installing a new toilet and holding tank..

[albinvega1865]

Sorry folks!

I was interrupted by a colleague and rushed the email off before thanking everyone in advance! My apologies...and thank you all for your assistance.

Chris
V1865

 

[TJBurkett]

Chris,

I removed mine, glassed over the hole and mounted an in hull
transducer.

Tom

 

[albinvega1865]

No problems with the in-hull transducer? I have heard that they are not as accurate...or is that a sales ploy? The depth sounders have always been a mystery to me as you generally will hit the ledge before the depth sounder picks it up as it is typically located well aft of the bow....but we all seem to need them!!! Go figure....

thanks for the info Tom!
Chris

TJBurkett tjburkett@... wrote:
Chris,

I removed mine, glassed over the hole and mounted an in hull
transducer.

Tom

 

[brockhaus77]

I tried my transducer both ways - first submerging it in the water,
and then, when it became completely fouled with algae, putting it
inside the hull. I'd say the latter was definitely better - how precise
can you be when the ultrasound has to go through layers of barnacles?
(This of course assumes that the hull is reasonably clean). You have to
make sure that there is good acoustical coupling between the surface of
the sounder and the hull - I sawed a piece of PVC pipe at the proper angle
so it could hold the sounder pretty much straight up although the hull
was sloping at the spot I chose; then I filled the void with vaseline.

My experience so far (with the inside arrangement) has been very good -
I watched the depth going from 5' to 4' to 3'10" a couple of times -
and sure enough, right about at that reading I could feel a distinct
"bump" as the keel made brief contact with the (fortunately soft and muddy)
bottom. (To my defense I have to say that I was heading towards a channel
marker and "knew" that the depth would increase any second now - which it
did...)

I agree with you, though, about the general issue of having a depth sounder in
the back when you are moving FORWARDS. I guess it's o.k. in the Chesapeake
Bay (because above-mentioned soft and muddy bottom never seems to slope
very steeply either way), but it would definitely not work near a cliff coast. I guess
that's what charts and chartplotters are for...

- Sebastian (V1060 VegaLyra)

 

[albinvega1865]

Thanks Sebastian,

Great advice and I appreciate your candor! I will probably try to remove the old fairing block and mount and "In-Hull" Transducer as it seems to be the overwhelming response from this group.

Cheers!
Chris



brockhaus77 kuhn@... wrote:
I tried my transducer both ways - first submerging it in the water,
and then, when it became completely fouled with algae, putting it
inside the hull. I'd say the latter was definitely better - how precise
can you be when the ultrasound has to go through layers of barnacles?
(This of course assumes that the hull is reasonably clean). You have to
make sure that there is good acoustical coupling between the surface of
the sounder and the hull - I sawed a piece of PVC pipe at the proper angle
so it could hold the sounder pretty much straight up although the hull
was sloping at the spot I chose; then I filled the void with vaseline.

My experience so far (with the inside arrangement) has been very good -
I watched the depth going from 5' to 4' to 3'10" a couple of times -
and sure enough, right about at that reading I could feel a distinct
"bump" as the keel made brief contact with the (fortunately soft and muddy)
bottom. (To my defense I have to say that I was heading towards a channel
marker and "knew" that the depth would increase any second now - which it
did...)

I agree with you, though, about the general issue of having a depth sounder in
the back when you are moving FORWARDS. I guess it's o.k. in the Chesapeake
Bay (because above-mentioned soft and muddy bottom never seems to slope
very steeply either way), but it would definitely not work near a cliff coast. I guess
that's what charts and chartplotters are for...

- Sebastian (V1060 VegaLyra)

 

[maarten_vanemmerik]

To support the "In-Hull" concept: I glued the egg-shaped transducer of an Eaglefish Fishfinder CUDA 128 inside the hull just aft of the water tank in the bow using epoxy resin (first tried silicon and that worked fine as well until it came loose at a rough sea). You have enough time to verify the correct working of the transducer while the resin cures. Make sure you have no air bubbles and press the transducer tightly to the hull. I mounted the fishfinder on a swivel arm so you can read it inside and outside and don't need to cut holes. It is amazing what economies of scale (fisherman vs. sailors) can do in terms of value for money: A full sonar with graphical display for 90 EUR compared to a standard 200 EUR 'depth meter' with just a numerical display.

Loading…

www.fish-finder-review.com

Maarten van Emmerik
Vega 2904

 

[albinvega1865]

Looks pretty nice Maarten!
Thanks for the link. Much of this stuff is going wireless these days...won't that be great when all the wires that criss-cross our boats are a thing of the past?

Chris

Maarten van Emmerik maarten.vanemmerik@... wrote:
To support the "In-Hull" concept: I glued the egg-shaped transducer of an Eaglefish Fishfinder CUDA 128 inside the hull just aft of the water tank in the bow using epoxy resin (first tried silicon and that worked fine as well until it came loose at a rough sea). You have enough time to verify the correct working of the transducer while the resin cures. Make sure you have no air bubbles and press the transducer tightly to the hull. I mounted the fishfinder on a swivel arm so you can read it inside and outside and don't need to cut holes. It is amazing what economies of scale (fisherman vs. sailors) can do in terms of value for money: A full sonar with graphical display for 90 EUR compared to a standard 200 EUR 'depth meter' with just a numerical display.

Loading…

www.fish-finder-review.com

Maarten van Emmerik
Vega 2904

 

[albinvega1865]

Maarten,

Do you find the relatively small display to be a problem? I suppose one advantage of the dedicated depth sounders was the large LCD Display and back lighting for nightime sailing. Have you had any problems with this?

chris



Maarten van Emmerik maarten.vanemmerik@... wrote:
To support the "In-Hull" concept: I glued the egg-shaped transducer of an Eaglefish Fishfinder CUDA 128 inside the hull just aft of the water tank in the bow using epoxy resin (first tried silicon and that worked fine as well until it came loose at a rough sea). You have enough time to verify the correct working of the transducer while the resin cures. Make sure you have no air bubbles and press the transducer tightly to the hull. I mounted the fishfinder on a swivel arm so you can read it inside and outside and don't need to cut holes. It is amazing what economies of scale (fisherman vs. sailors) can do in terms of value for money: A full sonar with graphical display for 90 EUR compared to a standard 200 EUR 'depth meter' with just a numerical display.

Loading…

www.fish-finder-review.com

Maarten van Emmerik
Vega 2904

 

[maarten_vanemmerik]

Chris,

I did not have a problem with reading the display so far. The LCD display is 10 cm diagonal in size and the depth is shown in digits of approx. 1 cm high. The LCD also has backlighting and an acousting depth alarm. A drawback compared to traditional depth sounders is the bulkiness. Not sure about power consumption.

Maarten

 

[albinvega1865]

OK...sounds good! Thanks Maarten!
Chris

Maarten van Emmerik maarten.vanemmerik@... wrote: Chris,

I did not have a problem with reading the display so far. The LCD display is 10 cm diagonal in size and the depth is shown in digits of approx. 1 cm high. The LCD also has backlighting and an acousting depth alarm. A drawback compared to traditional depth sounders is the bulkiness. Not sure about power consumption.

Maarten

 

[albinvega1865]

Hey there,

Still struggling to find a decent depth sounder at a reasonable price (I know...deram on!). Looks like the best deal right now would be the Raymarine ST40, but they only have the transom mounted transducer and the through hull which I will pass on as I really don't want to deal with the fairing block issue! In-hull would be my preference at this point in time!

Question:
Is a transom mounted transducer the equivalent of putting the cart before the horse? Is the information that you receive from the transom mounted unit too little too late, or does 15-20' really make that much of a difference as you generally are in trouble anyway...once you see the depth reading go from 45' -10' in seconds!

Any suggestions or thoughts on this...or on new or used units?

Chris

 

[txsailcouple]

Chris,
Since you are usually moving at a rate that is far beyond your reaction time for a sailboat if you suddenly go from 45' to 3' there isn't any instrument that will save you from an abrupt stop. The disadvantage for the transom mount 'can' be turbulance and air bubbles which may make the readings erratic while motoring, sailing not so much. Some others that I know of have put their transducer in a cup of oil attached to the inside of the hull. As long as there is no air or metal between the end of the transducer and the water it will read fine. (no thru hole and no block needed.)
John
Southern Comfort Too

 

[albinvega1865]

Thanks John and Carol!

I really want the in-hull (first choice). I will keep looking, but no one makes these depth sounders anymore...datamarine is gone, simrad only makes fishfinders and very expensive multi-units, Uniden seems to only make the little in-dash units (roughly the size of an engine meter....2" X 3 3/4")....it is frustrating!

I may go with the Raymarine ST40 with the through hull and just use the hole that I already have...and hope that I don't have to rebuild another fairing block!

Looking into the Signet Marine units as I write this...

Thanks for all the feedback!
Chris

John & Carol txsailcouple@... wrote: Chris,
Since you are usually moving at a rate that is far beyond your reaction time for a sailboat if you suddenly go from 45' to 3' there isn't any instrument that will save you from an abrupt stop. The disadvantage for the transom mount 'can' be turbulance and air bubbles which may make the readings erratic while motoring, sailing not so much. Some others that I know of have put their transducer in a cup of oil attached to the inside of the hull. As long as there is no air or metal between the end of the transducer and the water it will read fine. (no thru hole and no block needed.)
John
Southern Comfort Too

 

[alan_critchlow]

I put our transducer forward of the keel.It is a ST 40. It is in the
head area right above the trim board. It works well. Alhough if we
heeled a lot it may not be accurate on a starboard tack. I did not
put it in a fairing block.

Alan

 

[albinvega1865]

Hi Alan!

That is what I did with our Sabre 28'. I never had any problems with it, but occasionally if we heeled beyond 25 degrees on a starboard tack, the numbers would drop off and then reset....I was always more concerned about the depth in harbors and gunkholes at low speeds. I may just use the hole that is already there for the flash unit and see if I can't get a decent reading out of that. Maybe take a few readings in known waters and calculate the error (which will probably be slight). ???

Chris

alan_critchlow alan.critchlow@... wrote: I put our transducer forward of the keel.It is a ST 40. It is in the
head area right above the trim board. It works well. Alhough if we
heeled a lot it may not be accurate on a starboard tack. I did not
put it in a fairing block.

Alan

 

[brockhaus77]

Hi Chris,

in case it is not clear from the responses you have already received:
the idea is to use a "transom mounted" transducer but simply put
it inside the hull instead. It should work! See my message 10633 and
any number of other messages over the years on the topic...

- Sebastian (1060 VegaLyra)

 

[albinvega1865]

Oh....will do Sebastian, and thanks for the clarification!
Chris
V1865

brockhaus77 sekuhn@... wrote: Hi Chris,

in case it is not clear from the responses you have already received:
the idea is to use a "transom mounted" transducer but simply put
it inside the hull instead. It should work! See my message 10633 and
any number of other messages over the years on the topic...

- Sebastian (1060 VegaLyra)

 

[stevebirch2002]

Hi All

Myself and Mike Freeman will be in Poole/Wareham to install a Beta into
Yacht "Allegro" a Series III Vega.

If anyone is about and wants to get any tips on the install or to buy me
a beer or five then drop in. We will be there Tues, wed & thursday.

Mobile - 07831 846997

Cheers


Steve B