Depth/Speed Indicators .vs. Fishfinders

  • Thread starter Michael Stephens
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Michael Stephens

I have a new 260 and am considering depth and speed indicators. I am wondering about drilling for transducers with the water ballast. Has anyone installed a Fishfinder on their boat? Where did you mount the viewer? They cost about the same as the other units and provide graphing, alarms, speed, depth, log, and temp.
 
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Ken Shubert

Thru the Hull --- just fine

Many of us are 'shooting' through the hull with very good results. I use a Garmin GPS126 sounder with the cheapest transducer stuck to the inside of the hull with RTV. It would be nice to have it mounted forward but I couldn't manage to get to a good spot up there. You have to mount it either forward of aft of the WB tank and on my H23.5 it's under the aft berth. I used a good grade of RTV adhesive/sealant so it's removeable with a razor blade and a little time. Epoxy is good but more permanent. The reqirement for adhesive is that there be no air bubbles. It's possible to pick a spot on the hull that has a flaw such as an air bubble that will hurt the performance a lot. You can try different locations temporarily by using a water balloon or KY Jelly to fill the voids. The deepest water I've been in is 75' and it works fine to that depth but may not make it to 300'. Not a problem. You can watch all those little fish swim underneath too. I use the GPS for speed over ground, which is what I want anyway. Don't poke any unnecessary holes in the hull. Ken S/V Wouff Hong
 
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Mark Cooper

Agree wholeheartedly

Shoot thru the hull. Don't drill unnecessary holes in the boat that one day may be the source of a leak. On my 240, I'm using a Humminbird 200DX and have the transducer mounted in a nice spot beside the bilge pump in the aft of the boat. Use KY jelly to find the most ideal mounting location and tape it down for a few trips to insure you've got the right spot on all points of sail. Don't waste your time with the speed transducers, though. I shelled out an extra 80 bucks and have had absolutely no luck at all getting it to work properly. The best I've ever done was get it to read about 2.5 knots LESS than my GPS and even then, I had to be going considerable speed just to get it to read at all. In talking with people here and on the TSBB, I've discovered that I'm not alone. The speed transducers on these things are apparently more suited for speed/fishing boats.
 
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Chris

Did it

I've installed a Hummingbird (300 something?) model with the speed/temp display. I installed the depth transducer by gluing it with some silicone in the lazarette under the cockpit. I didn't like the idea of drilling holes in the bottom either, so I mounted the speed transducer UNDER the boat. I made a little "fairing" out of styrofoam core and fiberglass and epoxied it to the bottom. I then screwed the transducer to it. Seems to work OK. It doesn't agree with the GPS all the time, but then again, you've got to figure the GPS can be off as much as 1-2 knots, so I'm not sure which one is more accurate.... I installed the display unit on the back part of the tiller. That part of the installation I'm not very happy with though. It works OK, but when you're in shallow water, having to constantly glance back at the display isn't very convenient. Last time, I've had my daughter read off the depth numbers to me and that worked great! <G> Good Luck! Chris ckluczkowski@ato.com S/V Doghouse
 
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Jeff Peltier

fishfinder success

I installed a Raytheon 365 fishfinder with the indicator on the table just behind the wheel. I mounted the through-hull (which is a combination depth-speed-temp) just behind the water tank by the useless bilge pump for easy access. I used 5200 marine adhessive (which is the industry standard to insure no leaks). I can't imagine it ever leaking and it would be almost impossible to be struck by an underwater object. No problems in three years. Jeff
 
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Mike Pajewski

Garmin GPS 125

I installed a Garmin GPS125 on my 26. I use a the basic transducer, RTV'd to the flat part of the hull behind the ballast tank. The GPS antenna is mounted on the starboard stern rail seat. The display unit was mounted on a quick release bracket from Goldeneye. I actually purchased two brackets. One is mounted low on cockpit bulkhead, just to the left of the companionway. The second mount is under the bridge deck above the aft berth. I left a little extra cable free. When we sail, the fishfinder is in the cockpit, and when we leave, I unsnap it from the cockpit mount and install it on the mount under the bridge deck. It is out of the weather and free from the prying eyes of potential thieves. I have been very happy with the unit and it's performance. Mike Pajewski H26 Loon
 
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