Calling all cat owners -sounder information

[Skusto]

Hey guys

Need to upgrade the sounder in the 2100 kevlacat the old Navman is just no good for sounding ground.

I'm most likely going to get the furuno 588 but before I fork out a lot of hard earned I'd like to get it right.

So a couple of questions, how do cats go at sounding ground at about 20knots? The Navman currently is no good and just makes it so hard to find the fish.

What transducers did you guys use?

Where did you guys mount them? I have seen one 2100 with the transducer mounted externally but as it's in a yard I can't ask the owner how it is for sounding ground on the plane.

Currently the transducer is in a wet box on the left sponson but as the kevlacat has no access hatches it looks near impossible to do the same set up without cutting into the floor which looks expensive.


I need to try to get this right cause as it stands my catch rate has dropped dramatically not being able to sound ground and find the fish. Not going to use 160l of fuel again for two fish just gets way to expensive.

Any advice help would greatly be appreciated if you install Sounders for a living feel happy to get in contact as I won't be mounting the new sounder by myself this time.

Cheers Dan


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[Moray]

Skusto,

There is a pretty useful thread in the boating section. Good pics as well towards the end.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...light=kevlacat

There are good options for a transom mount - off the pods or the transom directly depending on the transducer you choose. If you want to go with a wet box the M260 is still a great piece of kit. Cutting a hole in the floor and installing a wet box is not hard at all. Pretty minor cost as well. Would have been less than $250 in total including the deck plate and the strengthening of floor around the hole. Mind you this is money you could put towards a transom mount transducer which if mounted correctly should give you superior performance eg TM260 with a bracket arrangement as per the thread i have mentioned above.

If you have not looked at chirp then I'd suggest you give it a really hard look. Cant go wrong with the Furuno but chirp is definitely impressive in terms of finding fish.

cheers

Michael

[Skusto]

Thank you for the information Michael

I do really want to mount the transducer through a wet box again as per your thread, but i have spoken to a reputable fibreglass repairer and he wasnt to thrilled on the idea and wanted to cut a large hole in the floor and basically just re glue it back in which is not what i'm after.

Do you know of anyone that i could speak to that has the experience in this sort of exercise? As i do want to get it right the first time and not get it wrong. Fibreglass is not my area of expertise houses are so I would like to get someone to install and do all the work so i know it gets done right.

And i know chirp is a good bit of gear but having a 620 furuno already and being happy with that i figure i should stay with something that i know works well.

[Moray]

Dan

The M260 wet box and transducer comes in three parts - base, piece that goes on top of the base and then the transducer. I cannot recall the diameter of the hole i cut but it was based on the largest stainless steel deck plate i could find. Possibly 7 inches. Boat is stored 50km away so will be a while before i could give you the dimensions. The key issue is to locate the hole to avoid the diaphragms in the hull. The thread i linked you to has one option to get access to the rear compartment where the original wet box is located.

There is a conduit - (did this 3 years ago so not sure of the diameter but think it was around 25mm) that runs from the rear compartment to the front cabin. The fuel sensor cables are in the cable along with the transducer cable. Impossible to pull the transducer cable with plug through the conduit even when i cut off and removed the old cable. The plug on the end of the transducer cable is the problem. You can cut off the plug and then get a joiner box to reconnect the cable to the plug but I didn't like this idea so cut off the two fuel sender cables using a hole saw on a long rod fed up the conduit. There was no possibility of getting the plug through with them in place. I'm old school and can never bring myself to trust a fuel gauge and I always use a dipstick so it was no issue for me. If you like a fuel gauge you are stuck with having to cut off the plug. Cant see any other option unless you cut a hole through each of the diaphragms. This would be a tricky exercise but if you have the desire i'm sure it can be done.

To get the new transducer cable through you will need to cut off the existing transducer cable, temporarily join the new one so you can pull out the old and at the same time draw through the new. While it was a total pain in the neck to make a segmented extension (had to fit in the 7 inch hole and be long enough to go right up the 25mm conduit) I did get it to work and eventually get the conduit clear which allowed the new cable and plug to be pulled through. And as the conduit runs all the way back to the rear compartment you also need to cut into the conduit if you mount it in a new location. So don't overlook the challenges to get a new transducer hooked up once you have it installed. I've got a 2400 so the 2100 could be slightly different. My transducer was on the starboard side. Are you sure you have it on the port side? This would make it a longer cable run which is odd, but certainly possible.

As for cutting a huge hole in the floor and then glassing back in place, this is totally unnecessary. A small hole is all that you need. After i cut the hole i made two stiffening pieces of glassed up foam which fitted through the hole and were glassed to the underside of the floor between the two diaphragms. Sounds complex but in fact was really simple. Once in place I just used two clamps to hold each piece with pressure against the underside of the floor while the fibreglass cured. Biggest concern was locating the diaphragm (which was a bit of guesswork by tapping the outside of the hull) and ensuring the hole cleared it. By breaking up the wet box into the three pieces it easily fitted in the 7 inch hole where i reassembled it, glued it to the bottom of the hull, installed the transducer, cleared out the old cable and fuel sender cables and pulled through the new cable. Worked a treat. After strengthening the floor I installed the deck plate (sikaflex and bolts). Stronger than the original set up.

There is some discussion about the new location having kevlar and possibly affecting the transducer reading, however, i have not observed this. It works really well in depths up to 200m (have not been deeper yet). It doesn't sound well beyond about 45km/hr whereas the original position in the very last compartment might well give a better reading.

So as you can see getting a new wet box and M260 into the hull is a bit of work.

cheers

Michael

[Skusto]

Thanks Michael

Wealth of knowledge there.

I'm thinking maybe something like this would work just have to find the right installer to see if it would work.




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[Moray]

Dan

I'm sure the option of mounting on the transom or on the underside of the pods will work a treat. Running a cable to the helm from this position is very easy. The only concern i would have is mounting it directly in front of the motor and whether this creates a potential issue eg cavitation. If you can find someone that has done this and they confirm there is no issue then happy days. It also places the transducer at the lowest part of the hull thereby it should give you the best reading with the least interference from bubbles. I was not sure about this arrangement so opted to position the transducer to the side of the motor. But it would have been much much easier to mount at the lowest point of the hull directly in front of the motor.

[Cape Crusader]

G'day
Not sure if this helps but very happy with the performance of our garmins using the standard supplied transducer. We always seem to get a nice clear image of the bottom regardless of speed and in depths up to 280ft
Had a mono with a Lowrance touch and always lost bottom even at much lower cruising speeds. I was not able to identify the issue in that case,
Cheers
Rod

[Skusto]

Thanks Michael, I have pretty much sorted how I am going to do it now! You are correct if I do it this way I can run the cables very easy! I had a good look today!

I just have to find a fabricator to get it done or think I might buy the transducer first then slowly get it sorted. As I have to push the boat back 125mm on the s trailer so as the transducer doesn't get hurt.

I have a smaller plate boat with the transducer mounted closer then what this would be and the only time I get real bad interference is when I try to reverse to quickly! So I'm hoping it should
Be about the same if not better due to being further back!

Thank you Rod but we generally fish from 280ft up to 600ft which is the main reason for a 1kw transducer.

Cheers Dan


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[Barryl85]

Hi dan, I've got a 22ft commander cat. When I bought the boat I wasn't happy with the transducer on the hds10 so changed up to a m258. Started with a transom mount bracket on the back of the pod. I moved the thing at least 5 or 6 times and couldn't get it to read well at speed. Seem to me there's too much going on around the transom with both motors churning up wash. I have access to the pod so I made a wet box in the starboard side and it works like a champ. Still not as good as a wet faced transducer but reads well at any speed out passed 250m. Just to throw a spanner in the works If I were you I'd be looking at the wet box set up sure. A bit more involved maybe but much better results in my opinion. But then again I'm no electronics guru. Either way mate let us know how you go with it.
Cheers joel

[Skusto]

Hey joel

It's currently in with Arnold's fibreglass getting repairs done and getting a box made up to go under the pod for the thru hull 1kw transducer.

I ended up going with the furuno 588 and I think b164 transducer which will be mounted under neath the pods, will post picks once it's all done and we have tested it.

Cheers Dan


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[Dirtyfuzz]

Hey joel

It's currently in with Arnold's fibreglass getting repairs done and getting a box made up to go under the pod for the thru hull 1kw transducer.

I ended up going with the furuno 588 and I think b164 transducer which will be mounted under neath the pods, will post picks once it's all done and we have tested it.

Cheers Dan


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Could you flick us a few photos when it's done, I have to try and decide on which way to go mount very soon aswell
OOPS MY BAD [emoji847]

[feral cat]

660 noosacat with 587 furuno running a p66 tranny ($150) on the port side. Crisp clear reading bottom in up 80 mtrs at 25knts. Nil interference and can pic detail and fish etc at that speed and depth.

[33tamarind]

660 noosacat with 587 furuno running a p66 tranny ($150) on the port side. Crisp clear reading bottom in up 80 mtrs at 25knts. Nil interference and can pic detail and fish etc at that speed and depth.

hi feral cat have you any photo of your tranny set up thank 33tamarind

[Skusto]

Well I stopped in this morning to have a quick look boats not finished but Arnold has done the transducer bracket.

Getting the front of the boat fixed as well due to some cracking on front of boat.




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[Dirtyfuzz]

I like the look of that tranny mount, eager to see how it reads, don't think I have that much room under pod for mounting unfortunately, I just had some pods fitted while waiting for windscreen to be finished and fibreglass top can then go on


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