Transducer (s) for 330 Express

[fedja]

I have allways been impressed with the knowlege and thought of the members and greatly appreciate all the advice I have been given. Thank you all in advance.

I am looking to upgrade my transducer on on 2017 330 Express. Currently I have an Airmar B60. Reads water temperarture and depth just fine but very inadequate for fishing. I am primarily fishing near shore and out to 500 ft in Dept. Targeting bottom fish but also Tuna and Yellowtail of shore. I have brand new Twin Simrad Evo 3S displays. Would you suggest keeping the B60 and adding additional tranducers or just replacing it? Would I need the Sonar 3100 module as well?

 

[SkunkBoat]

each NSS evo3s has two sonar ports. It can run the old B60 but the B60 is "traditional "CW sonar 50/200kHz 600w.
I would keep that and connect it to one of your units
It needs a 9 pin connector. You might need an adapter. I am not familiar with Simrad.

To get the benefits of the built in 1kW CHIRP and TotalScan I would use Simrads TotalScan or LSS StructureScan transducer.
Best would be a single Thru Hull mounted on the centerline. Or you could use a transom mount placed center between motors.
You NEED one of these for bottom fishing.


A B175HW would be the little extra for tuna fishing but not necessary.

 

[fedja]

each NSS evo3s has two sonar ports. It can run the old B60 but the B60 is "traditional "CW sonar 50/200kHz 600w.
I would keep that and connect it to one of your units
It needs a 9 pin connector. You might need an adapter. I am not familiar with Simrad.

To get the benefits of the built in 1kW CHIRP and TotalScan I would use Simrads TotalScan or LSS StructureScan transducer.
Best would be a single Thru Hull mounted on the centerline. Or you could use a transom mount placed center between motors.
You NEED one of these for bottom fishing.


A B175HW would be the little extra for tuna fishing but not necessary.

Are you taling about the 3 in 1 active imaging transducer that mounts to the transfom and sticks out between the engines? Which would you recomend the structure scan 3D or the active imagine HD 3 in 1 . I belive the structure scan 3D requires a sonar module to be added.

 

[loubeer]

I'm on the SoCal coast. On my 330, I have a B60 and just added a B150M chirp transducer. Like you, I have two Simrad NSS Evo 3 MFD's, so I have the capability display both B60 frequencies and the B150 chirp all at the same time. I would not call myself an obsessed fisherman, but I do go out regularly especially during the summer, hunting for pelagics. Primarily my crew is sight fishing for kelp paddies and breaking fish, especially tuna and yellowtail. Occasionally, I hunt for halibut and white seabass, but rarely need to see bottom over 100 feet nor is sidescan particularly interesting to me for the type of fishing that I do.

My point here is asking yourself what you really need for your type of fishing. I'm not knocking anyone who spends a lot of money on powerful transducers, sidescan capabilities, etc. If you need those capabilities for your type of fishing and/or you are a fanatic fisherman, GO FOR IT! In my case, these very basic transducers suit me fine. Frankly, the money I spent on a Si-Tex sea temp gauge and a good set of stabilizing binoculars have helped me as much as transducers to locate the fish that I'm interested in catching.

 

[SkunkBoat]

Are you taling about the 3 in 1 active imaging transducer that mounts to the transfom and sticks out between the engines? Which would you recomend the structure scan 3D or the active imagine HD 3 in 1 . I belive the structure scan 3D requires a sonar module to be added.

I don't have Simrad so I'm not an expert on their lineup but I think the "3 in 1" is the equivalent of my garmin GT51. So I would say that a transom mount would be easy and would connect right up to your NSS and give you a very modern CHIRP and sidescan sonar.