Bear, the quad transducer has 4 seperate beams for a very wide scanning capability. Can't remember the specs, but it's somewhere around 75 degrees I think. There's 4 seperate beams that are being read a narrow staight down, a wide straight down and they 2 mediums angled at about 45 degrees. The theory is that the wider beam will help you spot things on a wider scan and it has the cabability to let you know which beam is picking up the return if you turn the fish symbols on. That's the theory anyway. In practice, you're gonna turn that fish symbol off an you'll be stuck with trying to figure out which direction to turn to get closer to the cover. In shallow water, I think it's advantageous, but once you get out to 15, I think it's a hinderance. You're just scanning too wide an area to be able to easily locate the stump or what ever and stay right on top of it. It shines in say 5' or less though.

In deeper water, it's better suited for searching for schools of bait than a narrow beam.

It is not a poor man's SI though. The return representation is completely different and in fact resembles traditional 2D more than anything else. If you can learn to use it and interpret what it's showing you, there are advantages, but we're talking a lot of learning by trial an error though.

Wannabe...