Portable (self contained battery) compact fishfinder/depth guage?

[Max...]

Is there one - suitable for a SIB?

Seen some budget HK/Chinese affairs on the bay but not sure they would be up to much?! Just need it for reasonably accurate depth info.

[seasdes]

What about trying something like this using a sealed deep cycle battery, battery box, vhf radio and lowrance sounder.

Otherwise see if you can find a used Eagle Cuda 300. I think Lowrance make a portable that is powered by D cells.

[captnjack]

Humminbird makes a variety of portable models which can run off very small SLA batteries. Most have GPS integrated too. I can't totally tell from the online catalog but I think you buy the cases separately.
Humminbird:: Sonar GPS Combo

[Max...]

Thanks chaps but that's the opposite of what I need TBH. I'm looking for small, compact, simple, cheap - just need depth nothing else. Ones I saw on ebay from the Far East were £30 odd. Anyone know anything that fits the brief and might work?

[seasdes]

Originally Posted by Max...

Thanks chaps but that's the opposite of what I need TBH. I'm looking for small, compact, simple, cheap - just need depth nothing else. Ones I saw on ebay from the Far East were £30 odd. Anyone know anything that fits the brief and might work?

Here is something that is depth and temp
LST-3800 - LOWRANCE | Marine Electronics

[seasdes]

Ignore previous post.

[treerat]

I'm guessing you want something like this;
Sonar Sensor Fish Finder Fishfinder Beam Transducer Alarm 100M Portable | eBay

No idea if it's any good but at less than £20 what can go wrong - so long as it works!!

[cptsideways]

Originally Posted by treerat

I'm guessing you want something like this;
Sonar Sensor Fish Finder Fishfinder Beam Transducer Alarm 100M Portable | eBay

No idea if it's any good but at less than £20 what can go wrong - so long as it works!!

Just ordered one, so I will let you know, bargain if it does & nice & simple too which I like the idea of.

[Max...]

Thanks chaps, that's exactly the sort of thing I was looking at, pleased to see you're willing to test it for me...

[stray]

I've got one, they are cheap for a reason.

[cptsideways]

Ahh - How is yours rigged up? TBH all I really want it to do is depth does that work OK? Ie shallow & too shallow or deep enough will do fine!!

[arn.george]

I am looking for a similar set up for a sib - looking at Garmin 101 connected to 12v/7amphr battery (Large torch battery) - would only be going out for a few hours at a time. Any thoughts?

[seasdes]

Refer to photos on previous page. Plastic battery box, fixed Garmin vhf radio, Lowrance mk5 pro and 26 ah deep cycle battery (to power vhf). Plenty of power for one day's use.
Smaller battery can be used if you dont have a fixed vhf.

[arn.george]

Just bought Garmin 301dv - going to use plastic sealable box for 12v smallish battery. Have to fix transducer to transom though - thought about a sucker pad?

[cptsideways]

Well mt £18 jobbie from ebay works in my pond thats about 3ft deep, have just fitted into the hull of the boat & will test it during the week hopefully.

Its currently stuck to the hull floor with Tigerseal which is rubbery/silicone type stuff will it work through a smidge of that?? or should I bond it in with resin or similar.

[jyasaki]

You've already got pointers to the lower end sounders; here are some handheld depth only gizmos:

Hawkeye Portable Depth Finder with Temperature Readings
NORCROSS MARINE H22PX Handheld Depthfinder | West Marine (same as above unit, I think)
Vexilar Products | LPS-1 Handheld Digital Depth sounder The LPS-1 is simple to use. Just put... | Vexilar Fishing Electronics

FWIW, I used to use one of these when I had a SIB; I would much rather have a "normal" FF/depth sounder display. The handhelds work, but they're really clunky to use.

jky

[cptsideways]

Originally Posted by cptsideways;[URL="tel:625921"

625921[/URL]]Just ordered one, so I will let you know, bargain if it does & nice & simple too which I like the idea of.

Originally Posted by treerat;[URL="tel:625551"

625551[/URL]]I'm guessing you want something like this;
Sonar Sensor Fish Finder Fishfinder Beam Transducer Alarm 100M Portable | eBay

No idea if it's any good but at less than £20 what can go wrong - so long as it works!!

Well having tried out my new purchase, it appears to work fine. I first tested it out my pond where it was fine & found my goldfish no problem. Then stuck it in the hull of the boat down low tiger sealed in place & tried it out over the weekend.


Simple to operate, worked fine for what I needed it for eg depth, up on the plane at 25 knots + seemed to confuse it a bit so I guess that what air getting under the hull. Other than that so far so good especially for 20 quid

Comes with a nice long lead & waterproof connector near the unit, well made & simple to work with.

[Ty Williams]

Hi,

I am new to all this, but was thinking.... as it can be fitted to a pole, would it be an idea to clamp an extending window cleaner type pole to the seat, so it runs outwards over the bow, and goes into the water slightly ahead of the boat? That way you have depth information before you hit the area, as it were, and with a bit of tinkering with float and such it may even work when on the plane, as it will be dragging like a fishing rod, ahead of the boat just under the water. Just a thought, and if it were possible, it would also mean that the unit is transferable to another boat if need be

[ShinyShoe]

You haven't had the boat out yet have you? Pretty sure you'll find you will sometimes touch the front of the boat against things like other boats

As far having it deployed on a float to work when on the plane - the forces are gonna be large! REALLY LARGE! My Physics May be wrong but lets say your little boat with engine weighs 60kg and two people on board weigh 140kg. Gross weight 200kg. The inertia of that moving at 10kts (5m/s) is which I think means you have a 1000N force. Thats like hanging a 100kg weight on the pole. Now increase to 20kts (may be a challenge in your boat/engine) that becomes 200kg weight hanging on the pole. But the pole is not supporting that force down its length rather a twisting motion along it... I think it would start to bend unless its a BIG pole. And thats before adding, tides, waves or the effect of coming off the plane and stuffing the float under the wave...

So then stick it on the transom. If its showing 10m depth and the chart says there are no obstructions nearby doing 10-20kts is fine, If you are on the 1m contour and you know there are rocks SLOW DOWN and dont hit things...

If its a fish finder its scanning a picture of the sea ahead - so you will see to the bow at least...

[Ty Williams]

ShinyShoe, thank you for bringing that to my attention. I did not take into account the forces at play, and the fact that it would be a possible hazard in that configuration, as you say, I have not yet taken my boat out

Luckily, a newbie like myself, even meaning well, can be advised by good people who are much more experienced, and can also avoid someone else taking my suggestion, which seemed like a good idea at the time, and becoming unstuck

In this case, would the sensor of one of those fish-finders, mounted at the base of the transom, offer a reasonable report of depth and obstacles (fish or hopefully other things) up to the bow of a small boat as mine, and would it be oriented to face downwards (I can't grasp whether the sensor is like a small disc, and needs to be flat on the bottom of the boat to work downwards... or whether flat against the bottom of the transom would allow it to send waves across to the depths like the edge of a round drinks coaster, so to speak). Kind regards.