Txt xl vs fcv 295

[SandyP]

Hi, I’m new to the forum and I’ve looked through a lot of the posts but I was hoping to get some information on changing from my current set up which is a 295 paired with an R109LM and going with a TZTXL with the DFF3UHD paired with an R109 or R509. All of my fishing is done at 100 to 250 fathoms bottom fishing. Will the chirp capabilities be that noticeable?
Thank you

 

[Titanic II]

Per Airmar that makes the Chirp transducers....

"Traditional marine fishfinders operate at discrete frequencies such as 50 kHz and 200 kHz, use relatively short duration transmit pulses, and use narrow band sonar transducers. In contrast, Chirp (compressed high-intensity radar pulse) uses a precise sweep pattern of many frequencies within a long-duration transmit pulse from a broadband transducer, so the equivalent sound energy transmitted into the water is 10 to 1,000 times greater than a conventional marine fishfinder. The echo energy returning to the transducer, superior to that generated by a conventional transducer, is then processed by the fishfinder’s DSP (digital signal processing) software and displays in ultra-sharp detail on the display. The combination of Chirp, a broadband transducer, and the fish finder’s DSP, results in dramatically better fish and bottom detection, superior depth capability, and significantly better performance at speed." https://www.airmar.com/Catalog/Marine/Chirp-ready

 

[Quitsa]

This is a subject that has been debated at great length. Airmar sells transducers so their objectivity in describing the "dramatically better" performance of CHIRP transducers is somewhat open to question.

While perhaps not a perfect experiment, with the custom frequency presets on my TZT3s, I have done many comparisons running the fishfinder in full CHIRP mode and then running it in fixed frequency (CW) mode. Depending upon what you are trying to see, sometimes the fixed frequency does better. Using a fixed frequency like 210Hz or 180Hz can be better than the spread spectrum CHIRP for particular species or structure.

The quality of the transducer and the output power of the fishfinder is probably a more of a consideration for bottom fishing in the depths you mention. I would be skeptical that you will see a big difference between the FCV295/R109 combo and a DFF3-UHD driving the R109 in CHIRP mode. The good news is that you will have a choice if you switch to the DFF3-UHD/XL because you can still operate at fixed frequency using the custom presets and it will basically act like your FCV295. Thus you will certainly not get worse performance than with the FCV295 and there are circumstances in which you will see better performance.

If you have other reasons to go with the XL such as charting or radar capabilities, replacing the FCV295 with a DFF3-UHD could make sense. Since the R109 you have now is a CHIRP-capable transducer, you could just keep it and use it with the DFF3-UHD.

 

[SandyP]

Awesome thank you guys for the info. I do need the MFD for charting because I am getting rid of my garmin plotter. Good to know about the XL’s capability to operate in a fixed frequency. Excited to see how this thing performs.

 

[Quitsa]

I love those older dedicated Furuno sounders like the FCV295. The only thing better is one of the new generation commercial sounders like an FCV1900, which we have on my commercial fishing boat. That thing is amazing, though you could buy a nice small boat for what it costs andit takes up a lot of room and needs a dedicated monitor.

 

[snappermiles]

chirp is great when slowly sounding around and can make it easier to decipher what fish are below but i find fixed frequency much better when on the move! you will find the tzt has a better screen too so that can help, i run a tztxl/tm265 beside my 295 3kw 200 and 3kw 28khz and i find the read on the tzt nicer too look at.