01-11-2005, 05:13 PM
High powered sonars are not necessary on most freshwater in this area. They help in really deep water and there isn't much of that around here. A better thing to look for is pixel count in the vertical screen dimension. The more pixels, the finer resolution of the image on the screen. A single pixel of a 160 pixel sonar represents 2.25 inches in 30 feet of water. A single pixel of a 480 pixel sonar represents .75 inches in 30 feet of water. A narrow cone angle will give you better resolution of bottom structure. Also there will be less "dead space" in the cone area when the bottom is steep. As stated above, the wide cone angles will return the depth of the earliest return from a steeply sloped bottom and fish in the deeper portion of the cone area will be hidden. A wide cone angle will display more fish if the bottom is flat. Dont overlook a color screen. Color displays show more information on the screen relating to the density of the objects (fish) returning the sonar signal. A color change from blue to red or from red to yellow is easier to see than a slight difference in shade of grey. This makes it easier to distinguish hard vs. soft bottom, fish laying on bottom, or fish in weeds or brushy structure.
I'd go for higher pixel resolution and color over power (watts) for any water less than 200 or 300 feet depth. More power doesn't hurt anything though.
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I'd go for higher pixel resolution and color over power (watts) for any water less than 200 or 300 feet depth. More power doesn't hurt anything though.
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