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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Fishfinder Installation Completed !

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3466 Posts

Initially Posted - 02/19/2006 : 08:34:32

I updated my website with the photos from installing a Humminbird Matrix 17 Fishfinder. I mounted it onto a RAM Swing Arm that is attached just inside the companionway. I covered the existing depthfinder hole with 1/2" polymer board from West Marine. As I am typing this, just realized I did mention anything on the website about the transducer mounting and did not take photos of it. Oh well ! I guess that is another excuse to go to the boat tomorrow !

Also added a weather station onto my website...You can see what our weather is near the Potomac River/Wash, DC sailing area.

Larry
'89 Robin's Nest#5820, Potomac River/Quantico, Va
http://catalina25.homestead.com/olarryr.html

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frog0911
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1349 Posts

Response Posted - 02/19/2006 : 15:17:58

The installation looks great. I like the teak idea for the screw heads. I really don't like the weather forecast, that is cold!!!!

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3466 Posts

Response Posted - 02/19/2006 : 16:56:26

Yeah ! Today was real cold compared to other days we have had this winter. Tomorrow is a bit better. Light winds predicted. I'm going out !

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Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 02/19/2006 : 17:57:58

Hey Larry, I like the swing arm as well. I mounted my GPS/depth finder on a home made swing arm. The only draw back is if you ever get in heavy weather or rain and you need to close up the hatch. That's when I breakout the backup hand held.

Edited by - Tom Potter on 02/19/2006 17:59:24

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 02/19/2006 : 18:12:01

Nice installation, Larry.

I sure do like those large screen displays. Evertime I go to the boat store I make it a point to walk by the electronics section to check them out. The displays on some are simply amazing.

Question...Do these displays affect night vision in any way?

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existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1180 Posts

Response Posted - 02/20/2006 : 05:47:10

Would definately like to see the transducer mount, especially on theoutside of the hull. How big is the "Puck" and does it stick out very far?

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3466 Posts

Response Posted - 02/20/2006 : 07:53:37

Don, Not sure what you mean regarding night vision concerns. The Matrix 17 and I am sure other fishfinders, have a light dimmer for the background light. You can have a bright background light or dial it down to practically nothing or shut it down completely which is the way it is during the daytime.

Tom, I like your handmade swing arm. I thought about doing that as well but was not sure if I would wind up making it sufficient to hold since the companionway is at an angle and the swing arm pivot needs quite a bit of clamping friction to keep it from swinging back into the cabin. I am a bit confused though with what appears to be your hatch board ? that is fitting right up against the companionway ? Am I looking at this correctly ? I am not sure if I am pictuiring it right. Your board seems to be directly horizontal and not at the companionway slope. I need more details - went to your website but still not 100% sure of what I am looking at. Could you give some details of how you decided to mount your Fishfinder ?

Rick, The puck is about 1" larger than the hole and the hole is about 4" -4 1/8". It is an unusual size in that the depthfinder (similar to the knotmeter that is still on the bulkhead) is larger than the digital depthfinders being sold currently. So...installing a digital depthfinder into the exact sized hole was not an option. The depthfinders usually are advertized with their dial circle dimension which is larger than the hole. For example, the SR Mariner depthfinder, believe is advetized to have a 5" display but the hole is 4" - 4 1/8".

As far as the how far does it stick out from the bulkhead, mine sticks out 1/2" (1/2" Polymer Board from West Marine) plus then you have the caps over the screw heads. But that was okay with me because the knot meter is right next to the puck/circle and the knot meter sticks out a bit as well. If one were to lay their back on the companionway, it is fine and besides the instruments are located a bit up on the bulkhead anyway. I could have used a 1/4" Polymer Board to minimize the thickness on the bulkhead but I wanted the firmness of the 1/2" Board since I was supporting the board insiode the cabin with those 6 machine screws and they were going to support the Ram Swing Arm. Inside the cabin, their are no addl screws holding the board. IT is not apparent from the photos or write-up but inside the cabin, I actually have two rubber face gaskets up against the bulkhead surrounding the hole and then the 1/2" support board was mounted with the 6 screws. I did this because the swing arm machine screws make the board standoff the bulkhead a bit and in order to have a tight and level board fit, I used the rubber material as a spacer and also firm support when the 6 machine screws/nuts are tightened.

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Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 02/20/2006 : 08:44:56

Larry, this picture may explain better how I mounted the GPS/depth finder. My hatch board (the white board at the bottom of the picture) is in its holder stored on the head bulkhead.

As you know the 25 and 250 have a much different layout. The swing arm is mounted to the head bulkhead. This allowed me to install the swing arm level, also the swing arm only needs to swing 90 degrees. I have a bolt and wingnut at the pivot point so I can tighten or loosen the swing arm as needed. When I installed the compass I wanted 0 movement of the arm so I put a snap on the arm and one on the companionway to hold the arm in place. That snap is shown in the first picture not this one.

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existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1180 Posts

Response Posted - 02/20/2006 : 10:03:20

Larry,

When I spoke of the "puck", I was refering to the transducer that goes through your hull in the bottom of the boat. I'm interested in how much the transducer protrudes from the outside of the hull.

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3466 Posts

Response Posted - 02/20/2006 : 21:13:01

Tom,

You straightened me out ! My head was all turned around and you are right, the 250 threw me off with the different layout. I am just not that familiar and I guess my eyes/brain did not see the photo correctly but your addl details and addl photo - now I got it. By the way, in my posting I meant vertical not horizontal. For some reason I thought I was looking at the hatch boards but something wasn't right - It was my eyeballs ! Great hook up ! I see how the 90 degree swing arm works well and because it's mounted on the Head Bulkhead, it is a vertical surface and so the swing arm probably does not have a tendency to swing back in.

I went out today - temps were in the mid-high 30s. It was a great day. My swing arm, fishfinder mount works fine as well. I love the new Honda motor. I am glad I replaced the motor ! Winds were light and at times disappeared. Went under the Wildrow Wilson Bridge with no concerns because the motor restarts with no problems. Bridge construction is ongoing and they build a new bridge next to the old one. The vertical clearance is about 50 feet in the highest span...but they wewre working there and closed that section off. So...had to go thru the next span. I was wondering about the verticle clearance there - it was lower. Luckily, they had a sign over there to mark the clearances based on the tide change. Clearance when I went thru was about 44 ft. No problem...but sure did look a bit close.

Rick...The Humminbird Matrix 17 comes with a transducer that is for mainly hanging off the transom or inside hull mounting. Other models have thru hull. Actually, I believe the company will provide the other transducer if needed but I was interested in mounting inside the hull anyway and so it was supplied with the right transducer. The instructions indicate that inside the hull will work if the hull is solid. It also indicates that inside the hull will reduce the range but since it reads down to at least 1000 ft, that is a non-problem if it doesn't get down to that depth ! The instructions also indicate for inside the hull mounting, use epoxy for a good medium to go thru the hull. There was no way I was using epoxy because if I did not get a good signal, then I would be one transducer down - since the epoxy then is rock hard. Someone recommended using a toilet wax seal for embedding the transducer and so that is what I used inside the hull. It works very well and is a snug fit. I checked depth readings in my marina slip and also with some chart depths and believe the depth readings are fairly accurate. Picked up some fishies as well ! I snapped a photo of the transducer installation and will put it on my website today or soon.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3466 Posts

Response Posted - 02/20/2006 : 21:41:45

Added the transducer installation snapshots to the Fishfinder page on my website !

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