Garmin, Lowrance and Humminbird live sonar
Three companies make forward facing sonar and every one of them will run on a First Mate XT. We sell poles, not transducers, so we have no reason to talk you into a brand. What follows is the practical stuff: what each system needs to work, how it hangs on a pole, and which one tends to make sense for which boat.
The three systems
All three do the same job: a live picture of what is in front of the boat, updating as it happens, so you can watch a fish react to your bait. They differ in what hardware they need and how well they fit the electronics you already own.
LiveScope
The transducers you will see most often are the LVS32 and the newer LVS34, with the longer range XR transducer above them. LiveScope needs a GLS 10 sonar black box between the transducer and your chartplotter, so budget space and a power run for that box as well. It is the system with the largest installed base, which means the most people on your lake can help you set it up.
ActiveTarget
ActiveTarget and ActiveTarget 2 run with a module alongside a compatible Lowrance display. If your dash is already Lowrance this is the path of least resistance, and it is the natural pick if you run a Ghost trolling motor. We build a dog bone mount specifically for putting a Ghost and an ActiveTarget together.
MEGA Live
MEGA Live and MEGA Live 2 talk straight to a compatible Humminbird head unit without a separate black box, which is the tidiest rigging job of the three. If your boat is already Humminbird and Minn Kota, this is the one that keeps the wiring simple. Humminbird also sells a TargetLock version that steers itself on a Minn Kota shaft.
The questions that actually decide it
Most arguments about which live sonar is sharpest are about the last five percent. These four questions decide the other ninety five.
What is already on your dash?
This is usually the whole answer. Live sonar wants a compatible head unit from the same brand, and replacing a good chartplotter to change sonar brands is an expensive way to gain very little. Start with what your display supports and work outward.
Do you have room for a black box?
Garmin needs the GLS 10 module mounted somewhere dry with power and a network run. Lowrance needs its module. Humminbird MEGA Live does not need one. On a small tiller boat or a crowded console that difference is worth more than any argument about picture quality.
Pole or trolling motor?
On a trolling motor shaft the transducer points where the motor points, which is fine until you want to look one way and drive another. On a pole it aims independently, and with a powered pole you aim it without letting go of the rod. That is the case for a pole regardless of which brand of transducer is on the end of it.
Who else on your water runs it?
Live sonar has a real learning curve, and the fastest way through it is someone in the next boat who already tuned their settings for the same lake. Whichever brand is common where you fish is the one you will get help with.
Why the XT does not care which one you bought
The transducer end of the XT is a standard round post. That is the same fitting the transducer makers design their own brackets around, which is why LiveScope, ActiveTarget and MEGA Live all go on without an adapter. It is also why the pole should outlast the transducer: when you upgrade the sonar in three years, the pole stays.
If your setup needs something specific, we build mounts. There is a dog bone for pairing a Lowrance Ghost with a transducer, a kit for the Minn Kota Ultrex, and a TraxTech track plate. If none of those is right, send a photo and we will make one.
Model names and hardware requirements on this page describe the three systems as of August 2026. Garmin, Lowrance and Humminbird all revise their line ups, so check the maker's own site before you buy. We are not affiliated with any of them and we do not sell transducers.