Central Ohio Catfish Club

KillerNuts · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 10:35 pm Post subject: lowrance x125 plus

Just curious if anyone has any experiecne with this depth finder. I am thinking about adding a permanant depth finder to the pontoon this year and from what i have been seeing, this seems like a realy good unit. I know that I have heard really good things about Lowrance electronics, so I don't think I would be going wrong.

Anyone have any input on the color units? I think that may be overkill.

FINATIC · Shad Joined: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 78 Location: Hilliard

I don't know about the 125, but I will say that I really like the color on my little Lowrance 68c. I'm upgrading to a larger screen combination unit for the 'Sea Turd' this year, and any unit I get from here on out will be color. Much more definition of items on the screen without having to study it.

chuck4 · Shad Joined: 18 Jan 2007 Posts: 86 Location: columbus

I to am thinking of an upgrade from my old bottom line lcd to a color sonar. I have a friend with a lowrance gps/sonar in color and to be honest the clarity is awesome. I am jealous!!

KillerNuts · Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 9:32 pm Post subject:

So i am taking it that it is worth the extra money for color. I know that when you look at the demos everyting looks awesome, but I wasn't sure how well the color actually works.

Question, do you think the 4000 watt is need around here over a 2500 watt? never really bought a fishfinder before and I want to get what will suit me best.

Doctor · Shad Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 58

I'll show you the difference between Greyscale and color

As you can see there is a major difference in separation of targets, fish give off a different color compared to trees and rock structure.

The more power you can get the better the picture will be my unit is 8000 watts of power.

KillerNuts · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:26 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the info guys. Kevin and myself are on our way back from Cabela right now. I didn't pick up a depth finder but I did spend a little time looking at them. I think I wil defintiely go with the color unit, but I better save up some money first.

Finatic, let me know if you are interedted in selling your old unit when you upgrade.

FINATIC · Shad Joined: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 78 Location: Hilliard

I'll let you know. I did pick up some interesting information at the Hoover seminars in February. One of the seminars I signed up for was "Depth Finders Part Deaux" put on by Gary Hannahs. Gary is a well known and respected fisherman in these parts and Manages the Columbus Waterdshed. He is also the first guy I worked for with the City back 23+ years ago. His recommendations are going to be based on what the average joe out there can afford vs. a professional tournament fisherman with corporate sponsors. He had several good points I took away from the seminar that I would like to pass along. I'm sure opinions will vary, but here's what I took away from the 1 hour course:
1. There are 2 frequencies for transducers, 50 KHz and 200 KHz. Unless you're going to be fishing deep and/or salt water, you only need the 200 KHz. (He said Lowrance is actually 187 or something along those lines) In Ohio, the combination transducer (200/50 KHz) is an unnecessary expense. Deep water is 600 feet or more.

2. The Peak-to-peak power is a sales term. What you would actually need to look for in the manual is the watts RMS. Which according to Gary is roughly a third of the "peak to peak" watts. In Ohio waters you only need about 200-300 Watts RMS.

3. Pixels Pixels Pixels. Gary recommended at least 240 to 320 VERTICAL pixels for good separation.

4. Color is an unnecessary expense. (OK here's where our opinions differ... I've owned both and color is hands down easier for me to read at a glance).

5. TFT vs. LCD : TFT is better. It's much easier to read in the sunlight than LCD. Also LCD is liquid and can actually freeze in extreme temperatures and ruin the unit.

6. Don't rely on the factory's default settings. Adjust the gain
(sensitivity) and the scroll speed. Adjust scroll speed to match as closely your drift / trolling speed.

In my quest for my new unit, I'm finding most of the major manufacturers have websites where you can download their manuals in PDF format to check out all the options and specs more thoroughly before you buy.