PiranhaMax 175 Portable

The PiranhaMax 175 PT is also an inexpensive fish finder. On most dealers it’s usually under $140. Evidently with the small price also comes a smaller number of options.

First of all, it’s a monochrome fish finder. It features a 4-inch diagonal display, 16 level grayscale, with a 240×160 pixel resolution. However, it provides all the features needed for tracking fish and improving your data gathering for your fishing conditions. In other words, it measures depth and water temperature, along with the main function of tracking fish. Like most units, it has the Fish ID+ feature, which simplifies the returns of the sonar by a lot, showing on the screen which ones of the objects detected are fish, also pointing out the depth where they’re located.

The Humminbird PiranhaMax 175 PT has Dual Beam sonar, having two sonar modes, one for a wider coverage (200kHz / 28° coverage) and a more powerful one, but with a more condensed sonic beam (455 kHz / 16° coverage). It’s reliable for depths up to 600 ft, and has a power output of 200 Watts (RMS).

Since it’s a portable unit, comes with the specific portable case, suction cup transducer, 7AH battery and charger. It’s an excellent unit for fishing in lakes where you have to rent a boat, since the tansducer can easily be mounted/dismounted via the suction cup. However, make sure you attach it on a clean, metal surface if possible, so it doesn’t detach.

Like all other fish finders from Humminbird, it has 1 year warranty.

Source: http://hummingbirdfishfinderreviews.com/

Piranhamax 196ci

The Humminbird PiranhaMax 196ci is also a new model released in 2013. It’s one of the smallest units featuring GPS and trackplotting. And when it comes to its trackplotting capabilities, it can store up to 2,000 points, and 500 waypoints.

Since it’s a new released model, it has the new flat layout, and even though it’s a small unit, it has color screen (256 color). Like most fish finders in the Piranhamax series, it has a small screen, 320X240 pixel resolution 3.5″ diagonal.

Has a narrow Dual Beam sonar, 455 kHz (16° beam) / 200 kHz (28° beam), with a power output of 200 Watts (1600 PTP). This makes it reliable for depths up to 600 ft.

Among other useful features can be numbered: Fish ID (a more user-friendly display which interprets the returns for you, telling you which are fish and which aren’t showing their depths as well), depth alarm, fish alarm, water temperature display, tilt and swivel mount.

Just like all the other fish finders from Humminbird, the 196ci Piranhamax comes with a 1 year warranty.

Source: http://hummingbirdfishfinderreviews.com/

PiranhaMax 165 Portable

This Piranhamax model comes to replace the 160 Portable. Although the two units are quite similar, there are a few differences between them.

First of all, the Humminbird Piranhamax 165 PT has a better display than the older model, featuring a 240 x 160 pixel resolution, on a 4-inch diagonal screen, 8 level grayscale. This new screen provides a better, clearer image.

On the other hand, the 165 Portable does not have a dual beam sonar. It’s has only single beam sonar capabilities, projecting one beam of 28° (200kHz). Even though it’s specified to be reliable in waters up to 600 ft, I would recommend it only for shallow water fish tracking, up to 250-300 ft.

The transducer is to be fixed with a suction cup, therefore you don’t have to drill any holes in a boat, which makes it a perfect unit for lake or river in-land waters, when you have to use a rental boat.

Just like any other portable fish finder from Humminbird, this unit comes to with a protective, carrying case. The box also contains the fish finder’s charger and a 7AH battery.

PiranhaMax 175

The PiranhaMax 175 is another brand new unit, released in 2013, and it actually takes the place of the PiranhaMax 170.

It has a black and white screen, 16 Level Grayscale, 4-inch diagonal wide display, and a pixel resolution of 240X160. It has a different layout from the PiranhaMax 170, and comes with a tilt and swivel mount. The older version, the 170, has only a fixed mount type.

Although it’s a small unit, it’s capable of accurately scanning waters up to 600 feet deep. Has dual beam sonar technology, projecting two sonic beams for scanning the bottom for fish. The narrower beam, 16° (455kHz), provides a more accurate view, while the wider beam, 28° (200kHz) allows you to scan more water, but with less accurate results.

Like many other fish finder models, this one has the Fish ID+ option, a different way of the unit to interpret the sonar returns, displaying the fish on the screen with fish symbols and their associated depth.

The PiranhaMax 175 is powered by a 12V battery (not included) and comes with a 1 year warranty.

It’s quite a useful fish finder for the price. Even though it does not have GPS and other features, it will surely help you with the locating of your fish, provide information about the water temperature and depth, and overall, improve your angling results.