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View Full Version : Depth Finders/Sounders



pumpercaptain
01-30-2007, 06:18 AM
Anyone know anything about these things???
Good ones, bad ones etc.???
Here is my problem.
I mostly run my boat in the lakes around Kentucky and Indiana... I know most of you guys are out west, but work with me here!!
The depth finder hardly ever comes on and gives a reading.
If I put the boat in the Ohio River, the dang thing reads the depth the entire time.
I called the company that makes the unit about this, and they have never heard of anything like this before.
Anyone else have trouble with theirs?
I have heard that the older Sea Rays have a very thick hull and the transducer has trouble going thru it.
Would the terrain or whats on the bottom be causing this???
If the river is mainly mud and the lakes have alot of "seaweed" and such, would that cause it???
Anyone have any input on this?

OGShocker
01-30-2007, 07:24 AM
Anyone know anything about these things???
Good ones, bad ones etc.???
Here is my problem.
I mostly run my boat in the lakes around Kentucky and Indiana... I know most of you guys are out west, but work with me here!!
The depth finder hardly ever comes on and gives a reading.
If I put the boat in the Ohio River, the dang thing reads the depth the entire time.
I called the company that makes the unit about this, and they have never heard of anything like this before.
Anyone else have trouble with theirs?
I have heard that the older Sea Rays have a very thick hull and the transducer has trouble going thru it.
Would the terrain or whats on the bottom be causing this???
If the river is mainly mud and the lakes have alot of "seaweed" and such, would that cause it???
Anyone have any input on this?
Not sure how big of a unit you are looking for, but you can't beat Furuno.
Good luck,
OGS
PS. Nice to see a boating related thread...:D

Quality Time
01-30-2007, 08:16 AM
From your post, you have a transducer reading through the hull. If you have any type of coring in your lamination, you will not get an accurate reading from what I was told by a few different manufacturers. Suggest getting a new transducer and mounting it so it is in the water verses through the hull. Year ago I put a humminbird digital in-dash unit in a boat with a hgih speed transducer. It was by far the best and most accurate unit I have ever owned and the most cost effective.

pumpercaptain
01-30-2007, 12:52 PM
Hey Quality Time...
The transducer is in the engine compartment epoxied to the hull.
I only have a small runabout.
Where/how did you put your transducer if it is mounted outside?
I am not crazy about putting one of those on the outside hull anywhere because of the "looks" of it.
Guess its a trade off huh?
Thanks alot for the replies...

Quality Time
01-30-2007, 01:59 PM
That was on two boats ago and I mounted it inside the hull since the boat was not cored. On my last boat and current boat, the manufacturer installed a thru hull (hole in the bottom of the boat) transducer due to fact that these boats are balsa cored. That's the cleanest install since you don't see it and the area of transducer that protrudes past the bottom of the hull is minimal (no speed scrub). The easiest and cheesiest is to mount it on your transom with wires up the stern. Maybe there are more options available that someone else will chime in with.
I did have a lowrance transducer go bad on my last boat. You may investigate weather of not your transducer is okay.

SmokinLowriderSS
01-30-2007, 02:43 PM
I put a Hummingbird HDR 610 on Lowrider last winter, and am very happy. It runs any time the key is on, has a settable alarm (for deep or shallow), claims to keep up to 60mph, and seems to read very closely for me.
I epoxied it to the hull just to the right of the front of my jet intake, and it reads just fine thru my all-'glass hull.
2 1/6" round gauge, digital, red backlighting, either black or white faceplate, and I am very happy I did it.
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-36514181351291_1932_22579894