330 Express Transducers

[ksouza12]

Hi All, what are you running for transducers on your 330's? My '01 is need of an upgrade. Currently have Furuno Navnet TZtouch 2's for electronics. Setting up the boat to fish so anything in that field is appreciated.

 

[wspitler]

I am a fan of Garmin. My boat originally came with some old Garmin and upgraded to dual 1243xsv screens. I am a fan of sidescan for where I fish in the Gulf of Mexico. So I have a GT 56 transducer mounted amid ships on the transom. I also have a through hull, don’t remember the number but works good for traditional Downview. 1KW. To get the latest and greatest capability or maybe one generation earlier, you may have to upgrade your entire system.

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

If you want to keep your Furuno than verify what Airmar transducers can be used on your Furuno.
The RIB i bought had a Furuno MFD and Transducer and i cut the Furuno plug and installed a Adapter box from Garmin.
Same should work also the other way.

Answering your question is difficult withoit knowing for what you use the transducer.
Just boating or for fishing?
If fishing, what kind of fishing and what depths?
Do you want side-scan or deep too deep that side-scan works?
Thru-hull, in-hull or transom mount?

I fish very deep so i use the Airmar 265LH, the newer model is the 275LHW who differ only from a broader cone at high frequency for finding pelagics down to about 700ft. The newest model is the 285LHW or 285M, same here the LHW is the wide cone model and the M is the mid frequency model.
From my point of view, if you don't need the 275/285 models, the 265LH works just fine and cost about 1K less, but still around 2K

If you don't want to fork out 2k+ for a transducer then there are a lot cheaper transducers who will fit your needs.

Chris

 

[ksouza12]

If you want to keep your Furuno than verify what Airmar transducers can be used on your Furuno.
The RIB i bought had a Furuno MFD and Transducer and i cut the Furuno plug and installed a Adapter box from Garmin.
Same should work also the other way.

Answering your question is difficult withoit knowing for what you use the transducer.
Just boating or for fishing?
If fishing, what kind of fishing and what depths?
Do you want side-scan or deep too deep that side-scan works?
Thru-hull, in-hull or transom mount?

I fish very deep so i use the Airmar 265LH, the newer model is the 275LHW who differ only from a broader cone at high frequency for finding pelagics down to about 700ft. The newest model is the 285LHW or 285M, same here the LHW is the wide cone model and the M is the mid frequency model.
From my point of view, if you don't need the 275/285 models, the 265LH works just fine and cost about 1K less, but still around 2K

If you don't want to fork out 2k+ for a transducer then there are a lot cheaper transducers who will fit your needs.

Chris

Ideally looking for thru-hull, deep water (New England area). Airmar sounds the way to go, just need to figure out what would work with my Furuno MFD's.

 

[HMBJack]

I installed an Airmar B175H CHIRP with a 20 degree tilt in my 330. Been happy with it.
I use it for bottom fishing down to 300' of water.

It fits nicely on the starboard side of the main 6" high rib that runs fore and aft.

 

[everwhom]

I have the Airmar B175HW, which has a wider cone than the 175H, but doesn't reach as deep. I'm primarily using it for fishing for tuna nearshore and offshore cape cod, and it works really well. Incredible definition and decent performance underway.

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

Ideally looking for thru-hull, deep water (New England area). Airmar sounds the way to go, just need to figure out what would work with my Furuno MFD's.

Airmar develop transducers for most electronics brands and on most the only difference is the plug to connect to the MFD.

I had
B165LH 2 frequency non chirp, flat mushroom style transducer and he worked well and the flat head create almost no drag
TM265LH 2 frequency chirp transducer for 1000ft+, but awkward to install and most don't read above 8 knots
B265LH same as above, but Thru-hull and need's a huge faiaring block or be glassed in flush center keel

B175 series is better version as the B164, same flat, mushroom design, but single frequency band CHRIP
B275LH or LHW are the top transducers with same size of the B265 and the LHW is a wide cone high frequency band
B285 Honestly not sure about the difference to B275, but i am sure there is one and probably a important depending on what and how you fish

As i wrote before:
I would suggest the 275/285W version only if you fish for midwater species, thats for what they are designed for
The B765LH/LHW is a great transducer but overly expensive, the B265LH is much "cheaper"
The 175L/M/H is a really great transducer in several degree available, reads very well, if not wrong installed read also at 30 knots, but single frequency band. To have a low frequency and a high frequency band for less than 1000ft and deeper than 1000 ft you would need two of them,
the B175L and the B175H.

Not sure how comfortable you are with transducer installation as there are a lot of traps so you may find a experienced Furuno transducer installer who advise you and will do the installation.

He will ask the same questions i do now:
1° in what position is the actual transducer installed?
2° how would you like to have it installed, traditional on the GW transducer mounting area, same hole as old or glassed in center keel?
3° how much are you willing to pay for a transducer?
4° what fish do you target, where do they stay, maximum depth you intend to fish
All of the above influence what kind of transducer is the best solution for you.

Using another position will lead to glassing the old transducer hole close or leave it in place adding drag, closing a transducer hole is not cheap.

Chris

 

[ksouza12]

Airmar develop transducers for most electronics brands and on most the only difference is the plug to connect to the MFD.

I had
B165LH 2 frequency non chirp, flat mushroom style transducer and he worked well and the flat head create almost no drag
TM265LH 2 frequency chirp transducer for 1000ft+, but awkward to install and most don't read above 8 knots
B265LH same as above, but Thru-hull and need's a huge faiaring block or be glassed in flush center keel

B175 series is better version as the B164, same flat, mushroom design, but single frequency band CHRIP
B275LH or LHW are the top transducers with same size of the B265 and the LHW is a wide cone high frequency band
B285 Honestly not sure about the difference to B275, but i am sure there is one and probably a important depending on what and how you fish

As i wrote before:
I would suggest the 275/285W version only if you fish for midwater species, thats for what they are designed for
The B765LH/LHW is a great transducer but overly expensive, the B265LH is much "cheaper"
The 175L/M/H is a really great transducer in several degree available, reads very well, if not wrong installed read also at 30 knots, but single frequency band. To have a low frequency and a high frequency band for less than 1000ft and deeper than 1000 ft you would need two of them,
the B175L and the B175H.

Not sure how comfortable you are with transducer installation as there are a lot of traps so you may find a experienced Furuno transducer installer who advise you and will do the installation.

He will ask the same questions i do now:
1° in what position is the actual transducer installed?
2° how would you like to have it installed, traditional on the GW transducer mounting area, same hole as old or glassed in center keel?
3° how much are you willing to pay for a transducer?
4° what fish do you target, where do they stay, maximum depth you intend to fish
All of the above influence what kind of transducer is the best solution for you.

Using another position will lead to glassing the old transducer hole close or leave it in place adding drag, closing a transducer hole is not cheap.

Chris

Great info Chris, thank you very much!