Depth Gauge

[Schnook]

I'm looking at depth sounders and wondering if anyone has an opinion on through hull vs transom mounted. Is there any loss of accuracy with a through hull transducer? What makes are best?

[Trueser]

I use a thru Hull no signal loss and no holes drilled in the transom.

Livorsi has a nice looking model.

Mike

[Carl C]

My stock Livorsi through hull works better then the transom mount Eagle on my last boat. The signal must be stronger.:p

[MOP]

Shooting through the hull works fine, the only issue that can arise is a void in the laminate. To avoid having Do Overs what we have done for many years is to put the transducer in a plastic bag filled with water take boat out and move the bag to a few spots to make sure you get a good reading. Don't worry about it not being level due to the degree of the hull it will read fine, mount it as far aft as possible so you get a reading at speed.

Phil

[zimm17]

Can anybody snap a photo and attach it of their sender install? I'd like to see how it mounts in the bildge.

[DonziJon]

Can anybody snap a photo and attach it of their sender install? I'd like to see how it mounts in the bildge.

Mine is a Lowrance digital readout with the standard 2 1/4" guage panel size. In my case, the transducer is epoxied to the inside of the hull in the foreward end of the engine room. (Minx) The epoxy comes in the box with the unit. Just hand sand the inside hull surface to get the shine off, mix up the epoxy and smear it over the face of the transducer and stick it on. It works at All speeds. Seaweed on the bottom sometimes causes it to lose the signal temporarily.

Keep in mind though.. At Speed, the reading you just saw on the readout is already 200 yards BEHIND you. :bonk:

BEFORE I committed to the epoxy, I picked up a 3" PVC pipe "joint" at the hardware store and glued it to the hull with silicone in the proposed location to make a little temporary "Well" to hold water. Drop the transducer in the well and improvise a method to keep it submerged. Take the boat out for a few trips just to make sure the location is solid. As stated in another post, any Air or Voids or Coring in the laminate will disable the signal.

[Barry Phillips]

Mine is a Gaffrig unit that uses a thru hull puck style transducer located just forward of the bilge pump, mounted to the floor via epoxy. Aside from the puck working loose and having to be reattached last summer it seems to work great even at high speeds. Don’t mount the transducer at an angle of more than 18 degrees.

[Carl C]

Can anybody snap a photo and attach it of their sender install? I'd like to see how it mounts in the bildge. This is the stock install on a '05 22C. The transducer is the small round thing on the left.

[Cuda]

Through hull gets less disturbed water and reads better.

Imho, a depth gauge is only there to confirm that you are hard aground. :(

[zimm17]

Through hull gets less disturbed water and reads better.

Imho, a depth gauge is only there to confirm that you are hard aground. :(

Not really... It's there so you know what you're getting yourself into before jumping in to take a beer whiz. Nothing like jumping over the side into 3 feet of water and 2 feet of muck.

[MOP]

Mine is a Gaffrig unit that uses a thru hull puck style transducer located just forward of the bilge pump, mounted to the floor via epoxy. Aside from the puck working loose and having to be reattached last summer it seems to work great even at high speeds. Don’t mount the transducer at an angle of more than 18 degrees.

Barry Hull degrees are not very important, the average depth finder has a cone width of 50 degrees or more which will let it read correctly until the vessel like in the case of a sail boat heels well past the cones functional range.
Years back I did some testing to see if I could get forward looking readings, I attached a transducer to a long pole to see how it would work. No matter which way I turned the pole it read the bottom, I then mounted it in the middle of a 24X24" fiber glass panel with only marginally better results. What finally did work quite well was to mount it inside a metal pale, by the time I got done screwing around with my idea "Interphase" forward looking depth sounders hit the market! Day Late Dollar Short!

Phil

[Carl C]

Imho, a depth gauge is only there to confirm that you are hard aground. :( I also use my sounder to find the deep swimming holes. It's also fun to know the true depth of a lake and I have disproven several ridiculous depth claims. FYI little Maceday Lake is 110 feet deep! It also tells me when it's deep enough to plane the boat. When moving fast I agree that it's of little value.:lifeprese

[joseph m. hahnl]

I also use my sounder to find the deep swimming holes. It's also fun to know the true depth of a lake and I have disproven several ridiculous depth claims. FYI little Maceday Lake is 110 feet deep! It also tells me when it's deep enough to plane the boat. When moving fast I agree that it's of little value.:lifeprese


It works best when you are in unfamiliar territory.Especially in narrow rivers or shallow lakes.Maping the bottom before going at speed is allways a wise idea.


I'm looking into a VDO depth sounder to match my other gauges .i'm also thinking of combining to a three in one gage to free up some dash space.
that way i can install it with out having to cut any new holes. Besides there is'nt a lot of space to put in a another gauge. and i would like to put in a compass also.


joe

[TuxedoPk]

Does anyone else use a depth sounder for navigational purposes following depth contour lines?


I also use my sounder to find the deep swimming holes.

[Carl C]

[QUOTE i would like to put in a compass also.


joe[/QUOTE] I'd install a small GPS. This will give you a compass as long as you are moving and lots of other info too. This is what I plan to do although I don't know where I'll mount it yet.

[Cuda]

It's not really applicable in our situation, since we are never out of sight of land, but I wouldn't rely on a gps to get me back to land when offshore. All it is is a radio reciever, they can and do go bad, or lose the signal. I've never had the battery in a compass go dead. :)

[joseph m. hahnl]

It's not really applicable in our situation, since we are never out of sight of land, but I wouldn't rely on a gps to get me back to land when offshore. All it is is a radio reciever, they can and do go bad, or lose the signal. I've never had the battery in a compass go dead. :)


Yah! and they cost a lot less too.;) I need a compass to now what side of the rock marker to be on.:bonk: I think VDO makes a depth sounder with the compass built into it.


joe

[Carl C]

[QUOTE but I wouldn't rely on a gps to get me back to land . :)[/QUOTE] Good point. I'll at least take a pocket compass when I hit the Great Lakes!:smash:

[TuxedoPk]

Wondering how may have swung their boats to calculate their compass deviation?