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pulling the trigger on one tomorrow. got a small 14 ft jon boat with 15 hp Merc. suggestions on how to mount transducers on transom for best results and where to put the display unit. I fish from the front of the boat with. manual trolling motor. iihave never had a fish finder before, so I need all the help I can get. thanks in advance for any help. paul
I have used FF since the flasher days and I can tell you the HDS touch 7 is one sweet unit. I have one and love it. I just added a side scan transducer and can't wait to try it. The touch screen is so much easier to use, especially if you are familiar with touch screen phones or tablets.
thanks for the reply sea ray. any suggestions on mounting and placement of the display, or perhaps any pictures of you mounts. also, I have an iPad, so I am used to touch screens.
You could mount the HU on a ram mount in the middle of the boat and it might be visible from the front and back depending on how good your eyesight is and what kind of detail you are looking for or need for your style of fishing. You could also get another power cord and a Ethernet cord and another mount, and then have it set up to move the HU back and forth depending on what you are doing (running down the water or fishing from the front).
I had not thought about the possibility of having two mount areas. After I get my unit today, I think I will go with the two mount concept. Will they be easy to rearrange down the road? My intent would be to get a second unit with downscan only for the front, but this might be a year or so in the coming. Have to save some money for my golf habit :biggrin
i think you will want to mount the unit so it can be seen and used from the rear of the boat , when looking for possible structure and using maps to return or goto waypoints its about the only way you can cover any water , if the untit is up front only you wont be able to cover water use maps or mark new waypoints effectively , you can always run a cheep sonar unit off trolling motor to stay on brush or legdges etc. , after you have located structure with rear unit
Nice unit! I sorta rigged mine up on a block and have the cords arranged so I can move it around the boat front or back. Sort of a janky set up but it works until I can spring for another head unit.
I like that idea about covering water and needing the mount in the back. got it this afternoon and will be opening the box tomorrow. thanks for the ideas guys. will send some pics when I figure out how to mount and use. fish 2/3 times weekly, so should have some in a couple of weeks or so. paul
I understand. electronics are a bit pricy.
Run HD's......If you have one unit I would suggest two mounts... Run the lake with side scan from the back and locate the fish. Keep side scan locked to 50 ft or 60ft (personal opinion). I have two boats one is run with Ram Unit holders. Other boat runs Ciscofishing unit holders. Cisco is not cheap but built to get abused. BalZout mounts are getting a lot of attention (look at Tackle Warehouse). Several buddies have went this way. I think this is a fit between a Ram and Cisco. When I trade boats again I will be going to BalZout.
thanks pb. paul
I use the Ram mount on my front HDS 9 Touch, and the Balzout on the dash 12" Touch. I like the sturdiness of the Balzout, but it's easier to position the Ram when the sun hits the graph.Quote:
Originally Posted by plateboater
I mounted mine on a Ram mount at the console. This allows me to turn it if I want to view from the front and with it raised on the Ram I can see it from the back as well. I have a DF on the front but it is the 365 HB and the screen is really small so I find myself turning to look at the HDS 7 a lot when I am up front.
I made a taller mount for my front graph and mounted the 21/4 Ram on top of that. Makes it much easier to see and operate while I'm fishing.Quote:
Originally Posted by SeaRay
that's good to know before I proceed, thanks.
ok, got everything out of the box and have searched Internet for mounting the transducers and read the instructions from Lowrance on transducer mounting.
Now it seems I should probably use a "mounting plate" to reduce drilling more holes. the big question I now have is what sealant to use on the aluminum boat I have. most of the sealants I have seen are not recommended for aluminum. also, this will need sealing below the water line. thanks again. paul
Standard water resistant silicone works fine. I've used gallons of it.
Call me if you need some help or advise. 870-635-0202
I have some JB MarineWeld marine epoxy, would this be ok. Other than the seal, I think I am in good shape now. I appreciate your advice. Paul
Just have the line correct from recommendations. If you receive interference as you motor and watch regular sonar one quick trick is to lower unit in the water. Will be able to see instant results. I learned the hard way with on the water and lowrance help desk on the phone!
last question, I promise :pray. if I am mounting both the skimmer and the ss transducers on the starboard side of the transom, does it matter which is closest to the engine? thanks for all the suggestions and guidance. paul
Why do you want to put both ducers on the same side? I never do this.
well, I just saw a mount on the internet from the tech section of c.c with both on the same side, and another guy that said his was mounted the same way and assumed you were supposed to do it like that. plus, I bought a transom mount board yesterday and only wanted to drill two holes in my boat.
I put mine on opposite sides of the engine, but if works the other way so be it. I do understand about the mounting plate.Quote:
Originally Posted by ibmack
Thx for answering MY question. [emoji4]
just need to make sure SS is lower so you wont get interferance if you mount on same side and i think they recommend 12" apart and 2" lower!
ok, if y'all think it is better to mount on separate sides, I can spring for another $10 for a separate transom mount at Gander Mountain. I am going fishing in the "Pool" tomorrow, so I won't be mounting anything until Wednesday
I would not move it. The 2 transducers are supposed to be no more than 18" apart for the overlay data function to work. I also have read that if you mount one on the left (port) side you can get interference from turbulence from the prop because of the direction of the rotation. Supposedly it throws a lot of surface and subsurface bubbles which can interfere with the signal.
I have no idea if these are true or not, but I would not move it without giving it a through testing on the water.
Good luck.
that is exactly what most everyone says SeaRay. Paul Which should be closer to the motor??
ok, finally got both transducers mounted and mounted the display on a RAM mount yesterday afternoon on the middle seat thinking I could see it from both front and back. sat in the boat in the driveway and, duhhh, found I couldn't reach the display to change any settings, mark waypoints, or do anything else with the screen without getting up. of course, now dead to the water until the sleet we got last night and this morning melts. gonna remount more to the backseat where I can reach it easily when moseying along with my hand on the tiller. will get pictures when, and if ever, finished. thanks for all the good advice. should have thought about working the unit while moving, but it didn't enter my mind. paul
this is what i was getting at , if you cant reach it u cant do anything with it!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by ibmack
that was a real kind "I Told You So" CG :bash. Hehehe, thanks. Paul
finally took it out for first time today. drove up and down little Maumelle River for four hours and spent two hours of that around the house boats and marine areas. didn't fish a lick, just played with the settings and tried to figure out what I was looking at. the unit is awesome, but I don't have a clue what I am doing yet, or what I am seeing. it rained almost the whole time, but I could still see the screen pretty good by just wiping it with a cotton towel occasionally. took about 8-10 or so screenshots, but didn't know how to save them to the SD chip. will try to do that tomorrow if it isn't raining. as soon as I get them on the chip, I will try to post them and let the guru's tell me what I am seeing and how I need to reconfigure the unit.
thanks for the all the help and suggestions y'all provided to help me get set up. I think I am going to love it once I figure out how to understand it.
paul
Don't know how you mounted the SS ducer, but sometimes it needs to be flipped to show the left and right correctly. There is a menu option for this.
I put the ss ducer on the starboard side about 6 inches from my motor, with the di ducer about three inches to the right of the ss. I also put the ss ducer about 1/2" lower than the di ducer. they seem to work great, it is just my interpretation that is the question. heading outside now to get the images saved to the chip.
remember, I just have a small 14" jon and not a lot of width to work with.
Run by a dock or something you can see and if the image is reversed on the screen, go to the SS menu and flip the left and right view. If the cord of the SS ducer is towards the transom of the boat, it will need to be flipped unless Lowrance has changed their setup.
I passed by a stump sticking out of the water on my right and it showed on the ducer on the right, so I think that part of it is ok. Thanks for the heads up, but if you see something in my pics when I get them posted, let me know. Am going to try to post them now, but who knows how long it will take me before I figure out how to do so