Furuno FCV628

Although the Furuno FCV628 is a rather old fish finder, it is still available in 2020. The unit is sonar-only, offering dual-frequency traditional sonar powered by the Furuno specific RezBoots technology. Although it doesn’t have structure scanning sonar of any kind, such as Side Imaging or Down Imaging, this fish finder really shines when fishing in deep water. This is actually one of the main reasons it continues to benefit from positive reviews from many anglers.

Key Features and Specifications

• Screen: 5.7″ diagonal, 480H x 640V pixel resolution, color TFT, with LED backlight
• Sonar: Dual frequency 2D sonar
• Depth capability: Depends on transducer
• Frequency: 50/200 kHz
• Transducer: Not included
• Power Input: 12-24 VDC, 10-0.5A
• GPS: No
• Charts: No

Sonar features

The Furuno FCV628 is a dual-frequency fish finder, its operating frequencies being 50 kHz and 200 kHz. It offers the possibility to use both sonar beams simultaneously and has a split-screen function for viewing and comparing both returns.

The unit’s range scale is 2-1200 m (6.5 – 3937 ft), but the depth capability and coverage of the sonar beams depend on the selected transducer. This unit does not include a transducer, but there are several models compatible with it. We’ll provide some of the information to this matter in one of the sections below.

One of the most important sonar features of the Furuno FCV628 fish finder is RezBoost. This is a revolutionary signal processing sonar technology developed by Furuno, which achieves CHIRP-like performance. The imagery provided by the Furuno’s RezBoost sonar technology is up to 8 times clearer than the standard sonar of most other fish finders. This results in clearer visuals, higher resolution, and also improves the ACCU-FISH feature.

The ACCU-FISH function is similar to the Selective Fish ID+ feature available with most Humminbird fish finders. It measures the length of individual fish and tags them with a fish symbol whose size is proportional to its length. It also gives you the possibility to select the fish size or depth to be shown above each fish symbol.

Several other useful functions available with this Furuno fish finder are Bottom Discrimination, Bottom Lock, White Line, A-Scope, and several alarms. Bottom Discrimination provides quick recognition of bottom composition. It has four types of graphical displays for Rocks, Sand, Gravel, and Mud. Bottom Lock allows you to select a bottom range between 10-30 feet from the bottom, and view it in split-screen with a normal view. It’s a useful function for detecting bottom fish.

White Line allows you to view the top edge of the bottom echo in white, in order to discriminate better between fish, structure, and the bottom. A-Scope (or Amplitude Scope) is a feature offered by most other fish finders; it’s a vertical flasher sonar that shows the most recent sonar echo. For this unit, it appears on the right side of the normal sonar view. As for alarms, this Furuno fish finder offers 8 in number, 6 for fishing, and 2 for navigation. These are ACCU-FISH alarm, fish school alarm, bottom fish alarm, water temperature alarm, bottom type alarm, bottom alarm, speed alarm, and arrival alarm. Some of these require an extra sensor to be connected to the unit, or interfacing with a GPS navigator.

Recommended transducers

As we’ve mentioned above, this unit does not come with a transducer. There are several transducers compatible with the FCV628 fish finder. The list provided by Furuno includes the models 520-5PSD, 520-5MSD, 520-PLD, 525-5PWD, 525T-PWD, 525T-BSD, 525STID-MSD, 525STID-PWD, 525T-LTD/12, 525T-LTD/20, SS60-SLTD/12, SS60-SLTD/20.

From this list, it would appear that the most anglers opt for the 525STID-PWD transducer. This is a dual-frequency transducer capable of 50/200 kHz, RezBoost, ACCU-FISH and all the other sonar features offered by the unit. It’s actually a “Triducer” since it includes the transducer, a temperature sensor, and a speed sensor (so it’s a 3-in-1 transducer). It has 30′ of cable with a 10-pin plug.

The 525STID-PWD transducer uses two conical beams, 45° @ 50 kHz and 11° @ 200 kHz. With it equipped, this Furuno fish finder can reach depths of 1,200′ (353 m) when using the 50 kHz beam.

As an alternative to the 525STID-PWD, you can also use the Airmar P66 which is basically the same, being also capable of RezBoost.

Control unit features

The Furuno FCV628 features a 5.7″ diagonal display, with a vertical layout and a pixel matrix of 480H x 640V. It’s TFT color with LED backlight and IPX56 rated, which means that it can be used during rain and can withstand incidental water exposure.

It’s a keypad-operated unit; the navigation through the menus and the usage of functions is done exclusively via the controls on the right side. It does not have touchscreen technology such as the Axiom 7 from Raymarine, or the Simrad GO5 XSE.

The TLL (Target Lat/Lon) output allows you to interface the FCV628 with a Furuno chart plotter, so that you can mark fishing grounds with various information (L/L, Depth, Water Temp, Fish size and Bottom type). It also offers NMEA 0183 support and can be integrated into this type of network.

Finally, there are two mounts supplied with the unit, these being a bracket mount and a flush mount.

The Pros

• Low/High frequency sonar, capable of operating at 50/200 kHz;
• RezBoost technology – providing CHIRP-like imaging;
• Numerous useful fish finding functions available, including ACCU-FISH, Bottom Discrimination, Bottom Lock, White Line, A-Scope, Temperature Graph, 8 types of alarms, etc;
• Interfaceable with Furuno chart plotters for marking Lat/Lon waypoints;
• IPX56 waterproof;
• Vertical display layout for a better view of the fish in the water column scanned by the transducer;
• Bracket mount included;
• Flush mount included;
• Fairly easy to install.

The Cons

• No GPS and navigation;
• No structure scanning sonar;
• No sonar recording function;
• Transducer is not included.

Summary

The Furuno FCV628 is a standalone fish finder unit without any navigation functions (no GPS, no charts). It has only dual frequency 2D sonar capable of 50/200 kHz frequencies. It has the RezBoost, ACCU-FiSH and multiple other useful fish finding features. However, a transducer is not included with this unit. Due to its 50 kHz capability, this Furuno fish finder is great for deepwater fishing, especially off-shore, despite the fact that it’s a rather small unit. And finally, it’s not exactly cheap for a unit without GPS, charts or structure-scanning sonar, but so far it has received a large number of 5-star reviews.