I finally opened up my Vexilar Sonar Phone TBOX unit to demo (store12459.americommerce/store/p/27-SP200-T-BOX.aspx ). Below are my initial thoughts about the unit from a first glance. This unit sells for $149 and connects your Wi-Fi compatible device to a network and transmits the data from the transducer to your screen. The box comes with the wifi module, the transducer, an arm band, a power cable, some screws to attach it and a cigarette lighter plug that could be wired to charge your phone/tablet from your battery through a USB cable. First impressions: The arm band seems gimmicky. Unless you are headed for a jog, most people dont wear their phone on their arm. If you were to mount it on your wrist to be visible, IMO it would distract you from fishing. I could see where this might be a great addition for a bank fisherman that needs his hands free, but not a guy in a kayak or boat. I’d rather see them A) lower the price, or B) include a cheap suction cup base designed holder to attach to most surfaces in a boating environment. The Wi-Fi module seems well made and will withstand the abuse from taking it in and out of the boat as needed. The transducer looks solid and the mount has a great adjustable bracket that stays put when you tighten it down. The only thing I see missing from the equation would be a waterproof inline fuse built into the battery cable. I was told that currently only the iOS app was available, however I downloaded the Droid version and ran it in demo without any issues at all. Perhaps it was recently released and not everyone got the communication. Once I set the password, it immediately connected to the network and I ran it for 30 minutes and not once did it lose connection.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 00:08:30 +0000