b75 mid chirp vs b175HW transducer

[moetuna]

Anybody have experience with the B175HW transducer ? Putting new electronics on the boat and trying to decide between these two through hull transducers . I pretty much do it all fishing here in the northeast . Wondering if this high frequency wide beam chirp transducer is for me . Does it target ground fish better ? I can see where it might be better tuna fishing . How about shallow water striper fishing ? Thanks in advance for any comments

 

[Geof Roberts]

Check out this link it may provide the info you are looking for..

AIRMAR

 

[CapeCodNorton]

I put the B175HW in last season and have found it to be an amazing upgrade. I’m typically fishing 100-400ft if you get the gain settings and frequency right you can see fish on the bottom. I use it mainly for finding bait and I can pick off macks hugging the bottom in 200-300ft. Time to find bait has been substantially cut down and I had no idea how much I was previously driving over.

 

[moetuna]

I put the B175HW in last season and have found it to be an amazing upgrade. I’m typically fishing 100-400ft if you get the gain settings and frequency right you can see fish on the bottom. I use it mainly for finding bait and I can pick off macks hugging the bottom in 200-300ft. Time to find bait has been substantially cut down and I had no idea how much I was previously driving over.

What were you using before ?

 

[CapeCodNorton]

I was using the B75h 600w. It is nice but the 600w didn’t hold a candle to the 1kw obviously. It wasn’t something I payed much attention to before until my buddy fishing next to me was marking giants hugging the bottom and sent me a pic of his sounder, mine didn’t look anything like his, I never even would have known those fish were down there, we dropped a single line straight down to bottom and drifted our mack for not more than 5 minutes before getting bit. I literally went home and bought one that afternoon and had it installed as soon as it came in.

 

[moetuna]

I was using the B75h 600w. It is nice but the 600w didn’t hold a candle to the 1kw obviously. It wasn’t something I payed much attention to before until my buddy fishing next to me was marking giants hugging the bottom and sent me a pic of his sounder, mine didn’t look anything like his, I never even would have known those fish were down there, we dropped a single line straight down to bottom and drifted our mack for not more than 5 minutes before getting bit. I literally went home and bought one that afternoon and had it installed as soon as it came in.

Good to know . I wanted to hear from a real world user . Do you groundfish and striper fish as well ? Thanks so much for your help !

 

[CapeCodNorton]

I do striper fish regularly and ground fish occasionally. The 1kw works fine in shallower waters for stripers, the picture is crystal clear. The frequency range on the B175hw is between 150 and 250khz, you can set to whatever you want in that range. I use 150 in shallow and 250 if I’m over 200ft. Sometimes I’ll run a split screen with a frequency of choice on one side and chirp on the other but pretty much just get into the area I want to fish and try a few frequencies and gain settings until I get the picture I like and hopefully start seeing marks on the screen. It’s also been great for dialing in bait depths, I’ll set out a shallow bait then move on to the mid floater and run the line and weight right down the hull under the boat until I see it on the sounder, you can usually see the bait, swivel and weight then put the balloon on when it’s where I want it to be and float it out. Then move on to down rod and leave it in place and just watch it through the day. You can get baits drifting 5-10’ off the bottom and know they aren’t dragging. As a tool it has been a great addition and worth every penny.

 

[moetuna]

I do striper fish regularly and ground fish occasionally. The 1kw works fine in shallower waters for stripers, the picture is crystal clear. The frequency range on the B175hw is between 150 and 250khz, you can set to whatever you want in that range. I use 150 in shallow and 250 if I’m over 200ft. Sometimes I’ll run a split screen with a frequency of choice on one side and chirp on the other but pretty much just get into the area I want to fish and try a few frequencies and gain settings until I get the picture I like and hopefully start seeing marks on the screen. It’s also been great for dialing in bait depths, I’ll set out a shallow bait then move on to the mid floater and run the line and weight right down the hull under the boat until I see it on the sounder, you can usually see the bait, swivel and weight then put the balloon on when it’s where I want it to be and float it out. Then move on to down rod and leave it in place and just watch it through the day. You can get baits drifting 5-10’ off the bottom and know they aren’t dragging. As a tool it has been a great addition and worth every penny.

Ordered one up today with all the other stuff. Thank you for your input . Warf rat was very helpful .

 

[SidewinderDave]

Seems like you made up your mind and sorry for late reply.
You made the correct choice
B175 HW would suit your needs perfectly.
In my past boat, during the build I installed an airmar B175HW and a B175L on a Garmin system.
For all you inshore fishing the B175HW will do it all from finding fish and bait, to good bottom readings. Machine was fine for reading down to 600’
The B175L I installed for canyon fishing or if deep water wreck fishing, to help give a better detailed view of water column and cleaner bottom view in the deep water.
If I was canyon fishing or fishing tuna I would split the screen and run both. Great comparison. Even down to 600 the B175HW picked up exactly what the “L” did. Just not at profound marks when deep.

I was told by others running the “M” or medium, that the B175M really does not do a great “inbetween” job compared to the HW and L. So for few more dollars, about $1500 for extra ducer and install,
I went with both. If in your shoes and could only pick 1, I would go 175HW, no doubt.

So for your needs you described, the Airmar B175HW will fit your bill very nicely. Great ducers just don’t paint them and end of year be careful when marina power washes. Lil soap and water and no abrasive cloth, I just used my hand, is all you need to clean at end of season.
If you want more specifics PM me
Good Luck

 

[moetuna]

Seems like you made up your mind and sorry for late reply.
You made the correct choice
B175 HW would suit your needs perfectly.
In my past boat, during the build I installed an airmar B175HW and a B175L on a Garmin system.
For all you inshore fishing the B175HW will do it all from finding fish and bait, to good bottom readings. Machine was fine for reading down to 600’
The B175L I installed for canyon fishing or if deep water wreck fishing, to help give a better detailed view of water column and cleaner bottom view in the deep water.
If I was canyon fishing or fishing tuna I would split the screen and run both. Great comparison. Even down to 600 the B175HW picked up exactly what the “L” did. Just not at profound marks when deep.

I was told by others running the “M” or medium, that the B175M really does not do a great “inbetween” job compared to the HW and L. So for few more dollars, about $1500 for extra ducer and install,
I went with both. If in your shoes and could only pick 1, I would go 175HW, no doubt.

So for your needs you described, the Airmar B175HW will fit your bill very nicely. Great ducers just don’t paint them and end of year be careful when marina power washes. Lil soap and water and no abrasive cloth, I just used my hand, is all you need to clean at end of season.
If you want more specifics PM me
Good Luck

 

[moetuna]

Thank you for that . Good to know

 

[c1steve]

I also have the B175HW. Superb detail in the 0-300 depth, which is where I use mine. Mine is the 6" semi-flush. For a mid sized boat the boundry layer would probably be a problem with the semi-flush, so the B275 LH-W would most likely be better.

Only drawback is that the cone angle is 25 degrees, where my B75/600 watt had a 45 degree cone angle.

 

[moetuna]

I also have the B175HW. Superb detail in the 0-300 depth, which is where I use mine. Mine is the 6" semi-flush. For a mid sized boat the boundry layer would probably be a problem with the semi-flush, so the B275 LH-W would most likely be better.

Only drawback is that the cone angle is 25 degrees, where my B75/600 watt had a 45 degree cone angle.

B75 L ? 45 degree cone ? Thank you for your info.

 

[Wharf Rat]

I also have the B175HW. Superb detail in the 0-300 depth, which is where I use mine. Mine is the 6" semi-flush. For a mid sized boat the boundry layer would probably be a problem with the semi-flush, so the B275 LH-W would most likely be better.

Only drawback is that the cone angle is 25 degrees, where my B75/600 watt had a 45 degree cone angle.

Hey Steve, to overcome the boundary layer issue on those heavier displacement hulls boats where the Low Freq. isn't needed, we've had a lot of success with the B285HW, which essentially the 175HW with a fairing block to get that transducer face deeper below that turbulent water. Costs about $500 less than the B275LH-W, so if not deep dropping, does an amazing job.