Which transducerfor HDS 5
 

I am buting a new HDS 5 fishfinder and want to hear from other users what they would choose for a transducer, the 50 hz-200hz, or the 83 hz 200 hz? Thanks

Are you fishing from a kayak? I did a lot of research on the HDS-5 and the Elite-5. The Elite-5 has a smaller transducer than the HDS-5 and has almost all the same features as the HDS-5 for a lot less money. Lowrance Rep said the 50/200 is for deeper water and the 83/200 is for shallower water. Hope this helps.

Thanks, yes I am fishing from a kayak and haven't been able to get feedback from other kayakers as to their preferences

You want the 83/200.
Well, features are one thing, specs are another. It's a lot less money because it does not have anywhere near the output power of the HDS-5. That, coupled with its smaller transducer results in far less detail. Theres a reason the growing masses are rockin' HDS-5's.

50KHZ = 80ft and deeper
83KHZ = less than 70ft

The main difference is effective beam angle and depth penetration. 83 is wider, 50khz goes deeper. They market the 50KHZ for saltwater and 83KHZ for fresh.

Got ahold of a Lowrance tech...short answer is, if "shooting" the beam through the hull, use the 83-200 vs 50-200, the 83 will penetrate and recieve better, than the 50-200

I have the 50/200 its the only option when you get the nautic insight version, always wondered what the real effective difference would be. Since our fishing is around the depth cutoff where the 50khz depth penetration becomes a factor it probably doesn't matter much either way. The shoot-through thing is a new concept for me though, never thought of that.

In any case I'm happy with the 50 and I use the heck out of it at anything over 20ft depth.

The 50 and 83 khz are both intended for deeper penetration of the water collumn. Although there are some other advantages such as wider viewing angle. Every transducer will have its own cone angles for each of its sonar ping wavelengths (mine has 45 degrees @ 50 khz and 12 degrees @ 200 khz). I believe the standard HDS 5 50/200 transducer has cone angles of 60 and 20 degrees respectively. Unless you plan on doing a lot of deeper water rockfishing, you will probably not see a difference between 50 and 83 khz. The problem is that there is only one transducer option for the 83/200 combination, the stock model. If you want to get an acurate water temp, you will have to mount that transducer over the side. There are lots of aftermarket transducers that will work with the 50/200 khz settings. I am using an Airmar P319 (mount not shoot) thru hull, but it requires you to drill a 2 inch hole in the bottom of your yak.

Hey Greg, What kind of a yak do you have? Any concrens about hull integrity and how do you like your transducer?

I have a Trident 15 and have no concern at all about it leaking. You need to have about a 3 inch flat area that will point the transducer straight down though. It accomplishes exactly what I was looking for which was accurate water temp and not worrying about bubbles and such on the install.