So I'm new to boating and new to fishing. I bought this Stratos 268FS a few weeks ago and took it out today with the sole purpose of getting accustomed to the Lowrance HDS5gen2.
I did some prep watching videos and what I came away with is y'all are playing with much better gear than this, which makes sense since it's tech and this is old tech.
I don't want to go nuts, but I'd love to get a much better down view and possible side view and structure scan.
Is there a reasonable upgrade that might use the existing transducer? I am not necessarily opposed to replacing the transducer(s). I believe there are two on this boat. Both glassed in in the bilge.
There is also a bow-mounted X48 that is in serious need of replacing. I'd love to get it all upgraded for <$1K.
There is also a depth finder gauge in the helm that is pretty much shot.