www.iFourWinns.com

Received some confusing advice. Anyone know who is correct?

I bought the Garmin 546s and it came with the dual frequency transducer. From my research, that transducer reads depth and water temperature.

Here it is on Garmin's site
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=748

There is a second transducer that provides the depth and water AND speed.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=88663

I was thinking if i wanted all 3 i would need to purchase the second transducer. I was at West Marine getting a clamshell to protect the thru hull hole and the staff guy (who seems to know his stuff) said I do not need it as the GPS unit will provide the speed. No need for the transducer to have the little wheel to provide it.

Anyone know if that is true? I was going to sell the dual transducer and buy the one with the speed included, but will not need to.

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2010 Sea Hunt Triton 220 "Big Whiskey"
2003 FW Freedom 180 Volvo Penta 4.3GL/SX-M "It'll Do Four Now" (Sold)
2012 Avalanche LTZ 4X4

GPS will tell the speed. Transducer will give depth/water temp. I just installed the same setup, but have not been in the water yet.

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2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225

There must be some reason they create a transducer that reports speed. I was thinking maybe one was more accurate than the other (though everyone says GPS speed is the most accurate).

Planning on my install this week and hit the water on the weekend.

Take any pictures of your through hull wiring? I am ok with drilling holes in my boat, but have not done one that close to the water line.

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2010 Sea Hunt Triton 220 "Big Whiskey"
2003 FW Freedom 180 Volvo Penta 4.3GL/SX-M "It'll Do Four Now" (Sold)
2012 Avalanche LTZ 4X4

The only reason to have the sped one is to know your speed over the water vs actual speed. I had it on my previous boat but could never get it working right. I just didn't spend the time to figure it out.

Here is one example, my previous boat, the best i could ever do speed wise was 40-41 mph. Well we took a trip down the St Claire river, and it was pouring rain, so we had the full camper top up. The river was flat so we were going wide open for awhile. I hit a tip speed of 46-47 mph. At the time I was thinking, huh, must be more aerodynamic with the camper top up, never dawned me until a few days later that it was the river current adding to my speed! Duh! The the same would be true for going against the current too, so that or ocean boating where the tides have similar effects would be the only reason to have the over water speed.

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Jeff

'14 Cruisers 380 Express "Simon Sez"
Merc 8.2 Mag MPI 380
DTS B3X, (x2) Axius Premier


(SOLD)
'08 V318
Merc 350 Mag MPI 300
DTS Seacore, B3 (x2)

jsimon - makes sense to me now. I think I will just stick with the transducer that came with the unit. I am not looking to document my top speed for the record books, but just would like to know roughly what the speed is at.

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2010 Sea Hunt Triton 220 "Big Whiskey"
2003 FW Freedom 180 Volvo Penta 4.3GL/SX-M "It'll Do Four Now" (Sold)
2012 Avalanche LTZ 4X4

I could take some pics, but all you would see is the clamshell covering a 3/4" hole full of 4200 with a black wire going through the middle. On the interior all you'll see is a big glob of 4200 with the black wire coming out of it.

Similar to this....



Thats the wiring for my underwater lights before I cleaned up the excess 4200. Same exact way I ran the transducer wiring, although a much bigger hole since the connector end had to go through.

Hope this helps.

_________________
2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225

What's all that channel stuff on the underside of the swimplatform ?

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Cable hiders for under swim platform lighting.

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2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225

Yep!!! A GREAT way to put it!! I would use the GPS for speed.

Also, you may be that boater with out a GPS. So it's another way to know your speed.

Thanks firecadet. I remember seeing your pictures of the underwater lighting. I bought a similar looking clamshell and a black plastic one from West Marine to see which would seem the best fit.

_________________
2010 Sea Hunt Triton 220 "Big Whiskey"
2003 FW Freedom 180 Volvo Penta 4.3GL/SX-M "It'll Do Four Now" (Sold)
2012 Avalanche LTZ 4X4

You'll be suprised what the 4200 will hold. No need for additional holes in the transom for screws with the clamshell. My lights are all held on my 4200 and are still stuck on there well.

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2007 358 T-5.7GXi IB
Previous Boats
'08 H240, '08 V318, '04 268, '04 225

I have used the 4200 before too. Great stuff. My wife gets mad that I keep it in the freezer, but I never use that much and was told that it goes bad if not in the freezer.

ARGH:

Just got an email from West Marine on the Garmin chartplotters.

Mine has this transducer:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... yErrorView

But this was the transducer I felt I wanted (and was on the water yesterday with a buddy who has this one on his Garmin 441s):

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... yErrorView

I still want all the options!

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2010 Sea Hunt Triton 220 "Big Whiskey"
2003 FW Freedom 180 Volvo Penta 4.3GL/SX-M "It'll Do Four Now" (Sold)
2012 Avalanche LTZ 4X4

I recognize this is an old post, but I thought I'd add a little, in case someone else was looking for the same type of information...

Another consideration FOR getting the transducer with the speed sensor is for accurate fuel consumption data. For example, if you install the fuel rate sensor on your NMEA2000 network and set your default speed reading to the transducer paddle wheel, you will get a comparison of how much water you are moving over vs. how much fuel you are using. That should give a much more consistent idea of your MPG, although your GPH will be the same either way.

I have the same transducer as you have, on a Garmin 441S and it works great BUT, the mount is flimsy in that it cracks easily. I was able to buy a few spare mounts, but fixed the one on the boat with some galvanized strip steel and pop rivets (ghetto fab but effective).
As a sounder the Garmin works great. They need to beef up that mount though.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II