Easily changed transducer?

[gpfishingdude]

If I want to use the same fishfinder on two different boats do I have to buy a second transducer or do they make one for the transom that can be easily and quickly changed? Still don't know if I will be buying a Lowrance or a Humminbird but it will have the down scanning on it. I figure that I can rig it up to where I can change the power cord pretty easily. Thanks!

 

[Al Kungel]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

There are portable units available, where the transducer is held on the transom with a suction cup.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

Why bother removing the transducer, transferring it to another boat, stringing the cable to the helm and then installing the head unit and power connections. Why not just buy another transducer so each boat is properly fitted. Transfer the head unit and go fishing. Transducers are not budget busters.

 

[sccatfish]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

Personally if I were going to use it a lot in either boat I would buy a second transducer. Those portable units are okay for occasional use or maybe if borrowing a boat or trying out a boat but it's definitely better to have it mounted permanently and to get those wires out of the way. One thing you can do is to mount the transducer on the end of some aluminum tubing so that you can clamp the tubing to the boat instead of messing with suction cups or other temporary transducer mounts.

Another thing I just thought about was to get one of those transducer mounting brackets for each boat, countersink some machine screws in it before mounting, then use washers and nuts on the machine screws to hold the transducer on, then all you have to do is take the nuts and washers off to remove the transducer.

 

[gpfishingdude]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

Why bother removing the transducer, transferring it to another boat, stringing the cable to the helm and then installing the head unit and power connections. Why not just buy another transducer so each boat is properly fitted. Transfer the head unit and go fishing. Transducers are not budget busters.

This might be the best way to go. I will look at the cost of a second transducer for the models I have in mind and while I'm at it I will see about getting a second power cord. This might determine which brand I buy- which ever company is easiest to work with as far as setting it up for a second boat.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

You don't need a separate power cord. You put a male/female connecter in the power lead you have. Make a power cable for the other boat with the same mating cable as the adapter. You transfer the head unit and the portion of the power cord between the male/female connector and the head unit. Be creative. No need to spend money when it is not necessary.

 

[gpfishingdude]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

You don't need a separate power cord. You put a male/female connecter in the power lead you have. Make a power cable for the other boat with the same mating cable as the adapter. You transfer the head unit and the portion of the power cord between the male/female connector and the head unit. Be creative. No need to spend money when it is not necessary.

Good idea! I will do that. I was looking at a humminbird DI unit and the cost of a transducer like the one that comes with it is a little over a hundred dollars so that would be the biggest expense for using it on the other boat. Seems like the two things that raise the cost of a unit are color and GPS and I am trying to figure out which one would be the most useful for me.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

Along with another transducer and mounting bracket, you'll need another head unit stand for the second boat since the ducer/power cable is mounted into the stand. The price of a second ducer and stand is getting close the price of a second (cheaper) second sonar unit.... Maybe scavenge the parts from it and you'll have a backup head unit?

I'm looking at Humminbird DI sonar's also, pretty sure I'm going with the 581 HD DI as it's only $50 more than 571 HD DI. (Actually, if I were to get the 571, it would be the older 570 DI as I saw it on sale for $200 locally, not worth the extra $50 for the HD designation on the 571 HD DI to me.) The downside to GPS on the 581 HD DI is; Humminbird's stock "Unimap" is very lacking in detail, well actually, there isn't any detail to the map, so it's another $125-150 to get a decent map.

As for color, I would rather get other features (a good map) over a color screen.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

Unless you routinely fish very big water, gps is not essential in my view. The locator can show you the humps, brush and troughs. Besides, if the gps takes a dump chances are the locator is toast as well. Use a handheld gps if you feel the need. Color is also a nice to have but not essential. If portability is essential, then pick a unit that does not power the head unit through the base. Again, think about what you need, not what you want.

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

I bolted my transducers in, but you could rig a clip instead, so you could switch boats easily.

One More Time Around: Shoot Through The Hull

 

[gpfishingdude]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

Unless you routinely fish very big water, gps is not essential in my view. The locator can show you the humps, brush and troughs. Besides, if the gps takes a dump chances are the locator is toast as well. Use a handheld gps if you feel the need. Color is also a nice to have but not essential. If portability is essential, then pick a unit that does not power the head unit through the base. Again, think about what you need, not what you want.

I am leaning towards the Humminbird 581i HD di combo right now because the GPS looks like it would be handier for me than the color and because I read somewhere that the grayscale actually shows better definition. This looks like the best deal for the kind of money I can spend. By the time I spend the money on a handheld gps I could be putting that money in on the 581i. The gps will mark a spot to return to like one that you caught fish on or how to get back to the dock if need be. I have an old I.D. unit on one boat that shows fish about a third of the way down all of the time and it looks like one of those old video games where the frogs are jumping across the road. My wife will ask what it's showing and I will tell her--It's just playing frogger again. Now that I have read more about fishfinders I am beginning to wonder if it is set up right or if the transducer needs cleaning or something.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

When I need to switch units between boats I make a small plastic base for the head unit and use Velcro to hold it place on the dash, or where ever instead of bolting it down, by looking at it you never know this is how it's mounted. Some units have the power cord and transducer cable in one cable, others separate, but either way I just use a complete second setup so there is no messing around.

 

[gpfishingdude]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

That is a good idea with the Velcro. We use Velcrow strips to wrap the two piece rods together when we take them apart for carrying them. Makes it so much easier to travel with them.

 

[gpfishingdude]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

I bought the 581i yesterday and started looking at the set up on both boats. It looks like they both have the power cords that will fit right up and one boat even has the same mount for the head unit as the one that came with the 581i so all I will need is one transducer and the hardware for mounting it. The transducer for the 581i is different from the old ones because it has the down imaging and the dual sonar imaging. The newer kick up mounts for the tranducer is a little different too. All I will have to do is snap the head unit on and off which ever boat we take out.

 

[gpfishingdude]

Re: Easily changed transducer?

I checked out the cost of an extra transducer and mounting bracket for the second boat and found out that it would cost me around $175 so I just threw in the extra $25 and bought a 561 and it came with the parts needed and now I have a back up head unit too. I have just used the 561 on the smaller lakes and figure I will start using the 581i so that I get used to using the GPS feature too.