I've been getting a lot of emails and phone calls about the new Cannon IntelliTroll since I posted about it here a few weeks ago.  My production model showed up here at the house the other day so I thought I'd take a minute or two to share some more pictures & thoughts about it with you. 





The IntelliTroll comes with everything you'll need for your installation:  The head unit, probe, coated cable, power cord, antenna & cable, head unit mounts, mounting hardware, and an owners manual.  The head unit is bigger than the head unit on my Depth Raider, but not a lot bigger.  The numbers on the read out will be big enough that you'll be able to read them at the back of the boat.



One of the things that struck me as a major improvement over the other units I've seen on the market is the way in which the power cord and antenna plug into the head unit.  Cannon has used what appears to be the same connectors as we use on our Humminbird equipment - they just work and they stay put.  That's a good thing:



The next major improvement over the old Cannon Speed & Temp unit is the probe.  It's a LOT smaller and significantly more hydrodynamic than the old probe.  When we tested it against the Depth Raider probe we found it to have the same, if not a little bit less drag in the water.  It has a smaller frontal profile than the DR probe, but it's a little bit longer:



The batteries (4 AA) are reached by un-screwing the cap on the end of the probe.  The battery compartment is sealed with a double O-ring, and it's isolated from the pc board inside the probe.  One of the other differentiating features of the Cannon probe is the way in which it attaches to the cable.  You simply scrape off an inch or so of coating from the cable and thread the cable thru the locking mechanism and tighten it onto the cable.  Simple.  Plus the locking mechanism pivots so that the probe will always run true no matter how much of an angle the cable is at due to blow back.



One final thing to mention about the unit.  It not only displays speed & temperature at the ball, but it also provides actual depth by using a pressure sensor.  That's a very cool feature and if you're like me you'll be surprised at the actual depth your probe is running at given how much cable you have out.  Blowback really impacts how deep your riggers are!

I'm pretty impressed with the final production version of the IntelliTroll, and I look forward to putting it through it's paces this coming season.  We'll have it on the boat as soon as we splash down for the year, so don't hesitate to stop by and ask us about it.  Based on our pre-production testing and what I've seen of the production model I have, I'd say that Cannon has a winner on its hands.

Until Next Time,
Fish On!!

~Capt. Bill