More Fish Finder Questions....

Dual sensor vs. single sensor?

I have made the decision not to get a gps combo for my fish finder because I took stock of what fishing I am likely to be doing, and what I'm not, and I've realized that less than 10% of my expected fishing will be in the ocean, and even then I will only fish with people more experienced than myself. I'll always carry my hand-held waterproof gps though.

So now I'm looking at the lower end fish finders, namely the Eagle Cuda 168 for $72 or the Eagle Fisheasy 245 DS for $102. The only significant difference I can see between these two models is that the 245 is a dual sensor model. Does anybody know what that would translate to in terms of performance? Basically, I'm wondering what the $30 for dual sensor is actually buying me? Any thoughts or opinions? 

IMO: go dual - wider beam coverage - helps especially when fishing deeper water.

 One frequency scans a wide cone for more area and the narrow one has more depth capacity and detail. The wide would be for shallow water bass type fishing and the narrow would be for zooming in on bottom fish. The combo shows an overlapping of the two.

I own the dual freq Eagle Fisheasy 245DS and the manual clearly states that the unit has the capacity to use EITHER one frequency OR the other, depending on whether or not you are fishing in deep (>300 feet) or shallow (<300 feet) water.  Both frequencies ARE NOT in use at the same time and the user must select at which frequency you wish the unit to operate.

For what it's worth, I'm VERY happy with the 245DS... a great deal at $99!

I'm looking at the Eagle Fisheasy 245 as well...where should I order from?
Also, what is the Port-Power pack with the suction cup, etc? It's $30 more. Is that necessary from a kayak?

Here are the links I'm looking at:

http://www.northeastmarineelectronics.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3873

http://www.northeastmarineelectronics.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3872

One is the regular for $100, the other is the "portable" for $132...what's my best buy.
Thanks!

 Sorry for the confusion I was thinking of my dual freq. Humminbird that has side by side and combo viewing.
 The Eagle 245DF and the Lowrance equiv.X50 DF are both very popular Kayak fishfinders (same company).They are known to hold up well with minimal maintenance.

 Surf the web for deals,this is one linkhttp://www.fishfinder-store.com/eagle-fishfinder.html
 
 The portables are good if you have many kayaks like ChuckE. Or if you travel and use rental yaks to fish from.The porta power probably means battery storage box and the suction cup is to mount the transducer to the hull.

I'm looking at the Eagle Fisheasy 245 as well...where should I order from?

I'm currently thinking I'll buy from kayakfishingstuff.com. They have the 245 DS for $119. This is more than other places, but I know that I'm going to buy their fishfinder install kit too. So, paying the extra $20 to KFS, or paying shipping from KFS for the install kit AND paying shipping from somewhere else for the sonar ends up being a wash.

(KFS install kit $79) + (KFS 245 DS $119) + (KFS shipping $12)= $210

or

(KFS install kit $79) + (KFS shipping $12) + (other place 245 DS $100) + (other place shipping @ $12) = $203 and two different orders

I'm still keeping an eye out for a place that sells the 245 DS for $100 and will give me free shipping.

I know you've heard this before, but with a minimum of effort, and much less money than $79.00, you can do the install yourself, and it will be cleaner and more functional than a "one size fits all" install kit. 

I'll take pics of my setup this evening... very clean using a 10AA battery case, a trailer wire connection, and a micro pelican case... probably spent less than $20.00 on everything and put it together in about 10 minutes.  The pool noodle mount inside the hull is the only way to fly.

Fishin-Jay,

FYI, when I built my power supply I also bought two 10AA battery holders ($3.50 each), and two trailer wiring connections (about $3.00 each) just in case I flubbed putting it all togther so I would have a spare (like you, I had never built a fishfinder power supply before so I was apprehensive).  Anyway, it went together easy, like a fine Swiss watch, and now I have extra parts...

If you want them, you can have them, gratis... just e-mail me your mailing address and I'll send them off to you...

See, you're now more than halfway there to a DIY power supply... go for it, use the force, and skip that one size fits all kit...

Cheers, Backcountry (aka John)

Wow, thanks! PM sent!

I'm a little confused...is the Eagle FishEasy 245 operable as is, or is the install kit required for it to run? If I want to start out with a minimal package that is NOT hard-mounted to the yak, what do i need?
 Thanks!

Fishin-Jay, got your e-mail and address... will send out tomorrow... if I can make it to BAM III it's a deal on the beers!  I love beer!

Malibu-two, the 245DS needs to be connected to a 12V power supply (as do all fishfinders)... you either need to make a power supply, or buy one.  My system, which is exceptionally easy to remove from the yak when not in use (5 seconds) is the version sold for $99.00 (not the more expensive version sold as "portable").  I'll take pics and post tonight... this is not as complicated as it seems...

There is a ton of information on NCKA website on how to build several different varients of new-school, and old-school power supplies...

I'm a little confused...is the Eagle FishEasy 245 operable as is, or is the install kit required for it to run? If I want to start out with a minimal package that is NOT hard-mounted to the yak, what do i need?
 Thanks!

The portable FF has a battery in a  box, and a suction cup transducer mount, basically self contained. So you only have to lash the FF screen/battery box to your yak and stick the suction cup transducer on.
 
The regular FF needs
 1- FF head/screen mounted to kayak
 2- 12volt battery or battery pack in waterproof bag or box that has 12v. connector(to remove  battery for charging)
 3- Transducer mounted to kayak somehow(glued inside hull,stuck in foam biscuit, or suction cup mounted.)

IMO: go dual - wider beam coverage - helps especially when fishing deeper water.

Mooch is a little misguided on this one. not all FF's actually use both beams at the same time.

for example the Eagle 245 DS is one or the other, but not both.
and you have to choose. and there's no point in
choosing 83khz for the depths we fish at. So basically you just leave it at 200khz.

but the 245 DS has more power 1500 watts vs 800 than the cuda 242 so you might still want it
if you are fishing deeper than 120 feet regularly.

J

see this thread where I figure this out for myself:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,9243.0.html

As promised, I just uploaded some pics and short narative (yawn!) of my Eagle 245DS install and power supply... Fishin-Jay, picture #2 is what I'm sending you...

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,9638.0.html

   Backcountry