So I’ll try to describe this the best I can...my kayak is a tri-toon design on the bottom. I’m going to mount a fish finder on the removable console. The console bottom isn’t flush with the bottom of the boat. My question is does the transducer need to be flush with the bottom of the hull or can it be stuck up inside it a little bit? Added pics for illustration. Any ideas? Thanks in advance
Fish finder help
- Thread starter Ibayne
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Wes
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- Oct 14, 2007
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- Ridgeway, SC
Maybe someone smarter will chime in, but I believe if it’s tucked up in the kayak it can possibly read the kayak hull instead of the bottom of whatever body of water you’re in. That may only be the case for transducers that side scan. Might not matter for just a down scan. I know of instances where if one is mounted incorrectly it’ll pick up the outboard shaft and boat hull. Mine is mounted on the transom flush with the bottom of the boat a few feet left if the outboard. There’s nothing around it to confuse it.
mommucked
Endeavoring to persevere
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Contact the manufacturer.
Fabrik8
Overcomplicator
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- Huntersville
Really depends on the type of sonar and the beam pattern. Is it 2D sonar, or some flavor of downscan (name varies with brand), or sidescan, etc.
Everything you need to know should be in the owners/installation manual. Because it's just a kayak, you're not going to have to worry about mixed water/airflow in that hull area with boat speed, but (as recessed as it is) you may have problems with beam cutoff.
Read the manual, see what the recommendations say about mounting close to other objects, and maybe think about making a spacer or standoffs if you end up being recessed too far.
Everything you need to know should be in the owners/installation manual. Because it's just a kayak, you're not going to have to worry about mixed water/airflow in that hull area with boat speed, but (as recessed as it is) you may have problems with beam cutoff.
Read the manual, see what the recommendations say about mounting close to other objects, and maybe think about making a spacer or standoffs if you end up being recessed too far.
Fabrik8
Overcomplicator
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I looked up that series; if it is a 7SV it has sidescan and is def going to be affected by that mounting location. Make a spacer.
If not, you're probably okay because the beam is probably 50 or 60 degrees and likely won't see that far to either side.
If not, you're probably okay because the beam is probably 50 or 60 degrees and likely won't see that far to either side.
Thanks man... it’s Striker 7cv the manual says nothing about side scan. I just don’t want that thing hangin down to drag an catch on stuff in the water
That is a good looking mounting location if it will work. How complicated is the operation of the unit? I have a Lowrance Hook2 seven on my boat and I hate it. It is so complicated I have to keep the manual with it to basically do anything. Nothing really flows on it and the controls are awkward to say the least. Worst of all he fish look like "hooks" just give me a picture of a dang fish!! I guess I should have done more research instead of listening to a salesman.
Fabrik8
Overcomplicator
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- May 27, 2015
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- Huntersville
Look in the the manual for a menu setting to enable fish symbols. Don't know if that unit will do it, but that's what it would be.
Loganwayne
#BTL
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- Clyde, North Carolina
Make a spacer that puts the transducer slightly below the lowest part of the hull.
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I haven’t tried it. Guy on my shift bought a pontoon from another guy on shift an he said it worked great... we’ll see. I picked that place because I can take that console in an out of my kayak. So if I go down the river I’ll take the whole thing out. The battery will be inside it an the screen itself mounted on top
Fabrik8
Overcomplicator
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- May 27, 2015
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- Huntersville
I had a few minutes waiting for a hair cut this afternoon (Chuckman was there too, but I didn't realize it until after he left and I saw his Jeep), so I took a look at the manual for that unit.
In the menu on the Sonar screen, go to More Options, and there is a selection for Fish ID. That's what you want to enable.
It's a really useful function, because you can instantly categorize fish by size on screen, so you can just ignore all of the schools of bait and crappie and small stuff, and keep looking for the larger size symbols. The depth labels are kind of cool too, but they make the screen very cluttered if there is any amount of fish on screen. We usually just estimate depth from the scale on the side of the page, which is fine because fish will move up or down unless they're really sluggish.
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