What’s a decent depth transducer

Jul 23, 2019
100
Hunter 18.5 Revelstoke
Looking for something for my boat and not fussy of drilling any hole below the waterline, anyone got a favorited or some ideas of what I should be looking for. I don’t fish so a finder is not important, something with boat speed would be worth considering but my phone can probably take care of that detail.
 
Jun 29, 2010
1,287
Beneteau First 235 Lake Minnetonka, MN
I just did Raymarine i50/i60. They use Airmar transducers. Airmar has a new one, DST810. It's wireless and does depth, speed, water temp, and heel/trim angles. I know Defender sells Airmar transducers. Other places I am sure as well. The Googs is your friend.
 
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Jan 7, 2014
396
Beneteau 45F5 51551 Port Jefferson
Speed over water vs speed over ground is worth knowing. Phone will only tell you speed over water
 
Nov 6, 2019
21
Marshall 15 Catboat Lafayette, LA
On my 15 ft catboat I have the Garmin Striker Plus 4CV ($179. @ almost any marine store) with transducer included. Only use it for depth and speed set for large digital readout about 1" high numbers on screen (4" diagonal screen). The plus 4cv does many other things but I always leave it on the digital read out screen for these 2 readouts that interest me for my sailing. Nice to see speed and depth with a quick glance and the digits are large enough that can be read easily 10 + ft away. Installed transducer inside hull forward of centerboard. Works great and exactly what I was looking for. Maybe this Garmin might interest you. Was using my phone for speed and my centerboard for depth before I got the Garmin.
 
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Sep 17, 2018
90
Hunter 23.5 Charleston, SC
+1 for a small cheap Garmin. The Strikers are great but I think the EchoMaps are worth the extra money. Now you have a chartplotter! The 4" and 6" EchoMaps are on sale now at WestMarine. You will need to hang the transducer off the transom to get speed thru water, but I just stuck mine in the bilge and it gives me depth just fine and speed over ground via gps.

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-Z
 

LloydB

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Jan 15, 2006
806
Macgregor 22 Silverton
You don't have to drill a hole to put in a depth transducer for a chart plotter or fish finder because they usually can transmit right through the hull to the bottom if placed carefully. I kind of agree with your idea of using your phone for the GPS to find out where you are but there are more fishermen than there are cruisers so fish finders generally reflect a better price point. I prefer to use my GPS for navigating most always and my phone works just fine but I reserve it for backup and to save it's battery. As for speed through the water you need a separate measuring device to find out how fast your boat is going past the water which it is floating in, most basic fish finders won't have that extra feature.
 
Jul 23, 2019
100
Hunter 18.5 Revelstoke
You don't have to drill a hole to put in a depth transducer for a chart plotter or fish finder because they usually can transmit right through the hull to the bottom if placed carefully. I kind of agree with your idea of using your phone for the GPS to find out where you are but there are more fishermen than there are cruisers so fish finders generally reflect a better price point. I prefer to use my GPS for navigating most always and my phone works just fine but I reserve it for backup and to save it's battery. As for speed through the water you need a separate measuring device to find out how fast your boat is going past the water which it is floating in, most basic fish finders won't have that extra feature.
Excellent info! Because I’m lake sailing I don’t see the need for a chart plotter and I already own a Garmin Montana that I could stick in the boat if need be. As far as speed goes, it seems more of a frill that I’m not wanting to spend much money on at this point.
 
Jul 23, 2019
100
Hunter 18.5 Revelstoke
. The plus 4cv does many other things but I always leave it on the digital read out screen for these 2 readouts that interest me for my sailing.
SoI got the Striker 4 plus but am having trouble finding that specific page, care to guide me? I’ve watched tons of videos but they are all centred around fish finding
 
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Mar 9, 2009
84
Macgregor 26S New Port Richey, Fl
Sonar phone works well independently or with Navonics. You get all features on your phone or tablet. On my M26s, I put the transmitter inside the hull 8n toilet bowl wax, 5 years and working well.
 
Nov 6, 2019
21
Marshall 15 Catboat Lafayette, LA
depth / mph - - - - - on my Garmin striker plus 4CV
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Nov 6, 2019
21
Marshall 15 Catboat Lafayette, LA
Trying to remember been 6 mo. since I set it up - - - if look top left of screen (pic in post #10) says NUMBERS which came from NUMBERS screen which has like 6 other digital readouts (temp etc....). The less readouts on the NUMBERS screen the larger the digits so have it set up for these 2 readouts. Need to add NUMBERS screen to main screen so when turn on the NUMBERS sceen is there to select by pressing the CHECK button bottom center of DF. Also can have speed in knots if want instead of mph. note ----> Can add or remove items from main screen set up like you want. Hope this helps.
DF.jpg
DF.jpg
 
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