Garmin (Any) SONAR Question

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:17 am

okay, this is going to be, probably, one of my stoooooopidest questions, but here it goes...

does your typical, run of the mill sonar for boats our size (i have a garmin (530s) transom mounted transducer that i'm using in a shoot-thru-hull setup) give readings in front of the transducer (forward looking) or strictly straight down below the transducer?

i have been going on the assumption that i DO have forward looking sonar. this assumption is based on what the salesman at boater's world told me when i bought the unit.

recently, i asked a fellow boatnick on my dock a sonar question, and he told me they only shot straight down. he and i argued a bit about this, as i was SURE i was right because of my source. now, after reading some stuff today, i think i was told wrong and therefore, made a goober of myself by being so staunch in my take that our sonar DID give us forward readings.

i know foward looking sonar is out there...but i have a bad feeling what i, and most of us have, is not...therefore, i feel like a windowlicker.

MTP · Post by **MTP** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:36 am

I do not have an answer on the garmin but you could check their web site and be sure to put on your hockey helmet if you are licking the windows

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:45 am

Tuck, sad to say, but they shoot down (or whatever direction you aim the transducer).

Airmar (and others) makes transducers with wide or narrow cone angles, and you also have 50, 200 and now 83 kHZ. The other variable is power - wattage.

g36 · Post by **g36** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:11 pm

here you will see lowrance version with side view and structure scan. been thinking of this and now with structure scan ,wow. saw this at the ft lauderdale boat show last month buy their fuel flow sensors and get several items all at once including gps. something to consider
http://www.lowrance.com/StructureScan/

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 1:22 pm

A member on another board has the Lowrance HDS8 with side and structure scan. Very, very cool...below is a shot he took recently of rockfish and bait in normal scan. The second shot is of a pound net. It's actually shown sideways compared to the screen. You can even make out the hole in the net!

Wish I could afford this set-up.

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:24 pm

wowzers....that stuff does look good.

i feel better now, even though i was wrong. i hate being wrong...but in my defense, i got bad intel. hehe

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 9:46 am

Keep in mind these side lookers are really for stationary fishing. They can't pack enough power and transducers into to look around (for bait balls, obstructions) when running at speed (yet). The Navy can, but its beyond our price range.