03-06-2014, 02:32 PM
I've experimented with this idea by swinging transducer on PVC pipe so instead of shooting sonar vertical, it shoots horizontal. The PVC pipe can be rotated to see 360 degrees around the boat -- which is what the side sonar does on the Fishin Buddy.
It will will give you good distance to fish targets out from the boat, but it will not be very accurate as to their depth because the sonar cone gets wider the further from the boat. You can address this somewhat by using the narrower sonar cone -- the higher the sonar frequency, the narrower the cone, so 200kHz is a 20 degree cone while 83Khz is a 60 degree cone.
If you spot fish off to the side, you can paddle over and then use down sonar to determine when you are over fish and their depth -- again, the FB will do both at the same time.
When the fish aren't biting, play around with aiming your transducer in all directions and angles and see if it helps you find fish.
Just my two cents
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It will will give you good distance to fish targets out from the boat, but it will not be very accurate as to their depth because the sonar cone gets wider the further from the boat. You can address this somewhat by using the narrower sonar cone -- the higher the sonar frequency, the narrower the cone, so 200kHz is a 20 degree cone while 83Khz is a 60 degree cone.
If you spot fish off to the side, you can paddle over and then use down sonar to determine when you are over fish and their depth -- again, the FB will do both at the same time.
When the fish aren't biting, play around with aiming your transducer in all directions and angles and see if it helps you find fish.
Just my two cents
[signature]