KarlB wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2012 at 1:39pm:


Hey Karl, welcome aboard as Old Salt would say
Lots of fisherman here......you'll fit right in and be able to provide a little different perspective.

You did fine......everyone is mostly pretty patient. I screwed up quite a bit in the beginning and was sliced and diced but was told to keep posting........so some 2000+ posts later here I am (be careful what you ask for  ). I'm still getting sliced and diced but now I don't care  . Have fun, it is a good site with a lot of generous folks who will lend a helping hand at a very reasonable price.

I'm mostly a fly fisherman, so I don't know a whole lot about electronics, but a few years ago I purchased a very inexpensive, hand-held fish finder -- (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) It sells for $50 on Amazon. This is a very basic sonar, but it works surprisingly well. We used it to find the lakers in QP with great success! It comes with an adapter that allows the transducer to screw onto a threaded broomstick. I just bring along a short piece of broomstick with the threads and improvise a mount to a thwart using duct tape.

This is my very first post here. Hope I did it right.   

For a more temporary installation I've read of a person using a wax ring intended for toilet bowl installation to eliminate air space and shaping it under and around the transducer.  They claim it worked well and you just press the transducer into the wax.

The model above this one sends out a probe, finds and grabs the fish selected and returns to the boat with said fish. 

Puckster wrote on Jan 27^th, 2012 at 2:18am:


For Prouboy or anyone else who is looking for a depth finder or looking to upgrade I found this unit to be flat out amazing. Not a bad price for what it can do. I was always of the opinion that all I needed was a "cheapie" but not anymore. Branches, tall weeds and even short weeds as well as being able to tell when I was on "live" bottom made a humongous difference for me. It was a kick to use.

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A big plug for "TheNerds.net"!!   

Here's the story:

I ordered my depthfinder from TheNerds.  The depthfinder was mailed directly from Humminbird Company.  It arrived lacking a key part.  I was told by the Hummingbird company rep that I had to mail the defective part back to Humminbird to get a replacement. 

I wrote TheNerds of my frustration over having to spend another $10 in postage to mail the defective part back. 

In response, they refunded my original postage and handling charges!  They did this, even though they were not responsible for the product problem. 

Impressive customer service.

prouboy

Good news: My new Piranhamax 230 portable showed up earlier than expected.  Bad news: the lid that screws on over the battery compartment was missing.  So, after phone calls, etc, back to the post office, mailed the base back.  Arrgh! 

At least I've got LOTS of time before soft water season is here, and I can read all these great ideas about attaching, portaging, etc, depthfinders while I wait for the replacement to show up.

prouboy

I have installed several and have found a simple method that has worked.  Set my canoe on a piece of carpet on the garage floor. Then clean a spot on the bottom inside of the canoe where I want the transducer with alcohol.  Place a spot about 3/8 inch in diameter and ¼ inch deep on the transducer bottom of GOOP or RTV.  Then press it into the location where I want it mounted and place a heavy (10+LB) weight on it for a day.  A trick to get RTV to set well is to put it in place then pull it off and exhale on both surfaces and put it back on.  RTV requires moisture to set and your breath has enough.  Usually these can be removed by working a flexible thin blade under them.

Kingfisher wrote on Feb 8^th, 2012 at 8:00pm:

My transducer mount in my solo canoe is right behind the front bulk head.  You can definitely see the change in bottom contour coming toward you if you are doing a slow troll.

dd

Good advice KF.  Thanks.  With the silicone mount it is relatively easy to change the location of the transducer as it peels off with little effort.  I think I'll move it under the bow seat.  I should mention that my canoe doesn't have a gel coat on the inside so to make the surface smoother I first laid down a thin coat of epoxy.  Here's a decent video for installation.  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)