Lowrance Elite 7 Chirp or Furuno GP1870F??

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    Posted: 21 Nov 2014 at 10:09am
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Upgrading the fishfinder to a fishfinder/gps unit on the tinny. Have been looking around for awhile and have narrowed the choices down to these two but am open to other options (nothing too expensive, these units are at the top of my budget). Any feedback is welcome particularly if you've used these units on the water, its just not the same playing with them in the shop... Boats a 460 Mclay, used mainly in the gulf and a little out of Tairua and Whitianga.
I like the accu-fish and the bottom discrimination the Furuno features but have been told the charts it comes with are a bit cluttered..? The lowrance also seems a bit more user friendly and have been told it weathers better which is important as it is quite likely to get wet from time to time.
Cheers fellas
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote flyfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2014 at 10:20am
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I'd go the Furuno, not sold on chirp at these cheaper recreational levels. When you get into the larger units it's the goods. The Furuno is a proven platform and I'd argue more durable in the long run.

I use Lowrance, but don't believe they are as durable as even a modern Furuno. Lowrance to me are a bit like Ford - popular, but prone to niggly things like cheap transducers, poor waterproofing / sealing of chart doors, button wear and fade, pezzo speakers and main boards that can and sometimes do let go.

Furuno utilise Airmar transducers (P66 on that model) and solid fish finding technology. Lowrance and Humminbird transducers are poos I reckon. I find Furuno easier to use as well, but the charting is not as good as Lowrance and never has been, Lowrance for chartplotting and Furuno for fish finding IMO.

No question Lowrance are good value for money however.
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I use both. Furuno on my boat and lowrance on my father inlaws. I'd argue furuno is the dependable bulletproof option. Never had a prob. Lowrance has some pretty images etc but have had a number of faults and even today isn't working right. Random turn offs etc

I like Flyfishers Ford comparison. And maybe as suggested there is a difference between price brackets in the Lowerances range?

What ever the story is, hooks in water catch fish
The gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men's lives the hours spent on fishing - Assyrian Proverb
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Devon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2014 at 11:40am
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Interesting about the chirp FlyFisher, could you elaborate? I did and still am pondering whether i really need it and whether I will use it frequently enough for it to be worthwhile.
 
Thanks for the information regarding the durability/reliability comparisons of the two, I got told the opposite in a store only yesterday so that info is very valuable.
 
The boat is actually owned by my 88YO grandfather who broke his pelvis awhile back and can no longer use it. Understandably he is pretty old school and has used Furuno in his launches his whole life. His instructions where that Furuno is the be all and end all, Lowrance have a very good name and that if i bought a Raymarine the boat would be sold immediately LOL . Not sure why he has a grudge there as I have the Raymarine A60D on my ski and have had no issues with it whatsoever although the connection points in the back have started to deteriorate
 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote flyfisher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2014 at 8:11pm
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Just my observations on being on boats that use conventional digital sonar and chirp, I personally see no difference in the returns of either, both offer nice clear arches and imaging / bottom definition, this is sub 50m mostly.

I realise chirp has supposed great target separation, and there is no question it does on the high end units at depth compared to conventional 2D - it's amazing, but on the likes of the Dragonfly and smaller recreational level Lowrance chirps, it's identical to me and certainly the claims on depth penetration seem inaccurate. I have a few mates running Dragonfly chirp and struggle to get 120m.  This is just my opinion of course, as many on here swear by chirp and are very happy.

I'm also real big fan of Furuno and it's penchant to actually show 'noise' I really think digital filtering of noise is not a great feature, sure it's good while learning to use sonar and it cleans a screen up beautifully, but once familiar with unit's you can tell a hell of a lot from all those dots and specs and patches of dense pixels, especially the likes of thermoclines and smaller schooling fish like Tarakihi which are quite hard to pick up on sonar at times.

In my mind the real deal breaker in modern units though is side and structure scan, it's amazing and 100% a must-have fishing tool in my books for inshore work, I guarantee those of us on here who use structure-scan would not go back to conventional sonar, used in conjunction with 2D, it's a no-brainer I reckon.

One thing I found while talking to a few dealers at the boat show this year is I was gobsmacked at the lack of knowledge some had on their product, they simply spout the sales speil on the box and you have to wonder if they have actually used what they sell! 


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fishing Addiction Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Nov 2014 at 9:59pm
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With chirp, if you are using units designed for the airmar range of transducers ie garmin then they really are amazing
But from what I've seen the units like dragonfly, lowrance etc will work fine in shallow water but will struggle to show any improvement otherwise
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Nov 2014 at 10:28am
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Note on charts...go the navionics over the c map charts, espec around shoreline , inner harbour
Far greater detail even on an old  10/ 12 yr old navionics over the new Cmaps
I use  upto date navionics on the smart phone as 'bench mark'   the old basic huminbird gps / sounder  I upgraded to elite hdi....with cmap...and dont even bother using, and stick with the old hummingbird navionic map.
Thu if a later version of navionics happened to come up at a very good price, I would upgrade  for the old humindbird

And excellent post FF....being having a little problem getting my head around the elite settings etc...
And transducer mount position....been a hard road getting both right but now have position right and your clear  and reasoned suggestions is the sort of thing being looking for as next stage/ familiarity has evolved.

Which as u mention in the last paragraph re sales people just sounding the marketing / packaging info, and often just adding their own interpretation... it is this I believe that has lead to my issue.
Appreciated
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote woodsy13 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Nov 2014 at 11:08am
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have recently been through this myself. my preference was down to furuno 1870 vs Garmin. Ended up going Garmin Echomap 720dv. Awesome unit this, charts are great, sounder is awesome (downvu is something else!) and has chirp capability too. touchscreen is the biggest revelation for me. so easy and so much quicker to use. will never go back. Also has good usability on the PC with copying maps into Garmin software, inputting waypoints and making routes from the computer. pretty choice. anyway, my 2c. cheers.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote woodsy13 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Nov 2014 at 11:14am
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Originally posted by woodsy13 woodsy13 wrote:

have recently been through this myself. my preference was down to furuno 1870 vs Garmin. Ended up going Garmin Echomap 720dv. Awesome unit this, charts are great, sounder is awesome (downvu is something else!) and has chirp capability too. touchscreen is the biggest revelation for me. so easy and so much quicker to use. will never go back. Also has good usability on the PC with copying maps into Garmin software, inputting waypoints and making routes from the computer. pretty choice. anyway, my 2c. cheers.

my bad - 70dv not 720. 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Muppet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Nov 2014 at 6:06pm
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Lowrance are durable had the Elite 7 for 18 months on the yak without fault and its taken all the knocks including three turtles. As for fish finding well there is a livebait about to get snaffled by a snapper there. When my finder shows fish I (mostly)catch them, when it don't I don't what more do you want! LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote mmmm... Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2016 at 6:38pm
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The gp1870 has 1kw max output for a 1kw transducer. Should be good for deep water. Any reason it wouldn't be as good as a furuno fcv 587? Seems to have same features plus you get gps.
buying usless exspensive fishing gear is my second favourite hobby.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Pro Fish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2016 at 12:01pm
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Run the Lowrance Elite 7 and find it excellent bit of kit.
Right up to 30 knts am getting good detail and find the operating system a breeze.
The lowrance app back to your ph or desktop is great too for looking at areas covered.

Touch screen with fishy fingers is the only bugger though and find it a bit laggy at start up..


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Bay Marine Electronics Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jun 2016 at 9:01am
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Originally posted by mmmm... mmmm... wrote:

The gp1870 has 1kw max output for a 1kw transducer. Should be good for deep water. Any reason it wouldn't be as good as a furuno fcv 587? Seems to have same features plus you get gps.


Yes it basically is the same sounder with extra features.
The only real disadvantages are:
 lack of vertical pixels, which can be important when fishing in the depths requiring a 1kW transducer. This can be got around using Shift and Zoom
 Extra complexity. The 587 is super easy to use, has dedicated gain knob and range button.

That said it is a very economical way to get some serious depths, we recommend them mainly to younger guys keen to pull up things from very deep
0800 BAY MARINE www.baymarineelectronics.co.nz
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