HELP!!! Minn Kota Question

[Scott D.]

thinking about getting a Minn Kota 101. What do you guys think about the built-in transducers they have? If you have a problem with them, wouldn't you have to replace the whole TM, or mount a separate one if the built-in one acts up? Little leary. I currently have a Pinpoint-ready built-in transducer on the Motorguide, with a Pinpoint TR320. thanks in advance.

[Marc]

Scott,

I'm going to jump in on this question since you also asked about Lowrance in another post.

The universal sonar concept is a good system and is worthy of consideration, but only you can decide if it is right for you.

The first thing I would do is check with Minnkota to find out the cone degree they are currently using. When I had my universal sonar unit, the cone angle was more narrow than the standard Lowrance transducer. This is an advantage if you fish a lot of deep structure and want to focus on viewing bottom features, but it is a disadvantage if you are hoping to see as many fish as possible. It is also an advantage if you are bothered by crosstalk between a bow and stern sonar unit, since the narrower cone doesn't overlap with the stern sonar cone as much.

It is great having the universal sonar when you are fishing in thick weeds because the weeds won't get hung on the US like they do on an external transducer. Also, if you don't like to keep checking that your external transducer is properly positioned, especially after you scrape bottom with your motor, or hit a log, then US is fantastic. If your US should happen to die, you can easily add an external transducer over the US and keep fishing. Replacing the US sonar is possible, but more expensive and has to be done by a qualified tech.

There is no question that the Universal Sonar has a cleaner look on both the motor and with the wiring to your sonar.

[Bob Simard]

Hey Chief -

I've got the new lift-assist 101 and run the Universal for my Lowrance on it. I bought it with this option primarily because it's "cleaner" meaning there's no puc and braket to catch tulles, weeds, etc on. i.e. less drag = longer battery life when pulling a bigger boat (Ranger 520) through the tulles bed fishing or going in after a buried frog fish.

I haven't noticed that much of a performance difference between the universal and the external puc. On Shasta and Oroville, when "looking down" 40 - 70 feet both work equally well to me. I'm running the old Lowrance X15s though and I've heard that the technology has come a long way since these units came out. One of my Ams fished with Dave Rush at Clearlake a few weeks back and said his Hummingbird unit was amazing - something about side imaging...

For me - I don't rely that much on them for spotting individual fish, more for finding bait. My X15s work fine for that.

Again though, when it comes to drag, not having the external sensor plus the new MinnKota Weedless wedgeII REALLY keep the crap off the motor.

-Bob Simard

[Jeff Garmenson]

Scott,
I have the same 101 as Bob, bought it for the same reasons he mentioned; stealth and wireless. But I had issues with clarity/definition on my Lowrance X25C unit, actually I posted this problem a couple months ago and Marc mentioned I should try an external puck transducer, after determining if it wasnt just the unit. It wasnt the unit, I tried my other LCD and it had the same problem when hooked to the US sonar. So I spent another $65 and ran the wires and now my X25C works great. I have since noticed several people with an externaly mounted transducer on a US model, to find out they were having the same type problem with graph definition. The other thing I did not like was that there is no temp with the US sonar so you would have to add a temp probe or ask the guy in the back of the boat for the temp, assuming you have it on your other unit.

Just my opinion but I think it sucks! Maybe there is a diference with other graphs but the people I have seen and talked to with color Lowrance units have had issues.