TESTED: GARMIN ECHO 300c
Jamie Crawford tests one of the latest – Garmin’s new colour echo 300c.
A little while ago I fitted a new echo sounder, a Garmin echo 300c, to my boat. For me, this represented a step away from the old greyscale technology into the modern era of colour. To be honest I didn’t think I’d notice that much difference from my older sounder, but the contrast and resolution of the new colour model is miles ahead.
Garmin is a big name in top-of-the-line marine electronics. The company recently released a range of affordable sounders for the small boat market. There are five models in the range, with the echo 300c being the smaller of the three colour models. The echo 300c offers dual beam capacity of 200 kHz and 77 kHz, and Garmin claims it will sounds down 450m.
The echo 300c was easy to install; all up it took me about two hours to mount and fit the unit – and I’m definitely no handyman. I transom-mounted the transducer, but there are fittings for mounting to an electric motor also.
The unit is easy to navigate through the settings, and the 3.5 inch display is easy to view – even in direct sunlight. The unit maintains good depth readings, even at higher speeds, and the detail is fantastic for a sounder of this price range.
In shallower water where I do most of my snapper and whiting fishing, the reef definition and fish soundings are very sharp. It picks up the berley bomb really well, letting me know exactly how deep the pot is sitting. Locally, we’ve picked up some subtle broken reef which my last sounder didn’t reveal, and have had some good fishing. The echo 300c has run smoothly since fitting it. The unit retails for $279, and for this price I reckon it’s a great buy.
