You like a stand-alone fishfinder, instead of a do-it-all box? There’s good reason for that feeling, because single unit displays take down your entire system when they crash, so having separate fishfinders, GPS, and radios onboard makes good sense. But these days, fewer and fewer builders are coming out with dedicated fishfinders. One new one to hit the scene is Furuno’s FCV 1150 (A bigger, better FCV295). Naturally, this unit has all the goodies you can expect in a modern fishfinder: FDF clutter suppression, single or dual frequency modes, multiple power outputs, and post-processing gain control, for example. But it also has a few cool new tricks up its sleeve, including an awesome two-channel configuration which provides multi-frequency selection. Furuno calls this the Furuno Free Synthesizer (FFS) Transceiver, and it allows you to change frequency on the fly, using a sliding control. Dual frequency configurations from 28 to 200 kHz can be selected, then tweaked with the FFS function. That means you can tune out the fishfinders of other boats, when they cause interference. Or, maybe your transducer’s frequency drifted a few kHz with age—a problem far more common then most people realize—and now you need to fine-tune it back into shape. Not a problem, any more.
The FCV1150.
Another nifty new feature you’ll discover on the FCV 1150 is heaving compensation, if you interface it with a Furuno satellite compass. In rough conditions this will compensate for the boat’s motion, preventing your bottom reading from turning into a never-ending series of deceptive peaks and valleys.
This unit sports a whopping 12.1” VGA LCD screen, so it’s got plenty of room for splitting the screen into multi-zooms and views, too. You can get it in one, two, or three watt configurations, with ranges down to—get this—9,000 feet.
Price: A hair over $3,000.
The Highs: A big screen on a potent stand-along fishfinder, with two-channel configuration.
The Lows: It’s a fishfinder, and nothin’ but.
Who Wants It: Someone in need of a honking big fishfinder, only.
