28 8foot pontoon and a 700 series HB with 2 transducers.......help

I will try to draw a picture so ya'all can offer me a knowledge from your experience if you care to, please.

I spoke to a HB rep, who finally found out the 700 series, ONLY, can accept (2) transducers using a toggel switch or just "plug" and re-plug to use a front mounted transducer and a rear mounted one.

The rep was really trying to 'dial-iin' on the question of having the l o n g pontoon boat and my thinking why not have a front AND a rear transducer. One for Fish and the other for Structure....you know .....the 83 hKz vs 200 hKz...thingie....well, the Rep, found that the 700 series can use the swap-out, but found out ....WHY?, as the 700 series have dual beam capability...........that you can use the option of narrow or wide scanning of the bottom, right?

But, that does not get me to "see" what is on the front end of 28 foot craft. Do you see what I am after?

long story short, on the long boat, can I have a transducer at one end shooting off at a 45 degree angle to scan SI like......and use another transdecer at the other end for 'normal' scan'?

Has anyone done this? What works? am I gaining or losing? How to attach a front end transducer on a pontoon??Hands Clapping

I will fishing the Snake River at 25 feet deep. Do not really need 'extra's or so I think.
Has anyone used two different transducers on what models?? with what results??

Thanks.

WELL? My mom is in the hospital with open heart surgery, so am now getting back to CRAPPIE.COM and ......still trying to learn what I need for a fish finder for the 30 foot pontoon.

Would appreciate to communicate how to run two transducers on one machine. Thanks all, wolferk

Wolferk,
I don’t think that you can do what you are wanting on a Humminbird unit. You can connect two units via a transducer switch but not use both transducers at the same time as we transmit/receive on the same transducer wire connections. There is no way to split out the two 2D sonar frequencies.

Now if you look at getting a 798 unit you could install one transducer on the front of the boat and one on the back using the AS-Si-DB-Y transducer splitter cable. This is possible as we use different wiring connections for the 2D versus Si/Di sonar. You would need to buy a DualBeam (2D sonar only) for this. Either the DualBeam or Si/Di sonar transducer could be mounted up front. Would this work for what you are trying to do? By the way; if the DualBeam transducer is not mounted so that it is facing straight downwards than all the water depth readings will be off.

Hope your Mother is doing well.

Thank you GREG, I hope you are compensated/rewarded well for all your excellent and thought out replies you give to us readers on the forum. Thanks you for doing so.
My mom has been moved to recovery and is doing slowly, progressing along. I am back in WA and brother Jerry from FLA will go to Denver to get her home. (He needs a FF too!)

Yes, the, l o n g pontoon would be nice to have 2 HB units, but I am really trying to use ONE unit and TWO tranducers., so as to switch between fore and aft seeing depths and fish; switching from either location from the captian's pilot chair!~

Thank you for saying the '2D 'ducer must focus straight down.

I was NOT wanting a SI, but was hopeing a transducer could focus at an angle. CANn ANY ' ducer mount off-set and showfish and structure on the screen?? Of course, then I would depend on the stationary, normal, transducer to read the accurate depths.

OK?? picture this.......the L O N G pontoon in the Snake River Currents hunting for bottom structure and bottom hugging fish and suspended fish,
the pontoon hunting in circles, fisherman jigging near bottom with heavy weights, the boat searching near shorlines riprap and drop-offs,.......
.....I see one transducer shooting offset (ie,SI) looking for fish in the undercut banks near shore , and switching to the other normal transducer looking straight down (ie,DI)........ to pin poiint deep holes and large bottom debris, ...the boat has manueverd several tight circles, then swings in wide arcs on a anchor rope swinging in the currents between a point and a shoreline riprap and tree pile......

More suggestions, please... Thanks. PS: Greg, Did you liv in Kansas and gred. HS in 1970's??

wolferk...speaking in terms of a xducer shooting offset...

Cane Pole actually took a 2d xducer and rigged it up on a pivoting bracket that he could manuever from pinging straight down to pinging 90 degrees out to the side....on some kind of servo motor controlled by a switch...

If I recall correctly he said that setup allowed him to show fish out to the side of his boat...but he also said it took a little interpretation to recognize on the screen where those fish actually where in relation to his xducer.....

So by CP's experiment..it is possible for a xducer to shoot offset...you will just have to learn how to interpret what you are seeing on the screen...

Rickie

Cabelas and others offer a clamp on pole mount for transducers. Mount your 2 nd ducker to it at what ever angle you wanted. Find a spot on front of tune to mount. Should be able to rotate to accomplish what you are trying to do. I would PM CanePole about a A/B switch that you could hook to head unit and tie transducers to switch. If memory serves me right at one time Lowrance offered one for their units so it can be done. If anyone can do it CanePole can.

These guys are right in that you can use a transducer at any angle but just be aware that you may have to manually set the depth range the unit will display or look to. The water depth shown will not be correct either. Way back when I started at Humminbird I went Crappie fishing with a guy that had a flasher unit with an extra transducer mounted on a broom handle. He would hold it so the transducer was at 90 degrees to the surface and would scan an area looking for schools of slabs. I wasn’t experienced enough to be able to make out squat on the flasher but he was.

Nope, never lived in Kansas but I went through there once! Also I am not quite that old but my knees sure felt like it this morning…

T H A K Y O U all ......for responding to the never ending quest for making something that is usually justs made .."one-size-fits-alll"...

Take care, be safe, and ask your wife first!!