Looking For New Fishfinder

nofearengineer · 08-13-09, 05:19 PM

Man...

Either I am just a perfectionist nit-picker, or the Fishfinder industry has conspired against me!!

I'm not asking for much.

All I want is

Sonar/GPS/Chartplotter Combo

12-channel GPS
83/200 kHz dual frequency transducer
5" minimum, 640 x 480 color display
Smartcraft capable (I have a Merc)
HotSpots Maps Capable

I can get all of those things in a Lowrance unit except the Smartcraft, since that's a proprietary Merc protocol. Lowrance and others use NMEA 2000. However, the Smartcraft is really nice since I would not have to buy the additional Mercury gauges to read all of my outboard's info (rpm, temp, oil pressure, tilt, speed, hours, etc.), and I could actually do things like TrollControl (sets outboard idle rpms) from the fishfinder.

To my knowledge, only Northstar and Navman make the Smartcraft compatible units and they are very nice, yet neither one of them has a color screen with an 83/200 kHz transducer and a screen larger than 340 x 234. Larger color screens only come on units with 50/200 kHz units. It's as if only ocean-going vessels need and/or want color screens larger than a Pop Tart.

Man, I'm getting discouraged. Surely, I can't be the only fisherman with this list of requirements.

08-13-09, 05:19 PM	#1
nofearengineer BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southwest IN Posts: 5,630	Looking For New Fishfinder Man... Either I am just a perfectionist nit-picker, or the Fishfinder industry has conspired against me!! I'm not asking for much. All I want is Sonar/GPS/Chartplotter Combo 12-channel GPS 83/200 kHz dual frequency transducer 5" minimum, 640 x 480 color display Smartcraft capable (I have a Merc) HotSpots Maps Capable I can get all of those things in a Lowrance unit except the Smartcraft, since that's a proprietary Merc protocol. Lowrance and others use NMEA 2000. However, the Smartcraft is really nice since I would not have to buy the additional Mercury gauges to read all of my outboard's info (rpm, temp, oil pressure, tilt, speed, hours, etc.), and I could actually do things like TrollControl (sets outboard idle rpms) from the fishfinder. To my knowledge, only Northstar and Navman make the Smartcraft compatible units and they are very nice, yet neither one of them has a color screen with an 83/200 kHz transducer and a screen larger than 340 x 234. Larger color screens only come on units with 50/200 kHz units. It's as if only ocean-going vessels need and/or want color screens larger than a Pop Tart. Man, I'm getting discouraged. Surely, I can't be the only fisherman with this list of requirements. __________________ Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

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