997 bummer

have been talking with Humminbird since dec 07. about clouds or they call air bubbles in the lake I fish , which could be mistaken for school of fish. Finally got to talk to the right person Greg , but I am not liking what I hear so I am turning to you guys to see if you can help , I have a 17 ft bass trcker deep V aluminum boat and my transducer is mounted where the old one came off , to shorten the story Greg say in order to get a quality picture I will have to go back and buy a second transducer$ 223.00 because he doesn't see where I can mount this transducer on the boat to make it work correctly . also that the si is tough work on an aluminum boat , does anyone have a fix or offer any help ?

HB won't swap transducers with ya? They should take yours and atleast cut you a break on buying the other one. Call em' again.

The Hound

Canepole or 1 weezer can help ya.

Howferg, am I right in assuming he's wanting you to buy another SI
transducer like the one you have, and run a splitter cable so one looks
right, the other left???

Are you having problems with the SI, or regular down view at speed? Or both?
I'm running a 797 on an aluminum deep V, and not having any problem with
the SI part, but then again I'm not trying to make it read depth when up
on plane... I've got another df still mounted that works good up to top
speed so I mounted the 797 ducer up high so as to not get knocked around
by hitting stuff. It loses bottom at about 10 mph, but that's ok the
way I'm using it.

Can you use the side imaging units to read depth when at full speed going from spot to the next? kinda stinks if you cant...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lhumphre

Can you use the side imaging units to read depth when at full speed going from spot to the next? kinda stinks if you cant...

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Some people can, some can't - it's a big ole honkin transducer, and I think
it's a little hard to get good water flow across the face of it at speed,
at least on some boats. I've got about a bazillion humongous rivet heads
on the bottom of mine, so I didn't even bother trying.

They've got a "fix" for this too, they have another cable that lets you split the SI
from the "down" and use a regular, smaller transducer or through-hull on some boats
to get a bottom reading at speed.

That transducer is big, bulky, rectangular and not very hydro-dynamically friendly. It is going to take some testing on your part to find just the right spot and the right depth (protruding below the hull) to get it right. Rapprunner (VA board) has his working on a pontoon boat up to 25 mph. I went with a drill-thru-my-hull transducer on a stepped transom, so mine does not work at speed.

Good luck. Try a suction cup mount while you trial/error.

Dayton

I am not having a prroblem at high speed it will read the bottom fine ,and at speeds faster than 10 mph you can't get the picture fast enough to see the side image ,I can read the bottom up to 29 mph. My problem according to HB is on an aluminum boat your transducer doesn't work like it was deeigned to work because of rivets and they say air ature , I lowered the transducer on a 1x4 completely undehe boat in the back and still had a blockage acording to HB . And I ask them if they don't work on an aluminum boat and you need two depth finders ( which the instructions does n' tell you ) then woulkd they sell me the extra transducer and y cable at there cost , they refused saying that wouldn't be fair to the bp shops of the country . It is a 997., From my point of veiw they should Put on the box MAY NEED 2 TRANSDUCERS FOR ALUMINUM BOATS . after spending 2 grand on the depth finder .

The more i read, the more i'm glad i didn't give in to the temptation to get one. Man, all this stuff is really disturbing. Two grand for a SI and very few guys are satisfied with the product.:eek: Yet more guys are still buying them!:confused:

I've had HB, Lowrance, Eagle, and Garmin, and none of them read that well at WOT.

IMO- I think it was worth every penny. Ours works fine for the most part.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rockmike

I've had HB, Lowrance, Eagle, and Garmin, and none of them read that well at WOT.

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Add a Vexilar flasher to your collection. ;)

What one more gonna hurt.

I mounted the 797 here. Had rooster tail, the made splash shield for it. after I got thru fiddling with it, I could run WOT. No trouble with SI. Got 997 and mounted the bigger xducer in the same location. It worked fine too. WOT was about 32-33 mph gps.

I loose lock the War Eagle. I just use flasher.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...l/IMG_0220.jpg

Din;t know where to go from here , HB don;t want to help a disable retired 63 yr old .

the line on the left of the boat trail they say is blocked . the air bubbles are caused by the lake ??????

Ours does that some(air bubbles) The bottom pic is the white sheild and back of boat shaded.

The first two pics of yours, I have a little bit of that too, but on opposite
side, I feel sure because my trans. is on opposite side from yours...
I just took it as getting some bounce off the hull of the boat, or maybe
a little turbulence, but it seems to read past it ok.

The last one I'm not sure, but it kinda makes me think interference?
I get some scratchy lookin stuff if my aerator pump is running.
But I dunno.

Anyway, here are a couple pics of how I have my 797 trans. mounted.
Sorry for the not-so-great pics. I really didn't figure it would work where
it is, but had to try it first, and it works ok for me there.
I normally have motor trimmed out a little more, but believe it or not, I can't seem to block
it, even tucked in like that :confused: Must be a TIGHT beam up close.
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...cerpics001.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...cerpics002.jpg

If you could put spacers behind mount to get it further away from boat problem might be solved. You may have to trim motor up more though.

Here is a shot @ ~18 mph while I had the 997 on my pontoon boat. It is a pretty "clean" picture, I cannot say the same when I have it on my Sea Nymph, way too many rivets which in turn creates turbulence and clutters the screen. Anyway here is the pontoon shot:
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/k...7-11-08011.png

trim your big motor out of the water then run and scan using the Trolling motor. See what it looks like. Looks like your transducer is too close to your prop too. Need to be about 15 inches away from prop. Like Jeff said. a little space never hurts.

I started out using tm till I got good pics, the I lowered engine, etc. One step at a time tile I got the bugs worked out. My SI had it own battery.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rapprunner

Here is a shot @ ~18 mph while I had the 997 on my pontoon boat. It is a pretty "clean" picture, I cannot say the same when I have it on my Sea Nymph, way too many rivets which in turn creates turbulence and clutters the screen. Anyway here is the pontoon shot:
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/k...7-11-08011.png

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Good picture. Mine ain't that good at 18mph.

First I would like to thank all some good info, with that being said J white has a real close v boat like mine , are you close to the prop , and is your ducer on the left , Cane pole maybe Im wrong but when they say 18 inches from the prop do they mean from the prop or are they measuring from thcenter line of the lower unit ? I went from the prop back to the transducer , I am sure going to look at a spacer and Ill let you know I do keep good contact with the bottom but I have those rivets also to deal with , thats a great picture on that pontoon. Greg says you only shoot out about 1 " with on side image so if I can find that sweet spot look out.

15 inches from the prop....

Also if you look at the transom waterline, you can spot turbulent water passing the transom, even at slow speeds sometimes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cane Pole

Good picture. Mine ain't that good at 18mph.

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Thanks---I just wish it would do that good on my Sea Nymph, but, like I said earlier TOO many rivets.:eek:

1. The 15 inches from the prop required by HB is to protect your motor cooling water inlet from turbulence cause by the large dollar bill sized transducer. Nothing to do with your picture.
2. Wow U do have a very deep V much deeper that J.White. If U put a yardstick on bottom of J.Whites ducer it appears U would be well below his boat where as on Yours its looks like U would be level with those water intakes-drains, sure U may be slightly behind them but the turbulence from water flow under boat & then hitting them seems to be major cause of low speed problem. Yes moving ducer back a inch or 2 & tilting motor may really help. Also trying a tad deeper may help & all this can be done without putting one new hole in U boat. Fact is u can move ducer any where u want even on run(slow)
3 I love that deep v must be a great ride Especially for old farts like me with a wired/screwed back. Because of that deep v its more turbulence then sidescan ducer can live with U will have to go with a 2nd ducer with Y wire as I think J.White mentioned, however need to spend only about $100or so for this dual beam not side scan ducer(this would offset the $40.oo ducer bracket). This could give U side scan at slower speed & dual beam at hi-speed. And U will know if sidescan works before buying 2nd ducer.;)

while I had the extra transducer here from HB I also moved it to the front of the boat with these results If you see how clear the boat trail is compared to the first 2 pictures that is part of what they are saying is the part being b;ocked,

give that transducer about a 5 degree nose up attitude and git rid of some bubbles.....

I AM SWAGGING........

I see what Jax is talking about. The screens, etc at the bottom of the v prob interfering. Trim up engine out of water and run on tm to verify.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cane Pole

I see what Jax is talking about. The screens, etc at the bottom of the v prob interfering. Trim up engine out of water and run on tm to verify.

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Meant to add that clockwise rotating props create more turbulence on the port side of the engine. So 15 inches is recommended. I read this somewhere or Crappiestalker told me this. Can't remember. He mounted my SI stuff.

go to sideimaging.com on Yahoo. You will get better answers and better service there. They have been very helpful with my problems

[QUOTE=howferg;620916], are you close to the prop , and is your ducer on the left , QUOTE]

Yes Sir, on the left. I've been told it needs to be on the right, but I already
had a mounting board on the left, so I put it there.

I just went and measured, I'm only 14" from center of motor across to
center of transducer, measured level. If you measure diagonal, slant
down towards prop, it's about 20" to the center. The nearest tip of a blade is about 13".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lonkm

go to sideimaging.com on Yahoo. You will get better answers and better service there. They have been very helpful with my problems

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They don't know any more than we know...

After reading and looking, I agree with Raprunner. Get a suction mount and find a sweet spot after trying with motor up and trolling motor only...

Tom

I f I get one of those suction cups I can move it until I find where I get the best results . I measured mine like J white did from prop to transducer I am well beond 15"

Or if U don't want to mess with a suction cup you could get one of these
Transducer Brackets for Outboard Motors

A big advantage over being more secure is U can lower ducer below boat further. I use one all the time now so I can switch entire 997, ducer & ant. system between boats in less than 5 minutes. Probably 3 minutes if I wasn't so old.;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rapprunner

Here is a shot @ ~18 mph while I had the 997 on my pontoon boat. It is a pretty "clean" picture, I cannot say the same when I have it on my Sea Nymph, way too many rivets which in turn creates turbulence and clutters the screen. Anyway here is the pontoon shot:
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/k...7-11-08011.png

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Could you post a picture of how your transducer is mounted. I have a sun tracker & mounted mine on the back of the left pontoon & seem to get turbulance from prop. HB just recommended mounting on a shaft to the right side of the motor & inbord of the right pontoon. This would have the transducer just sticking down in open water. The sun tracker does not have a full width transom.
Thanks

Will this give a good side image? With this lowered into position the side view is about 4" below the lowest portion of the pontoon. This is made to raise & lower to several different positions.

http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/q...2008/003-4.jpg