Eagle Depth Finders?!?

[gabowman]

Got a question about a couple of depth finders for you gurus who know the difference. I once had a Eagle Seafinder 480 depth finder and liked it alot. the specs: Depth capability to 1500 ft* (457 m) with 4000 watts of peak-to-peak power (500W RMS).
I'm comparing the Eagle Fishmark 480. The specs: Depth capability to 800 ft* (244 m) with 1500 watts of peak-to-peak power.

All other features are the same. Maybe the SF comes with speed and the other doesnt but that's not important to me. Even though the Seafinder has a much deeper depth I'm really only interested in depths of 100' or less.

My question is: Do you guys think the wattage (peak-to-peak poower) on the SF is because of the extra depth only and would the detail of shallower structure/fish (100' and less) on the Fishmark be as vivid? Another wy to put it...using the single depth frequency do both units use the same power? This has always been confusing to me and wondered if you guys could straighten me out.

[Barnacle Bill]

Unless you are fishing very deep water like the ocean, forget the power and go with the highest pixel count you can get. The higher the count, the sharper the picture.

[Team9nine]

My question is: Do you guys think the wattage (peak-to-peak poower) on the SF is because of the extra depth only and would the detail of shallower structure/fish (100' and less) on the Fishmark be as vivid? Another wy to put it...using the single depth frequency do both units use the same power? This has always been confusing to me and wondered if you guys could straighten me out.

The SeaFinder is a dual frequency unit. The extra power comnbined with the 50 kHz transducer is what delivers the deeper depth capability. You need that extra power with the lower frequency for Great Lakes or ocean fishing depths which is what that unit is designed for. For just typical freshwater use, 1500 watts is going to do you fine.

One other thing people often overlook is that on a DF unit, the 50kHz is about worthless in most freshwater scenarios except for depth readings. It has a wide cone angle (35 deg.) but you lose a lot of discrimination because of it. On the other hand, the 200 kHz part is only a 12 degree cone angle, so while it will be great definition, you lose some ability to cover water. The happy medium is the freshwater unit that comes with the single frequency 200 kHz transducer but that has a 20 degree cone angle. This gives you the best of both worlds; Good discrimination with decent coverage area.

Stick with the regular FishMark 480 an you'll be fine IMO.

-T9

[Cane Pole]

Can't go wrong with any Eagle. My old Ultra Classic on my Jon still works fine. It has found a lot of fish.