Gps

[Wannabe...]

Yeah, the 178 is discontinued. Wish I'd gotten the 178C (color) though, but I cheaped out. Yes, it's a ff/gps. Pretty decent unit, but the resolution is fairly low by todays standards, but the GPS is spot on. Originally, I got a ducer and used it as double duty moving it front to back, which is a good poor man's way to go. Still, you can find either or both pretty regularly used and that link I had above sometimes has them refurbed.

I think sounder/FF is interchangeable. You see the word sounder used for marketing to the salt water guys.

IMO, Garmin is the bees knees on GPS both internally and user interface wise. Only had 2 of the FF's though, a cheapo 120 (back to the cheapskate thing) and the 178. Both worked flawlessly, but were low quality. Never used one of their better FF's, but the pics of the screen on the boxes and mags don't look all that good to me. The color scheme is whack.

My opinion still remains that Lowrance is the best blend of GPS and FF in form and function, but with H'bird addressing their GPS issues and ofference custom color schemes (neither of which I've played with yet), my opinion very well could change shortly. Still waiting on the update for my 797....

Here's the rub though, they are way too over priced for me....all of em. Think about this...get a pair of HDS7s, network them plus down imaging and maybe some software to manage it all - don't forget the SD cards and you'll be out 3 Large pretty quick. Now take the same $ down to your local electronics store and spend it and you'll come out with a 60" HDMI 1080 LCD TV, blue ray player, home surround sound and a stand to put it all on and have enough money left to go buy 5 or 6 movies.

We're getting hosed, big time. Yeah, yeah, size of the market, yeah, yeah, cost of development.......I say phooey. Hosed is what we are.

Therefore, I buy used and stay behind the leading edge looking for the sweet spot in price/performance all while trying to avoid the evil stare of my wife. It's quite remarkable that I'm alive to share my story actually.

Wannabe...

[MikeA57]

I would have thought that Fish Finder and Sounder would be the same thing too, BUT, Garmin splits them apart on THEIR website. So, apparently THEY think that there are 2 different animals there.

Anyway, thanks WB, you honed in exactly where I was headed. I will be looking for FF/Sounders in the future and had started thinking that it might be good to find a single brand for GPS and FF and stick with it. I am familiar to a point with H'bird because that was what my Dad had on his boat when it was left to me. Of course it's going on 30 yrs old now and its time to upgrade. But, I also know that Lowrance makes a good unit too. They at least make handheld GPS units also whereas HB doesn't. Does anyone here use or have any experience with a Lowrance handheld GPS?

[Wannabe...]

This handheld question of GPS has come up a bunch around here. What you'll find is that Garmin has about 70% of the C.C market with Lowrance taking the remainder. Very few have had bad things to say about the Lowrance H2O series and the same can be said of those that use Garmin, although some have said they didn't like this or that on their model and moved to a different one in the Garmin line. I think you'd be happy with an H20 or H20C. I would have gotten the Lowrance, but I was already locked in with Garmin on the maps.

Lowrance has some less expensive models too, but haven't heard a single person here mention them - something like Gecko and the iFinders. Think I'd go with the H20 or H20C just for that reason.

Didn't realize that ont he FF/Sounder. Maybe the Sounders have the lower frequency ducers for the real deep water? Dunno.

Wannabe...

[Cane Pole]

If you into maps, you can make your own maps and load them on the Garmin. Can't HB or Lowrance as there is no program support to do so.

There is no such thing as a fish finder.

[Cane Pole]

If you into maps, you can make your own maps and load them on the Garmin. Can't HB or Lowrance as there is no program support to do so.

There is no such thing as a fish finder.

fish finder: Encyclopedia II - Sonar - Active sonar

Active sonar creates a pulse of sound, often called a "ping", and then listens for reflections of the pulse. To measure the distance to an object, one measures the time from emission of a pulse to reception. To measure the bearing, one uses several hydrophones, and measures the relative arrival time to each in a process called beamforming. The pulse may be at constant frequency or a chirp of changing frequency. For a chirp, the receiver correlates the frequency of the reflections to the known chirp. The resultant processing gain allow ...
See also:

Sonar, Sonar - History, Sonar - Active sonar, Sonar - Analysis of active sonar data, Sonar - Sonar and marine animals, Sonar - Passive sonar, Sonar - Speed of sound, Sonar - Identifying sound sources, Sonar - Noise, Sonar - Sonar in warfare, Sonar -

[MikeA57]

I'm still researching but right now the Garmin 76CSx has the lead. I found a couple of threads on the Groundspeak forum that compares the 60CSx and the 76CSx. Here's the link to that discussion:
Gpsmap 60CSx Vs Gpsmap 76CSx Help! - Groundspeak Forums

Another thread they point to is this one that shows numerous pictures of both the 76 and the 60 side by side. This too, is a very good thread:
Gpsmap 60CSx Meet 76Cx - Groundspeak Forums

Hopefully, these will help others who are in the market for one and are looking at these units. I'm going to BPS tonight and they only carry the 60 according to the website but I'll see if they have both in store. I may check out Dick's too.

[gopher]

IMO if I were in the market for a gps/fishfinder I would buy the most expensive unit that I could afford as it would have the most functions and probably would take me years to figure out all it would do. I like my lowrance unit as it also has a plotter in it so can see where I,ve been and also can plan a trip with a trace to show me where I want to go