help deciding between lowrance elite 4x dsi and hb 346c di

[skeeter-eater]

Hi everyone. I have a small boat and ive narrowed it down to these two units. They seem very comparable. If anyone own either of these units and has any tips id appreciate your suggestions. im going to mount it in the front of my boat so i really dont want to run the cable to the back for a transom mount transducer...

hb's website says that the 346 can have an "inside hull" transducer....what is that? Does it come with it? can it read water temp? Any sacrifice on accuracy?

Lowrances website didnt say much about the transducer...i think i read that it comes with a trollin motor mount...which that would work for me...any one know if it comes with one? Any issues with a tm mount?

[Humminbird_Greg]

The inside-the-hull transducer is the same as the transom transducer. It just comes with a package of epoxy instead of the transom mount hardware. If you want this just contact the Humminbird Customer Resource folks at 1-800-633-1468 about a transducer exchange. If a good job is done when mounting the DI transducer inside-the-hull, most would not be able to notice a difference in the sonar readings. You will not get water temperature readings though because the temperature sensor is on the bottom of this transducer.

[mduncan62]

Your boat metal or glass? That's going to make a difference here.

[Humminbird_Greg]

Your boat metal or glass? That's going to make a difference here.

+1
It will make a big difference!
Fiberglass only for Humminbird inside-the-hull transducers please!

[skeeter-eater]

thanks guys...yeah its a fiberglass boat...riverhawk

[mduncan62]

Shoot through should work "OK". I have my boat set up that way, and I'd say it's not quite as good, but to each his own.

[Shellback]

Another point, it has to be all glass the transducer is shooting thru. If your hull has a core sandwiched between 2 glass layers, it won't work.

[Humminbird_Greg]

Good point Shellback. It is not hard to test to see if the transducer will work inside-the-hull or not though. Just poor some water unto the bilge (you may have to disable your bilge pump for this) and place the transducer where you think it may work best. Place something heavy on top to hold it in place (a plastic bag with sand, dirt or pea gravel works great for this) and test it at various boat speeds. While drifting you should so hold the transducer over the side of the boat and compare it to the sonar readings you get with it inside-the-hull. There should be little noticeable difference between the two. You may have to prep the hull before doing this by cleaning it out (no oils or grease) and by sanding down any coatings/paints that cover the raw fiberglass.

The standard XNT-9-DI-T transducer that ships with the 346c DI can be used inside-the-hull or you can exchange it for an inside-the-hull version through the Humminbird Transducer exchange Program (same transducer but comes with an epoxy pack instead of transom mount hardware).

[skeeter-eater]

Thanks guys...excellent info...just what i was looking for

[short grub]

the only thing I would add to Gregs instructions is to look at the bottom of your boat for a smooth water flow over the bottom to reduce turbulance interference