I apologize for this long delay in responding, but I have been without
land-line phone service since Thursday night, hence no Internet. It
was just restored this afternoon.
Thanks for all the replies (which I have printed out and
studied.) I would certainly feel capable of removing the transducer
(which seems clearly to be the problem.) DMI Electronics (the
reincarnation of Data Marine) has the transducers for $150, and I have
actually seen them as low as $129.
Because the boat will have to be pulled ($150) in order to remove
the transducer (from the bottom), which would make total of $300, I am
looking at other options. Most obvious is to buy a new complete unit,
display and transducer. I'd like your opinion on a couple of points,
however, before I go that route.
(1) Some of these have "in-hull" transducers which are simply
epoxyed to the inside the hull. If these are accurate, they sound
appealing. Your thoughts?
(2) As I occasionally fish (but am by no means "avid") I am
wondering why I don't just buy a fishfinder. Some don't have
fractional readouts, and I would avoid those, but for those that
do read tenths of feet, is there any reason these would be less
accurate than a dedicated depth sounder? To get a good
depth sounder plus all the other features (including temp) is
very tempting UNLESS you tell me the depth sounders on these
are junk.
Again thanks for your past ( and possibly future) help.
Frank