Sonars

I’m looking to buy some new boat parts. What do you guys think is the best sonar unit for under $500. I’d like down and/or side scan and some sort of marking or mapping function. Help me spend my money wisely. Thanks guys

im in the same boat. been looking at lowrance hook 2s. 5 in size is very affordable and includes maps in some of em. the 7 in size isnt priced bad either.

check the sales, even used sites and see. there isn't a "bad" brand and the big two have a lot of fanboys who can't use their graphs outside of the "auto" mode... I personally have a Helix5 at my console and a 10 year old Lowrance x50 at the bow. I have had no need to upgrade the bow unit as it works and I can see what I am looking to see off of it however I would like DI at some point and will either put that unit at the console and move my Helix or put it at the bow haven't decided yet. I bought the Helix as one of the first when it came out it was amazing for the price now they all have good units in that range

It seems new models are coming out every day and the older models are always on sale. It’s very hard to keep up. Bass Pro is having sales right now with some great Garmin units in your price range. Hurry, the stock goes fast and may be already gone.

i picked up a helix 7 for around $300. i also have a 597 di hd.but i've found that the charting is not useful to me at all.maybe because i don't bass fish so marking structure isn't at the top of my priority list.

As already said...there are many choices.

Comments on the BBC (Bass Boat Central) site lean towards which ones will work with which (extra cost) card...and which ones will talk to one another without spending a lot of money with connecting cables.

The connection problem only occurs if you want a unit on the bow and another on the console, of course.

I inherited two Humminbird units on the used boat that I bought. I have no idea if they talk to one another.

I see a lot of positive things about Lakemaster cards, but they only work with a few of the FF/GPS unit brands. Navionics also gets good grades.

Don't be confused by some lower cost units that say they have "mapping" only to find out that their "map" isn't much more than simple lines drawn on a blank screen so you can get back home.

Looks at the free Navionics map online. It might convince you to get a unit that will accept Navionics cards if they cover the lakes you need.

https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@6&key=cbmvDzzveQ

regards, rich

I think Rich99's comments are right on. I've got a Helix 7 with DI and GPS. It came with the Navionics card. I use the GPS/charting much more than I thought I ever would. It is very useful to see bottom contours/depth changes at areas other than directly below the transducer. The ability to use waypoints also makes it easy to return to productive spots. Most of what I do is trolling.

Incidentally, you can download the IOS or Android app called
Navionics Boating for a free trial. After 30 days or so, it costs $10 or $15.00 a year. It has ALL of the data that is on the expensive Navionics card, only it is on your phone or your pad.

You do NOT need Web access or Data access to use it on your boat. It runs off of the GPS signals, not towers.

I find the phone to be hard to read in the sunlight. I might buy or make some sort of shroud to shade the screen so I could use it more on the boat.

However, if you like it and use it, you can always step up to the card that goes in your FF (assuming your FF is compatible). That screen would be far more readable.