brighter and higher resolution display than the 295. It also has a network port, ACCU-FISH (with certain transducers) and can be heave compensated. The bigger question is "What is the best transducer" for the sounder? There are a lot of variables and some transducers perform better than others at certain tasks. Without knowing a little bit more what you are looking for it's hard for me to say one is better than another. Both sounders are blocked out in three frequency ranges 53-65, 111-139 and 171-183Khz.

Snips

 

[808double.e]

Thank you Snips.
I'm looking for a transducer that will give me the best picture of structure and fish in depths up to 1800 feet for deep drop bottom fishing, using the 1150 at low frequency, narrow beam and at the maximum power that the 1150 can output. In other words, what transducer would you pair with the 1150, if you were deep drop bottom fishing at 1800 feet.
Thank you.

 

[Snips]

808double.e,
Giving that information I would lean towards one of these three transducers.
CA50BL-24HR 9 x 14 degree beam
CA38BL-15HR 12.5 x 21 degree beam
CA28BL-12HR 16 x 21.5 degree beam
All of these are 3kw transducers and are the same size.

Snips

 

[808double.e]

Thanks Snips.
How would the R299ID-IHN do? Is there a wet face version of this transducer? Why are the freqs blocked out on the sounders? Can they be unblocked, so a broadband transduces be fully utilized?
Thank you

 

[Snips]

808double.e,
Sorry to say, they is no magical key to unlock the frequencies. The frequencies are blocked due to inverter noise/interference. The wet faced version of the 299 is the R-209.

Snips

 

[808double.e]

Thanks Snips.
Would the 1150 paired with either the R299 or R209 be a good combo for deep drop bottom fishing? Would that combo be able to use freqs between 66 and 110 KHz? Or does it function best at 50 and 200? On the low frerq side, is there a certain freq that the 209 or 299 works best at?
Thank you

 

[Snips]

808double.e.,
The R-209 is a better choice than the 299. Neither transducer was designed to work in the 66-110khz range. I feel the R-209 will perform better at the lower end (140Khz) of it HF range than at 200Khz.

Snips

 

[808double.e]

Thanks Snips.
Do you have the same info and photo for the LF side of the R-209?
At what freq or freq range do you need to switch from 3K to 2k power?
Thank you.

 

[Snips]

808double.e,
The R-209 is a 3kw on the LF side and 2kw on the HF side.

Snips

 

[808double.e]

Hi Snips,
Would a R599LH be a better choice than R209? The 599 is a CHIRP transducer, would it give a better picture of what's under the boat compared to the 209? Even if the 1150 is not a CHIRP sounder? In other words, is it worth spending more money for the 599?

Thank you.

 

[Snips]

808double.e,
I have not tested the 599 against the 209 only the 599 against the 309 using an FCV-1150. In that test I found the performance of the 599 was slightly better than the 209 but would have chosen the 209 due to the lower cost. Keep in mind that both transducers have pretty narrow for/aft LF beam widths, maybe something to think about is Airmar's new series of wide low frequency transducers.

Snips