Knot meter and depth gauge.

[zz4gta]

I'm looking for something pretty basic (cheap) that will do the job. I currently have a thru hull towards the bow. A friend of mine prefered to use fish finders for his sailboat b/c they have a wider scope than just a depth meter and they're normally cheaper.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I've been looking at the RAYMARINE ST40 BIDATA System but by the time you include the transducer its around $270.00. Although I do like the LARGE display, and more importantly, the simplicity. However, something a little cheaper would be nice. Any ideas?

[SEMIJim]

A line marked-off in fathoms with a weight on the end?

Seriously: You're not going to get much less expensive than $270 for a depth sounder.

FWIW: Our boat came with Raymarine ST60 (or maybe 60+) depth sounder and knot meter. They seem to work well.

If you go for "last years" model of GPS: Yes, you can kind of get it "all in one," more cheaply: GPS, sonar (which will give you depth) and kind-of-a-knotmeter (SOG: Speed Over Ground). Our Garmin GPSMap 498C with external antenna and in-hull transducer was about $620, shipped, which is only a bit more than the MSRP for just one of our two Raymarine instruments. Plus it came with built-in cartography. Still: I wouldn't want to be w/o my separate instruments.

JIm

[Andyman]

ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/Humminbird-600-P...QQcmdZViewItem

[Idiens]

Are you getting it for fishing or would an forward looking sonar be better? (Google Echopilot or Intergraph)

[Sailormann]

Any ideas?

The first idea I had was "Gee - that's not a bad price."

[camaraderie]

Sailnet store has a Uniden for $89 bucks

[sailingdog]

Cam-

Believe that is only depth or fathometer, and does not include a knot meter.

[camaraderie]

Yup. I thought he might be considering separate units as well as the bi data.

[zz4gta]

I know the $270 wasn't bad (compared to what I saw) I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on something better. Thanks for all the responses.