speed and Temp setups

[stherin1]

Im looking to upgrade my electronics as I do not currently have speed and temp at the ball. I have had my 18' Princcraft for about 5 years and have slowly built it up and this is the next thing on my punch list. Any thoughts or opinions of direction to go in this department?

Thanks

[GAMBLER]

The 3 major brands are all quality units (Fish Hawk X4, Subtroll, and Depth Raider). It is all personal preferance. I have used all three brands. I have the Fish Hawk 840 with the X4 probe. My reason is I do not like coated cable. It is more expensive but it is worth it to me. If I purchased a coated cable unit, I would go with the Depth Raider. The Depth Raider has a smaller probe and will cause less blow back on your rigger.

[Big Dave]

My vote is the X-4. Has a big display that you can see from the back of the boat. All this equipment can be moved to your next boat

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

I have had great luck with the Fish Hawk 840. I have upgraded to the Fish Hawk X-4 and expect it will be even better with longer battery life.

[stherin1]

ok thank you guys very much. sounds like the fishhawk x-4 is the way to go. Good luck this weekend if your out on the lake. I'll be fishing from I-Bay east (Black and Gold princecraft).

Thanks

[bowbender]

What are the disadvantages of the coated cable? Does it fray eventually or is it a pain to install, etc.? I would rather not put some extra holes in the boat with the fishawk.

[Tim Bromund]

the coated cable issue is WAY overblown in my opinion.

I had a Fish Hawk 840 for years and had somewhat less than the great luck that Capt. Vince had with his. It used a probe battery every trip and the numbers jumped aroubnd so much, I eventually lost all confidence in the data I was receiving, so after losing my 3rd or 4th expensive probe, the FH ended up in a box in my basement and I got a Depth Raider and it has been Awesome.

Going on my 5th season with it with the same cable, I cut back and reterminate at the start of each season and approx mid season as the bottom foot of coating gets chewed up, so I've lost 8 or 9 feet of cable since I've owned it. BFD!!! I use 1 probe battery for the entire season. The display head is by far the smallest on the market if dash space is an issue, yet the readings are huge, rock solid and easily visble from the back of the boat.

You do get a little more blowback from the coated cable,so I went from a 12 lb round ball to a 13 lb atommik torpedo rigger weight and the blowback was the same as the old FH probe without the coated cable. I now have a 15 lb chrome shark on the probe rigger, but that's mostly because I'm a tackle junky and have to have the latest shiny new toy than out of any real need.

I hear that with the X4, Fish Hawk corrected all of the issues that made the 840 a piece of junk IMO, but I couldn't be happier with the Depth Raider and I'm glad I made the switch.

The Moor Subtroll is basically the same unit, just with a large analog (dial) display instead of digital.

They're all good units, don't let the coated cable scare you away from the other two. Personally, I'd rather not drill any more holes below the waterline to install another transducer if I didn't have to .

Tim

[Fish Hunter]

I use a Cannon Speed/Temp unit. Works like a champ.