Zipwake vs Trim Tabs: Which Is Right for Your Boat?
October 7, 2026
A Garmin LiveScope bundle is a complete live-sonar package: you pick the chartplotter screen and everything needed to run LiveScope on your boat comes with it. No working out which transducer talks to which black box. No hunting for a mount that fits. We are an authorised Garmin dealer at Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast, we build these bundles ourselves and we fit them.
LiveScope is live scanning sonar. Instead of a history trace scrolling across the screen, you see what is around the boat right now, moving in real time — structure, bait balls and individual fish, plus your lure dropping through them. Point the transducer forward to search ahead of the boat, or down to work directly beneath it. That live picture is the reason anglers move to it and it is why the transducer needs to swivel.
Every LiveScope bundle we build includes:
Two things change between bundles: the screen and which live sonar head is on the pole. The screen decides how much dash space you need and whether you can split the live sonar view alongside your chart — bigger screens make split views genuinely usable, which matters more with LiveScope than with regular sonar. The head decides how far out you can see.
The current generation. No black box behind the dash, 600 kHz to 1,050 kHz and range to 76 m (250 ft).
The previous generation, still a strong system. Uses the GLS 10 sonar black box with the LVS34 transducer. Limited stock at these prices.
Bundles are pick-up only from our Coolum Beach workshop, Unit 6/10 Focal Ave, Coolum Beach QLD 4573. Ring us on 0427 590 995 before you drive up so we can have it ready.
On LiveScope Plus, three parts make up the sonar side. The LVS34 transducer is the head that does the scanning. The GLS 10 is the sonar black box it plugs into, which processes the signal and sends it to your screen over the Garmin network. The chartplotter displays it.
LiveScope 2 removes the middle part. The sonar module is built into the transducer head, so there is no GLS 10 to mount, power or find space for. Head to screen, one cable. That is the single biggest practical change in the range, and it is why the new bundles rig faster and tidier than the old ones.
There are two LiveScope 2 heads. The LVS44 runs 600 kHz to 1,050 kHz and reaches 76 m (250 ft), which is the one for distance. The LVS42HD runs 850 kHz to 1,600 kHz and reaches 38 m (125 ft), trading range for the finest detail and target separation Garmin makes.
If you already own a compatible Garmin screen you only need the sonar side. We sell them separately:
The previous generation, while stock lasts:
If you want the forward-looking view, yes. LiveScope only shows you what the transducer is pointed at, so it has to rotate — a fixed through-hull mount cannot do that. A pole drops the transducer over the gunnel and lets you spin it by hand from the deck.
We now run the GFAB Gen 2 HD pole on every bundle. It is Australian made: a 1600mm powder coated 40mm aluminium tube, an acetal collar turning on a self-lubricating anti-friction ring and a 265mm turn handle. The acetal mounting block takes D-size and E-size RAM mounts, so it comes off in seconds for the tow home, which is why it suits Sunshine Coast trailer boats.
Both can go on the same order at the bundle price. Ask when you book the pick-up.
Plenty of people collect the bundle and mount it themselves — the GFAB pole set is a straightforward job on most trailer boats. If you would rather it was done properly the first time, we are marine electricians as well as a Garmin dealer, which is not a common combination. We run the network cable back to the helm, sort the power feed and set the screen up so the LiveScope view is where you want it.
We fit electronics across the coast — Noosa, Maroochydore, Mooloolaba, Kawana Waters and Caloundra. See marine electronics installation for how that works.
Every bundle is a complete, ready-to-fish system: your choice of Garmin chartplotter screen, the live sonar head, a GFAB Gen 2 HD 1600mm pole, a RAM-D medium double socket arm for a 2.25in ball plus two RAM-D balls to mount it to your gunnel. On a LiveScope 2 bundle the sonar head is the LVS44 and there is no black box. On a LiveScope Plus bundle it is the LVS34 with the GLS 10 black box. Nothing else is needed to get it on the water.
Our LiveScope 2 LVS44 bundles are $7,870 with the GPSMAP 8412xsv, $8,110 with the ECHOMAP Ultra 2 165sv and $9,350 with the 16in GPSMAP 8416xsv. The LiveScope Plus LVS34 bundles are $7,650 with the GPSMAP 8412xsv, $7,800 with the ECHOMAP Ultra 2 165sv and $9,350 with the GPSMAP 8416xsv. The price difference is mostly the chartplotter screen. The LVS44 bundle on the GPSMAP 9013xsv is built and waiting on pricing, so ring us for a figure.
LiveScope Plus uses the LVS34 transducer with the GLS 10 black box and gives a clearer picture with less noise than the original LVS32. Both are now superseded by LiveScope 2, which puts the sonar module inside the transducer head and drops the black box altogether.
For a forward-looking view you do. The transducer has to swivel so you can aim it, and a pole is what lets you do that from the deck. Our bundles include the GFAB Gen 2 HD 1600mm pole. A trolling-motor mount is the alternative if you already run one.
Yes, and we stock it. LiveScope 2 is the current generation and its headline change is that the sonar module now sits inside the transducer head, so there is no GLS 10 black box to mount or wire. Two heads are available: the LVS44 at $3,199, which reaches 76m and suits most boats, and the LVS42HD at $3,299, which trades range for the finest detail at close quarters.
Yes. We are an authorised Garmin dealer and a marine electrician, so we sell the system and fit it. We install across the Sunshine Coast from Noosa to Caloundra. That covers the transducer mount, the network wiring back to the screen and the power side.
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