fish finder

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by chumbucket

I did the shoot through the hull method with the Grady that I had a few years ago. Worked out well. Depends on the size of your transducer. What I did was to cut a section of 4" PVC pipe that was cut at an angle to match the deadrise of the bilge but level across the top. I cleaned a spot in the bilge and epoxied the PVC pipe and let harden. Then I laid in a bed of silicone. Very important to try to get out as much or all of the air bubbles as possible. I then set the transducer into the silicone and poured more silicone around it just covering the body of the transducer. You just want to be sure to have the transducer pointing straight downward or you'll get false depth readings.
Easy job and works well. 8)

CB...when ya put one in this way, is it important that it's done in the CENTER of the hull just over the keel, or can it go up the deadrise on one side or another(of course keepin' the transduder pointed straight down)...and the silicone you used...just the regular silicone that comes in a tube or anything special there?...

[chumbucket]

I did the shoot through the hull method with the Grady that I had a few years ago. Worked out well. Depends on the size of your transducer. What I did was to cut a section of 4" PVC pipe that was cut at an angle to match the deadrise of the bilge but level across the top. I cleaned a spot in the bilge and epoxied the PVC pipe and let harden. Then I laid in a bed of silicone. Very important to try to get out as much or all of the air bubbles as possible. I then set the transducer into the silicone and poured more silicone around it just covering the body of the transducer. You just want to be sure to have the transducer pointing straight downward or you'll get false depth readings.
Easy job and works well. 8)

[throwback]

Fishfinders are like most all other things in this world you get what you pay for. Depending on your budget I would stay with furuno, lowrance or garmin in that order. I regularlly fish the washington canyon and my furuno unit reads the bottom quite well down to around 1300 foot and I can get a digital readout of bottom depth to below 3000 foot depending on the thermocline. The deepest readout was 3307 feet. The transducer is located on the transom and above 30 kts it can get erratic but at that speed I am just trying to get someplace . Its just common sense that if you shoot ultra sound thru a solid hull you are going to lose detail so mounting inside the hull is a tradeoff. The other disadvantage is that in a shoot thru
application you lose you temp and speed functions. For me temp is almost as important as contour and echos. My suggestion is buy a quality unit and try it on the outside if your not satisfied inside is always an option

[TheTinMan]

Thanks CB....I may do this. I'd like to clean up my transom of all the possible points of water intrusion...don't want a soggy transom....plus I lose bottom at speed.

[chumbucket]

Doesn't need to be in the center over the keel. Mine was roughly 8-10" offset. Just point straight down. Regular silicone is okay. 8)

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by chumbucket

I did the shoot through the hull method with the Grady that I had a few years ago. Worked out well. Depends on the size of your transducer. What I did was to cut a section of 4" PVC pipe that was cut at an angle to match the deadrise of the bilge but level across the top. I cleaned a spot in the bilge and epoxied the PVC pipe and let harden. Then I laid in a bed of silicone. Very important to try to get out as much or all of the air bubbles as possible. I then set the transducer into the silicone and poured more silicone around it just covering the body of the transducer. You just want to be sure to have the transducer pointing straight downward or you'll get false depth readings.
Easy job and works well. 8)

CB...when ya put one in this way, is it important that it's done in the CENTER of the hull just over the keel, or can it go up the deadrise on one side or another(of course keepin' the transduder pointed straight down)...and the silicone you used...just the regular silicone that comes in a tube or anything special there?...

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by chumbucket

Doesn't need to be in the center over the keel. Mine was roughly 8-10" offset. Just point straight down. Regular silicone is okay. 8)

8) ...

[76GMC1500]

I have an Eagle SeaCharter 480DF. *Functionally, it's the equivalent of a Lowrance LMS-337DF. *The 480DF is monochrome. *Most of the Eagle units do not support NMEA 2000, the 480DF does not.

But, for $350 it's a heck of a deal.

[throwback]

Fishfinders are like most all other things in this world you get what you pay for. Depending on your budget I would stay with furuno, lowrance or garmin in that order. I regularlly fish the washington canyon and my furuno unit reads the bottom quite well down to around 1300 foot and I can get a digital readout of bottom depth to below 3000 foot depending on the thermocline. The deepest readout was 3307 feet. The transducer is located on the transom and above 30 kts it can get erratic but at that speed I am just trying to get someplace . Its just common sense that if you shoot ultra sound thru a solid hull you are going to lose detail so mounting inside the hull is a tradeoff. The other disadvantage is that in a shoot thru
application you lose you temp and speed functions. For me temp is almost as important as contour and echos. My suggestion is buy a quality unit and try it on the outside if your not satisfied inside is always an option

[rhahn427]

I've had a bit of experience with depthfinders. I own more than I need right now. My suggestions :

First off, buy the best you can afford. If you are looking at the Eagle line then you may want to take a look at the Lowrance line. THey are both made by Lowrance and look the same except that the Lowrance has much more RMS power than the Eagle line which can give you better accuracy and sensitivity and usually better tracking at high speeds.

Second you have to decide how you want to use it. I like having the DF and GPS in 1 unit. It allows you to do much more. With the higher end units, (LMS332c - LCS111x in the Lowrance line) you can record both the gps and the sonar on a chip and you can mark GPS waypoints from the sonar record so you have greater accuracy for pinpointing spots. THis is only important if you want to record your trips marking spots you caught fish to finetune fishing patterns and being able to see what was below you at that time.

If you dont want to record your trips then seperate units may be better so you won't lose both capabilities if the units goes bad.

Then there are the brands, that is up to you're pocket book and personal preference. I personally like Lowrance because it has a great depthfinder and a good GPS that uses inexpensive software that is great (Nauticpath). The units have the largest screens with the highest definition (pixels) for the money and that is important to me. They are so sensitive that you can watch your jig go to the bottom in 60ft + water. THe drawback is that it is more menu driven then some other manufacturers(who use more buttons) so it requires more of a learning curve.

Right now I have and use the LCX111c, LCX25c and the LMS 332c and 2-X70's Since I only have 2 boats I'll probably sell the 332c and the X70's this winter/spring.

Be careful with the X17 ....... It's a great unit but I believe it's being discontinued and it may only work with the older NauticPath Chips. I had to trade an older Nauticpath chip for a newer chip to a friend for that reason and I believe he had the X17. You may want to check with Lowrance technical support just to be sure before purchasing it. Otherwise it is a great Black and white unit.

Thanks

Rick