Humminbird 535 or 575???

[mello_collins]

Ya’ll know your stuff. I have read back a ways and your info has been very helpful. I am just getting back into lake fishing after 10 years or so (been hunting trout on the river since I didn’t have a boat) and I really would appreciate your input. I need to order my hummingbird soon and figure out how to keep the wife from finding out how much it cost.

I need a fish finder for my boat, but can’t decide which one. I’m running an older 17ft procraft familyfisher with a front trolling motor. My plan is to get an extra mount, transducer, and wires to allow me to use it either by my steering wheel or up by my trolling motor. I have heard a lot of good things about the 535, but nothing about the 575 that is still pretty new. What are your opinions? I can get two 535’s less than a 575 with the extras I need. Are the extra options on the 575 worth it? I am on a budget, but I can swing the cash for the 575, if it will be of greater benefit. I’ll admit I like the 575, but it might just confuse the snot out of me. :rolleyes: What do you think about the QuadraBeam system on the 575?

Mello

[Treefish]

Mello I also run a Procraft..... love mine do you? My fourth one actually and I just put a 525 on the front of mine and LOVE it. I don't know anything about the 575 and like you I had to keep it from the wife...lol.
The only thing that sold me was the price and the available temp.
It will be interesting to see what the 575 owners can tell you and I will be watching too.

[grubby]

mello collins I have a 525 on my boat and its a great unit. But I'm going to buy a 535 for a second graph because Bass Pro has them on sale right now for $139.00 and thats only 10 dollars more than the 525. they use the same setup as far as the transducer and mounting. It is true that you can see a small jig on the graph down to about 40ft. I don't know anything about the quadrabeam on the 575 but the 20 deg. cone on the 525 or the 535 show bottom contour and brush piles pretty darn good.I know guys that have dual beams and they only will use the 20 deg. cone when locating brush . I'm completely satisfied with the 525. just my 2 cents. Good luck and good fishing.

[mello_collins]

grubby, I saw that bass pro sale and it is hard to pass up. I have a lowrance x85 that is not reading and lowrance would not even look at it. It is not that old. I got "we don't service them anymore" after waiting on the phone for almost an hour. Sounds like it is time for an upgrade to me and not to a lowrance.

mello

[DRPEPPER]

I agree with Grubby. Just keep it simple. Do you know how to do all of the stuff your cell phone will do? How about all of the stuff your computer will do? Does your VCR flash "12:00"?
Me too!!!! I have the 20 degree angle mounted to my trolling motor. I like it.
DP

[Humminbird_Greg]

mello collins,
The main differences between the 535 and 575 is the QuadraBeam sonar that you mentioned and a more powerful transmitter. This is the same QuadraBeam sonar that comes standard in our Matrix 37 and 737 units (it is optional in a whole lot more of them). Maybe some of the guys that have these models can chip in and tell you how it works for them. That wider beam would make it easier to find schools of crappie.

If you have not done so already, download the operations manual and read about both units:
http://www.humminbird.com/products.asp?ID=1000

[randybenham]

I have a matrix 17,(hbird) & it is sort of comparable to a 535, (the 17 has the 2nd beam), & my experience is when you go to the wider beams, you lose resolution. I have tried using the wide beam on the front of my boat, & you can't see very much. Like grubby said, the 20 degree beam has a lot better resolution than the 60degree. I always have mine on the 20. I have a 535 on the back transom, & a matrix 17 on the trolling motor. They are not color, which is the 1 downside, but I have been very happy.

humminbird greg, are the higher end wide beam units better on the resolution? One would think that they are, but you would also think that the narrower beam (even on the high end units) would still always have the best resolution. I don't claim to be an expert, but I have been very happy w/ both of these units. I added the speedometer on my 535, & it plugged right in, was calibrated very well, & even matched up w/ the gps on the speed.

[EDDY CREEK BANDIT]

I have a 535 and a 161 (gps locator) The mounts are identical and I swap them around (front to rear) as I need to. I really like this setup. I also have another hand held gps that I don't use nearly as much since I bought the 161.
Both units do a good job. Neither of these cost me an arm and a leg. I have seen some color units and they just were not for me.
THE BANDIT

[Humminbird_Greg]

randybenham,
The higher end units that use the same 200/83kHz 20/60 degree sonar should have the same sonar resolution. The difference will be in the displayable resolution of these units. If your sonar can detect targets that are 2.5 inches apart but your sonar is showing pixels that represent 4 inches each; the displayable resolution will make the sonar resolution appear worse than it really is. The displayable resolution is controlled by the number of pixels (usually talking vertical pixel count here) and the distance (depth scale) represented on the display, so using features like a sonar zoom or limiting the vertical distance shown on the display will help this.

Two reasons why you should lose resolution when switching to the wider 83kHz 60 degree beam:
1. The lower the frequency the lower the sonar resolution. Its physics here so there is no way around it.
2. A wide sonar beam has to do the same thing that a narrow sonar beam does: show all of the sonar returns within the sonar cone in a single vertical column of pixels. Remember that sonar shows how long it took a sonar signal to go from the transducer and come back after it has been reflected off of something. This is converted to depth since the relative speed of sound through water is known. When you look at a column of pixels, what we see as the very top edge of the bottom, is the sonar return from the whole area that the sonar beam just covered that was closest to the transducer. If the sonar beam passed over an area that was 20 feet deep but had a hole on one side of the area covered by the sonar beam; the unit would still show a bottom at 20 feet and may not be able to show the hole at all. If it does show sonar returns from the hole, they may appear as thicker area in the bottom returns. The same thing happens with any structure. With a wider sonar beam you are covering a larger area so this is more likely to happen.

So for the best sonar resolution that you can see on your unit, you are correct to use the narrower 200kHz 20 degree beam.

[Humminbird_Greg]

Mello Collins,
After posting the above I realized that I forgot to mention that the 575 has a higher pixel count display. 640 vertical pixels versus 320 on the 535 I believe.