Garmin Striker Vivid 7SV + Transducer

[Thermobrett]

So I pulled the trigger on a fishfinder/chartplotter/GPS for the boat. As all of our boats we had on Lake Erie had thru-hull transducers, does anyone know where I should mount the transom one on my boat? Is it right on the bottom of the hull, a certain distance for the edge (top or bottom / left to right)? I want to make sure I am only drilling once.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Lots of threads here. Would recommend searching through them for all of the different mounting locations. Will come down to personal preference. I mounted mine on ride plate with a custom brackets, others have done the same. Others mount them to the transom. You want it in the water with no disturbance or bubbling at throttle so you can use the depth at speed. Mine will read all the way upto WOT. Every now and then it misses depending on water conditions. Not sure if you have side view/scan or not. I do so I am maximum 5% angle of lowest part of the boat which would be keel. Of course your design is a bit different on the single engine. I would think transom on your boat. If you are ever going to consider putting on trim tabs take that into account now so I would slide it down toward the engine. It should hang below the hull to stay in contact with the water.

 

[HawaiiBreeze]

I put my Garmin on my 2017 SX190 ride plate, its bullet proof, reads depth and fishes at all speeds and no holes in the boat. As HangOutdoors mentioned there are a lot of vids on this topic including my own 2 part install.

 

[Thermobrett]

Thanks, I never even thought of mounting it to the ride plate under the nozzle. I will see what the instructions mention, but Yamaha's have a different type of hull design so I need to take that into account, and pt. 2 of @HawaiiBreeze YouTube video explains the cavitation locations clearly. I mainly purchased this unit for a chartplotter/GPS, but since it has chirp, clear VU and Side View, I want to see how that goes.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Yeah i will mount it so you get the benefit off all of the features. Pretty neat stuff.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

FWIW,

I have a Humminbird Solix on my boat with side scan. My transducer is mounted on the starboard transom, the only time I have any issues with depth sounding is sitting at idle as there is aeration going when you are sitting still. Idle ahead in the smallest amount and no issue. The side scan works well for the port side but not quite as good as the starboard, one of my low priority upgrades is to add another transducer on the prt side for just the side scan, Humminbird makes a Y cable for this so I assume it’s common.

Adding the Garmin unit is going to open up a whole new perspective for you. I’m not sure how the Garmin mapping works but I assume it’s similar to my Humminbird in that with the plotter you are going to have an awesome view of the underwater structure. So much so you will probably wonder how you got along without it!

If you end up mounting it to the transom, try to make sure it doesnt line up with a bunk board so it can’t get whacked if the boat slides forward during a rapid stop while trailering. I think it’s also a good idea to tighten the bolts just enough to hold it in position yet loose enough so it can swing out of the way if it does happen to hit something.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

 

[Thermobrett]

I think I have found the transducer location. How has everyone wired the unit for power? I’m seeing some people say to disconnect the power from the cigarette lighter power and use that as it always has continuous power, but I use that for blowing up the tube. I was thinking of hooking it to the courtesy light switch and using that power. Any thoughts, or how was anyone else done theirs?

 

[zipper]

If you think you will ever need more circuits at the helm, install one of these forward, under the helm, for future. ST Blade Fuse Block, 6 Circuits with Negative Bus and Cover | West Marine
Feed it with a circuit breaker installed at the battery and marine wire sized based on length of the run and return and current. There is a chart for that.

Circuit Wizard - Blue Sea Systems