Depth finder

[Noko]

Hi Ya'll. I'm sitting in my house watching it snow. Its a little early for Alaska. I was at Bass Pro the other day and I happened to walk past some depth finders. One brand was Hummingbird and the other was Lowrance. I was looking at models around $200-400. I'm looking for something that would show the lake depth as well as GPS navigation. My first question is can I mount the transducer on the bottom of the boat without having to cut a hole in the hull? And second, any recommendations on a good model to buy?

I saw some really nice ones for $3,000 that mentioned something about radar and a FLIR. Now, my Navy Seal days are over, so I don't think the FLIR is something I need, I have to get the quad .50 cal mounted first.

I hope everyone has had and is still, enjoying a nice boating season. Ours was short, but we are loving the boat.

 

[Andy S]

Most fish finder/chart plotters have the option for either a thru the hull transducer or a transom mounted transducer. When I recently added a Garmin echoMAP 54dv I went with the transom mounted transducer, I wasn't comfortable that I could properly place the through the hull transducer.

 

[Noko]

Most fish finder/chart plotters have the option for either a thru the hull transducer or a transom mounted transducer. When I recently added a Garmin echoMAP 54dv I went with the transom mounted transducer, I wasn't comfortable that I could properly place the through the hull transducer.

Thanks. How is the transducer mounted on the transom?

I bought the one you have. Looks like a nice model and I like Garmin products. Thanks

 

[Andy S]

Thanks. How is the transducer mounted on the transom?

I bought the one you have. Looks like a nice model and I like Garmin products. Thanks

I really like the Garmin GPS unit, I had mine for about 6 months.

The Garmin transducer mounts just like the factory transducer, with 3 stainless steel screws. I put my Garmin transducer where the factory one was, right side of the port engine and moved the factory transducer to the right side of the scupper valve. I kept my factory depth finder in place so that when I didn't take my GPS I still had a depth reading.

 

[blacksapphirez]

what are some feedbacks for Lowrance Elite 4-Chirp?

Overton has a sale going on with a lake cartography and a sun cover for $279.99 and free shipping

 

[Noko]

I really like the Garmin GPS unit, I had mine for about 6 months.

The Garmin transducer mounts just like the factory transducer, with 3 stainless steel screws. I put my Garmin transducer where the factory one was, right side of the port engine and moved the factory transducer to the right side of the scupper valve. I kept my factory depth finder in place so that when I didn't take my GPS I still had a depth reading.

Thanks

 

[Ronnie]

@Noko , I think your stock transducer is mounted through the bottom stern of the boat whereas @andy07sx230ho 's hangs off of the back of the stern. I did the thru hull thing for my after market depth finder (garmin no plotter) and it was a pita removing and reinstalling all the plumbing under the clean out port access hatch). In retrospect it would have been a lot easier to drill three screw holes as well as an hole to pass the transducer lead through than epoxy another transducer in place next to the stock one (plus I would have gotten the water temp feature to work instead of getting the temperature of what is in the bilge area).

@blacksapphirez , it's been a while since I looked at depth finders and plotters but when I did there were several units that utlized chirp technology but none came with a chirp transducer. The chirp transducers I did see cost more than the depth finders / chart plotters that could use them (e.g. $700 for the depth finder and $1,100 for the chirp transducer). Also, all of the chirp transducers had to be mounted outside the hull.

 

[DBamaC]

what are some feedbacks for Lowrance Elite 4-Chirp?

Overton has a sale going on with a lake cartography and a sun cover for $279.99 and free shipping

I don't have any feedback on it specifically, but I was looking at that one as well. I have a friend that has a similar Lowrance model and I'm very impressed with it. I need to do gain some more knowledge before I pull the trigger.

 

[blacksapphirez]

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/pro...er-With-Lake-Insight-Pro-Cartography&i=885007

should have transducer included

 

[bumpy]

The Lowrance does come with a transducer, designed to be externally or internally mounted. I bought the same unit with Navionics charting; the charts are great. I have not yet mounted the transducer, but I plan on putting it inside the hull near the stock thru hull one with epoxy.

 

[RampRage]

I installed a lowrance Elite 4 HDI this spring.

I liked the unit and it was helpful when trolling, navigating on unknown waterways and tracking waypoints.

I followed this install thread created by @Seadeals https://jetboaters.net/threads/elite-4-hdi-install-advice-and-writeup.4222/#post-75390

The only thing I did different from his install was to drill a new hole for the water outlet on the other side of the pump. I went to advanced auto parts and purchased a longer radiator hose to account for the additional length.