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Fishing is now easier than ever because of the advanced technology, enabling you to see the underwater surface and different objects. One of these technologies is the Garmin striker 4 fish finder which was developed in 2016. It’s one of the affordable fish finders in the striker series that most anglers love. This article discusses in deatil what Garmin Striker 4 has to offer in terms of its features, pros, and cons.
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Garmin Striker 4 Specs
- It comes with a Clearvu scanning sonar, which helps you see what’s underwater or below your boat. This is because it’s a high-frequency sonar that shows you clear photographic images of objects, fish, and structures.
- A keyed interface with dedicated buttons.
- Available in various screen displays sizes of 3.5, 5, and 7 inches.
- Water rating of Garmin Striker is IPX7.
- It has a waypoint map that helps you mark, view, and navigate various areas like brush piles and stumps.
- Garmin striker 4 chirp sonar sends a continuous sweep of frequencies, giving you a wider range of information.
- It includes an in-built flasher, best for ice fishing, with a display size of 1.9 by 2.9 inches.
Garmin Striker 4 Quick Review
| Model | Garmin striker 4 |
| Sonar | Dual frequency chirp |
| Transducer | Chirp 77/200 kHz |
| Dimension | 3.6 by 5.9 by 1.6 inches |
| Color | HVAG color |
| Weight | 230 g |
| Frequency | 2D sonar |
| GPS | High precision, internal |
| Transmit power | 200W |
| Maximum depth | 1600 feet in freshwater, 830 feet in salty water |
| Waypoints | 5000 waypoints |
| The packaging | You’ll get a tilt/swivel mount, power cable, transom and trolling motor mounts, dual-beam transducer, striker 4, and documentation. |
| Waterproof | Waterproof |
| Price | Check Price! |
Pros
- It has a chirp sonar
- A Garmin striker 4 fish finder is Easy to install and use
- Gives accurate results making your fishing experience a success
- Small size makes it easy to use in any small boat and it’s portable
- It can save up to 5000 pointways
- Shows the temperature, water depth, and speed
- Affordable and best choice fish finder for hobby or weekend anglers
- It has an inbuilt high sensitivity GPS
Cons
- Doesn’t show latitude or longitude information
- The packaging doesn’t include a cover
- The images it show are not as clear as with expensive fish finders
- Has limited networking options
Features
The display or screen feature
This device has a smaller screen of 3.5 inches HVGA display with a 480 by 320-pixel matrix. But it includes a split-screen mode having two simultaneous panels, which enables you to read two different datastreams at a go.
It has a great backlight which allows you to use it any time of the day, either at night or during the day, with no challenges. Its has a touchscreen with some buttons that helps you navigate while in water. It offers 2000kHz reading for sharper images and a 77 kHz reading for dull pictures.
Even though Garmin striker 4 is stronger than those of ECHOMAP devices, it has IPX7 waterproof. The IPX7 waterproof enables you to use it in the rain or with water splash and complete immersion of 3.3 feet for thirty minutes. But you need to test it against dust or dirt.
Sonar and transducer
It comes with a 4-pin transducer that can cover 77/200kHz. The transducer uses two conical beams, 45 degrees for 77kHz and 15 degrees for 200kHz. The transducer cable is waterproof, making it last longer.
The sonar uses chirp technology to send a sweep of frequencies underwater and interprets the data from all of them. Through the technology, you’re able to see clear images with better target separation and structure. This means you can see both big and medium as well as small schools of fish. With this fish finder, you can fish to a maximum depth of 1600 feet in freshwater and 750 feet in salty water. But this is the scanning range with the 5-/200kHz transducers.
It comes with other traditional 2D sonar functions like fish symbol ID, flasher mode ultra-scope, and auto gain. Striker 4 also has a temperature sensor. Remember to get quality images, don’t use a speed higher than 50MPH even if your fish finder has an ultra-scroll feature.
Fish symbol ID translates the sonar returns in various ways, then adds different fish icons to them. It also indicates the depth of every target fish helping you in your fishing endeavor.
The flasher mode also shows you information on the target from the sonar returns. The flasher’s inner rings display the depth, while the flashing section on the outer rings indicates different sonar returns measured in strength. You can use this function for ice fishing or if you’re fishing in a stationary position.
Although this device has a small display of 3.5 inches, it has a 480V by 320H resolution pixel. It also has a backlight and HVGA color display that enable you to work in any weather. You can also see about two panels on this display at the same time.
Garmin striker 4 battery
This fish finder comes with a 12 volts, 7 milliamps battery. It also includes a battery charger and you’ll see an indicator light when it’s charging.
Garmin striker 4 chirp review
Since this device has an inbuilt high precision GPS, you can record about 5000 waypoints and your best fishing hotspots. It also allows you to see several suggestive icons for optimal orientation. However, this fish finder doesn’t have a Chartplotter; its GPS will use blank sheets as the navigation start point. But it’ll show you your overall vessel’s speed. Watch the following video to see how the striker 4 GPS chirp fish finder works and what it entails.
Networking
Garmin striker 4 doesn’t have networking features like NMEA ports or microSD card slots. But you can use the data cable to change your waypoints between the device and ECHOMAP units.
Final Thoughts
Working with a Garmin striker 4 is easy and convenient since it’s portable and of the right size. However, what makes this device stand out is its affordability and feature like the clarity of the chirp transducers, which gives quality images. You can also navigate your waypoints with ease since it has a highly sensitive GPS. As it has an inbuilt flasher, it’s good for ice fishing and small vessels like a kayak. If you’re looking for an affordable fish finder with a maximum depth of 1600 feet in freshwater, Garmin Striker 4 Chirp is the device you need to go for. You can check the current price here.
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