where to mount a fishfinder transducer

[nice.diver]

I want to install a fishfinder on my transom. It will fit nicely within inches of the centerline, which is close to the outboard. I mostly care about the low speed reading, but would like it to work at speed also. WHERE is the turbulance from the motor at??? The boat is a flat bottom soft hull, no speed tubes, not ridged, just an inflatable keel. It may not work at speed because the transom "lifts" out of the water when the tubes get on top of the water. I plan to put it an inch from the scupper.

Question:: will the transducer work in front of the outboard (coupl inches to the side)

thank you

[jyasaki]

My suggestion: Get a piece of wood about the height of your transom, and a C-clamp. Mount the xducer to the wood, clamp the wood to the transom, then start playing around with positions.

Most manufacturers say to mount the xducer off to one side to avoid the turbulence generated by the motor. Seems to me that most of that would be behind the motor, but, then again, I haven't really tested that.

As far as the transom lifting at speed, well, that's what you want. The transducer should be mounted approx even with the bottom of the boat, so at speed, the water should be rising coming off the aft the hull, keeping the xducer face in the water. Play around with height until you get the best performance for your setup.

jky

[mirssant]

Hello

I install the transducer on my avon as far as posible from the motor just beside the tube and 1/2 Inch up from the botton of the transom and works very well at every speed, the transducer even at high speed keeps down the water. if you need i can send you some pics.

cheers

[Sonar]

Maybe the best position for the position could be found in the user manual..

Or on a part of the boat that will produce no bubbles and smooth water.

[nice.diver]

thank you
with the steel plate...the launch wheel studs... scupper drains...gussets of the tube to transom...only having 30 inches of transom to work with = there is only the one clean spot to mount.
thank you

[mmgarrett]

Nice.diver, let me know how that works. I had bad luck with mounting it to my transom om my 14 footer. I ended up gluing it to the hull and it worked marginal at best when I was at speed.
mirssant, please post some pics if you can of how yours is mounted. I just got an 18 foot Achilles and will be mounting the transducer soon.
Thanks,
Matt

[1ThOFA87]

I have a silly question. How are you guys powering your fish finders? Not having an electrical system, are we restricted to portable fish finders? Or is there a way to use a stationary fish finder and power it somehow from a battery.

[Flyguy]

Duplicate post

[Flyguy]

I would do what Jyasaki suggests. I pack my zodiac away each trip so I use a portable setup.



As for power, use a 12V rechargeable battery in a watertight container. This one is a Aldis airtight food container, it lasts 2 trips before it needing recharging.

[mmgarrett]

Originally Posted by 1ThOFA87

I have a silly question. How are you guys powering your fish finders? Not having an electrical system, are we restricted to portable fish finders? Or is there a way to use a stationary fish finder and power it somehow from a battery.

On my old 14' I would power it with a small portable battery. I also use this on my kayak. On the new boat I will hook it up to a full size 12 volt battery. You can get these small batteries on the net or most electronic stores.