788ci quadrabeam

Has anyone tried HB's quadrabeam? I have a 788ci presently using dual beam and wonder if it is worth the expense to change the transducer to a quadrabeam. I shoot thru the hull with the dual beam and would put the quadrbeam on the transom, thus using the thru the hull for high speed and the quadrabeam for slow speeds. I would use an AB switch for switching between the transducers. HB AB switch is 81.99. I would be able to swap the origianal transducer that came with the 788. The cost on that would be shipping.

Thanks for any replies.

Ranger R61,
You could install the QuadraBeam transducer inside-the-hull if you wanted to. Unlike the Si transducers, the sonar emits out of the bottom of a QuadraBeam transducer. XP-9-QB-90-T would be the transducer for this. This would eliminate the need for the $82 switch.

I have a 787c2i. It came standard with a transom mount dual beam, and I purchased a trolling motor mount QuadraBeam.

I have little confidence in the QuadraBeam so far. It seems not to see the same things the dual beam does, and it seems that it can't see much to the side, in the 20 degree zones. This may be due to my inability to tune the unit to allow the QuadraBeam to show me things clearly, and I use it in fairly shallow water.

I'm happy with the unit, but not the QuadraBeam so far.

I use two mounts. One in the rear position, that has the dual beam connected to it and one up front that has the QuadraBeam.

I'd have to agree with Fishtaco. I'm not too awfully impressed with it either. I have a Qbeam on the transom, and I can see much off to the side with it. To be fair, I haven't really dedicated a LOT of time to it.

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Originally Posted by talltimber

I'd have to agree with Fishtaco. I'm not too awfully impressed with it either. I have a Qbeam on the transom, and I can see much off to the side with it. To be fair, I haven't really dedicated a LOT of time to it.

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Does the dual beam work OK on the Qbeam transducer?

It appears to work fine, just hard to really see anything on the side cones. The other day I adjusted my bottom depth deeper to increase the distance on my side cones. It didn't really seem to help much. I just picked up more clutter. I drove by a dock about five feet away with the depth set to twenty ft. and just seen a little blip, not much.

Im not completely sure but I read the Qbeam just read out to about 2x's the depth of the water your in and I dont think you can set it to read farther .. I just installed mine today and I'll see what it looks like tonight.Mine is installed on tm and on seperate mounts i'll have to move my unit also Maybe Greg can chime in

I have found the quadra beam useful when you are trying to locate structure you already know about. If you know you're close, it will often let you know if you are to the left or right of the structure and let you get on top of it quicker if you vertical jig. I does seem that the sensitivity needs to be cranked up quite a bit.

I doesn't hold a light to the side imaging for finding new structure.

For those following this discussion about the HB Quadrabeam...here is a depiction of the sonar beams in the Quadrabeam xducer...

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/r..._sideimage.jpg

Rickie

Back in the day if I wanted to know which side of the boat a return was on I had no other choice but QB, I liked it. But hey I used bottom lock and fish id as well so I'm a bit odd. When I started long lining jigs and trolling cranks for specks people thought I was nuts. QB and piles of large specks change their minds. You can just use the 83/200 view with the QB TD if you want.

I think it is most useful for finding and following drop-offs and creek channels. For structure and fish, use the dual beam.

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Originally Posted by gotta_fish

Im not completely sure but I read the Qbeam just read out to about 2x's the depth of the water your in and I dont think you can set it to read farther .. I just installed mine today and I'll see what it looks like tonight.Mine is installed on tm and on seperate mounts i'll have to move my unit also Maybe Greg can chime in

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The coverage area of the QuadraBeam transducer is 2X the water depth (most 2D sonar beams cover much less area than that).
The QuadraBeam transducer should read down to 160 feet deep.

Attachment 98260I have a switch will this switch work with 2 transducers on 1 fishfinder .it has a toggle a/b switch 2 female tranducer plugs 1 male transducer plug and a small plug for the power plug,Im not sure of any numbers on it and was just wondering if its for 2 transducers into 1 fishfinder ,was hoping it will work on my 788ci ,into my duel beam and q-beam,any help will be appriciated

Guess I might have to start a new thread on this subject

Hmmmm, good question there gotta_fish. That looks to be the transducer switch for the old 3D units. I don’t have a wiring diagram nor one to test with, so I don’t know how it will work. That thing is pretty old…

The guy I got it from used it on a HB wide 100,I know it will plug in to my unit and both transducers, but im SKEERD to power it up ,I was hoping to get some more info on it before I tried it .Thanks for looking at it maybe you can find out something for me before I foot the $80 or so bucks for a new one .Sorry !I really hate bothering you ,Thanks for the help.

That switch is so old that there is no electronic data on it – everything was hand drawn back then. I would connect it up and test it but only for a minute. It will either work correctly or you will not see a bottom depth reading (depending on which way the switch is set).

If you have access to an ohm meter or a test light you could check and see if all of the pins that the QuadraBeam transducer would use are switched between the larger female connectors and the larger male connector.
[The smaller flat two pin connector was for the 2D sonar on one of our 3D units. There is no power connection to this switch.]

Thanks Greg Ill give it a shot ,hope it works