Fishfinder/GPS: Humminbird NS25

[spanner]

Matrix17 is what I have, along with the cables to connect it up to a Magellan315 GPS that I already had. That ended up costing me more than I expected as I needed a Magellan bare wire connector for the connection to the GPS and a Humminnbird bare wire connector for the Matrix unit. That was another £70 just to get connected.

 

In general I find the fishfinder really good, but then it is the first I have had, but I'm not sure the GPS connection was worth it. My idea was to use the GPS unit for storing basic navigation marks and use the Matrix unit for storing all the fishing marks, reefs etc, but.....

 

I have had specific problems with noise and not reading as deep as it should, spec gives 1000ft as its 2400W. Previously I posted about the noisy signal, such that by about 160-180ft it swamped the bottom signal. I wasn't sure if it was my transducer installation, cabling or whatever.

 

This weekend I made some progress, and confirmed that the GPS connection is the source. Switch off the GPS and it is fine. Jiggle the connector on the back of the GPS and I can get it noise free, sometimes.....

 

Here it was being noisy in 195ft of water, but still managing to show the bottom, just....

 

Notice the very distinct pattern in the noise, every other 'scan'. If I switched off the GPS it was clear as a bell.

 

And here it was working fine in 240ft, with the GPS on. I had jiggled the connector to find a sweet spot......

 

It was raining

 

 

It may be that different GPS units will be less of a problem. The Magellan connector is not what I'd call a waterproof design, although the unit itself is. I'm looking at what I can do to come up with a reliable connection.

[Fodder]

I think I'm going to have to have a good think about how to install this....I think the card reader isn't integral to the unit and I'll have to be careful where I place it as it's not waterproof. Might have to get some tips from someone on here that has wired up gps/fishfinders before.

[SpeciMan]

Nice pics Spanner. Great to hear feedback on these things and value your comments about the GPS side of things not being used perhaps as much as you had hoped. I'm still holding out for a plotter/finder.. there is a Matrix 87 I am considering. The Humminbirds look easy to mount/unmount, they float and are waterproof.

[spanner]

Oh yes, the Matrix is definitely kayak friendly in that respect, easy to mount/unmount, easy to use, waterproof, etc.

 

The GPS has been used loads for tracking time, distance, speed, drifts etc, and I've been manually entering waypoints on all the locations I've fished. I manually enter about 10 to 20 wapoints on headlands, bays, islands, slipways etc so I can get a 'chart' by playing join-the-dots. I get them from here:

http://mappe.c-marina.com/partners/ucina/p...jInstalled=true

 

What I haven't done so far is enter actual fishing marks, fish holding features, reefs, wrecks etc into the Matrix, but that is more because I haven't found any yet rather than it not being a useful feature.

 

I agree though, a combined unit would be nice, but rather pricey. But given what I ended up spending on cables to connect the two, not to mention the extra ram mounting hardware for the GPS, and the fact I have now have connection problems, it may have been a false economy.

 

I must remember to point that out to the FPO next time I need to upgrade but I'll keep very quite about it till then