I do not understand why so many people are stuck on just a couple brands, when a well known brand has every thing you need and more;
I found the Garmin 300C Fish Finder to have all the features that I was looking for; Color with a high pixel count, a gain that lets me see tiny jigs in 40+ feet of water, a split screen with ZOOM, a flasher screen if I needed it, but best of all, all for about $200.00. It does not come or have available from Garmin an “Ice Transducer”, but Ice Shanty is full of ways to get around that. Now that I have used it a number of times, I can say that it performed very well. NO lag what so ever. I did not get to try it around other user, so I can not speak about interference, but for me that is not a problem. I did on a couple occasions in very shallow water have trouble with the bounce back from the ice, all I needed to do was restart and it went away. Not a real problem for me, I really use a sounder in 4 ft of water, but I was testing the unit out… I use 2 rechargeable 6 volt batteries ($20 total) in series for a total of 9 amps (cheaper than 1, 7 amp 12 volt battery). I tested the batteries for about 18 hour in two days and still had not gotten the batteries below 11.5 volts (unit works down to 10 volts).
It would not be the right unit for every one, but it has almost all the features of units selling for twice the money and will work even better for open water use.
Specs;
Display size, WxH: 2.1" x 2.8", 3.5" diagonal
Display resolution, WxH: 240 x 320 pixels
Display type: QVGA
Weight: 9.6 oz (272 g)
Waterproof: yes (IPX7)
Features and Benefits:
Audible alarms: yes
Dual-beam sonar capable : yes
Split-screen zoom: yes
Ultrascroll® (displays fish targets at higher boat speeds): yes
Fish Symbol ID (helps identify fish targets): yes
AutoGain Technology (minimizes clutter, maximizes targets): yes
Whiteline (indicates hard or soft bottom): yes
Adjustable depth line (measures depth of underwater objects): yes
Bottom lock (shows return from the bottom up): yes
Water temperature log and graph: yes
Water temperature sensor included: yes
Water speed capable (displays speed on water): yes
Frequency: 80/200 kHz (dual beam)
Transmit power: Dual Beam, 150 W (RMS), 1,200 Watts (peak to peak)
Voltage range: 10-20 VDC
Maximum depth: 900 ft (dual beam)
Cone angle: 45° or 15° (dual beam)
One of the reasons for the long posting is to point out that there are many choices, not just the same ones most other anglers are using.
Tight Line!
