8600/Ultra transmit power difference?

[Bkiniry]

I see On the Garman website that the 8600 series transmit power is 1 kW and that the ultra is 600… Why is that and what is the difference between the two? On the Garman website the 8600 series transmit power is 1 kW and that the ultra is 600… Why is that and what is the difference between the two options? I assume this has something to do with the side and down imaging am I correct in this assumption? If so does it make a noticeable difference to have more power going to the transducer if that is in fact what they are even referring to when they refer to the transmit power?

[LWINCHESTER2]

Each transducer has a specific power requirement; volts watts, etc. A specific transducer will perform the same and produce the same data if it is compatible with the unit. Some transducers require 1kw power. The 8600 series is capable of using 1kw transducers. The Ultra is not. If you want to look at which 1 kw transducers the 8600 series is compatible with go through the 2019 Transducer Selection Guide. When selecting a unit to purchase, it is usually best to select the transducer first, then select the unit that is compatible with that transducer.

https://www8.garmin.com/marine/PDF/t...tion_guide.pdf

[Bkiniry]

So am I understanding you correctly that no matter what transducer you hooked to it having more power going to the transducer does not even come into affect because the transducer itself is not calling for that amount of extra power so therefore there is no extra benefit to having the extra power if you know you will not need a transducer that calls for it?

[LWINCHESTER2]

I'm sure you understood what I said, but what I said is not completely accurate. You might need the extra power for something else you attached to the unit. The back of the 8600 series units has connections for 2 network cables, HDMI in and out, Coax in, 3 transducers, NMEA, J1939, usb, and audio. All that takes power.

Now back to the transducers. I ask a Lowrance engineer about the HDS units when they first hit the market. What's the difference in performance of the 200/83 transducer on an HDS5x and HDS10? He said there was no difference, that the only difference was the size of the screens.

The unit with big power doesn't send more power to the transducer as a general rule. For example a GT15 will perform the same on an Ultra as on my 8616. But there are exceptions and those are ordinarily sending less power to the xd. The 8616 does have power settings, user selectable, for traditional sonar, to send less power. I don't think the Ultra has this user selectable setting. The watts sent to the transducer are ordinarily those listed in the specifications. But on the GPSMAP units you can send less. There are a host of user settings on GPSMAP units that may not be on other units. Some of these are the ping speed, power, filter width, perhaps pic advance, echo stretch, and more. Also, on some of the very cheapest units the full amount of watts may not be sent limiting performance. Right now I don't remember which ones but when the max watts of the unit is less than the watts rating of the transducer it can't send the full amount.