Confession, sort of!

[Candwr Yak]

I haven't tested this yet...but this seemed to be a viable alternative to permanent mounting.

 

 

It's a Garmin 160 with the optional extra of a portable kit. The box will contain the transducer and cable..which is attached to a suction cup..and incorporates either 8 D cell batteries or a 12V Gell Cell.

 

Tell you what it performs like when I get a chance to test it...

 

That looks a tidy bit of kit - how much was it and where from?

[finn17]

The fishfinder was £149 quid, which I thought was a bit of a steal for a colour, dual beam instrument. The Portable kit consists of the box and wiring, mounts for the fishfinder, an 8 D cell battery holder (no batteries) and a suction cup mount for the original transducer. The transducer and wires all store in the case for transport. That was £40.

I bought both from www.marinescene.co.uk

[ColinW]

I've got a similar Humminbird portable that I used to use when I had my boat. I used to stick the transducer on the transom because it allowed me to have it where it wouldn't get knocked off as I ran the boat up a beach or whatever, but was still underwater. The point is, I'm not sure where you could stick this type of transducer on a yak where it would not be at risk from grounding and yet still be in the water. I thought that was why everyone mounts inside the hull.

[finn17]

Well, the plan was, to whack it on when I am near my mark and take it off as soon as I have finished fishing. The transducer would be stowed safely away before I started heading for shallow waters. The big advantage I see in a kayak over a boat with regard to this sort of suction mount is the ability to pop the transducer on and off whilst out on the water.

Edited July 6, 2006 by finn17

[Starvinmarvin]

Wouldn't bother with the yak, looks as if you have fish under the floor tiles, dig em up and start fishing

 

SM

[finn17]

Wouldn't bother with the yak, looks as if you have fish under the floor tiles, dig em up and start fishing

 

SM

 

I wish! There is a row of garages under those particular floor tiles, so it must be picking up cars...???

[Starvinmarvin]

Or an alien invasion looking at the way they are floating

[Starvinmarvin]

Spanner,

 

The Sealant Adhesive that I lent you was some really cheap stuff to get things working so not surprised it gave out.

 

Have tested loads of adhesives and sealants on Polyethylene none of which gave a perfect hold, the Devcon 2 Ton was the best by some considerable margin.

 

Mine is still going strong on the Caper

 

SM

[Patrick Pending]

Codshead is right you shouldn't use silicone for mounting transducers - From the Humminbird manual:

"Do not use silicone or any other soft adhesive material to install the transducer, as this material will reduce the sensitivity of the unit. Do not use five-minute epoxy, as it has a tendency to cure before all the air bubbles

can be purged, thus reducing signal strength."

 

My take on it:

If you use the wrong couplant (in this case the bonding material) you can significantly reduce the power transmitted by the transducer and consequently that of the received signal.

What you will see on the screen is a perfectly clear picture of the strong echoes (e.g. seabed) and your FF will apear to be working perfectly. However, those echoes faint enough to drop below the threshold of detectability, due to the couplant losses, will not show! That means, you might be missing the (important) finer details such as where the small fish are - the big fish always call on the little fish for lunch

[SeaDooDavid]

Codshead is right you shouldn't use silicone for mounting transducers - From the Humminbird manual:

"Do not use silicone or any other soft adhesive material to install the transducer, as this material will reduce the sensitivity of the unit. Do not use five-minute epoxy, as it has a tendency to cure before all the air bubbles

can be purged, thus reducing signal strength."

 

My take on it:

If you use the wrong couplant (in this case the bonding material) you can significantly reduce the power transmitted by the transducer and consequently that of the received signal.

What you will see on the screen is a perfectly clear picture of the strong echoes (e.g. seabed) and your FF will apear to be working perfectly. However, those echoes faint enough to drop below the threshold of detectability, due to the couplant losses, will not show! That means, you might be missing the (important) finer details such as where the small fish are - the big fish always call on the little fish for lunch

 

Hi PP

 

What experience of fitting fishfinders do you have to comment on this item mate??

I use a boat as well as my yak to fish and have the same finder mounted to the transom of the boat actually in the water and the two displays are practically identical in use!! This is the reason I have mentioned that I consider using silicon as an alternative way to mount on a yak, not based on an unfounded "take on it" unless of course you can enlarge on your findings of using such a method compared to the other methods you use (which are by the way?? which finder do you have, what fixing method have you used and what do you base your knowledgeable ideas of failure using silicon??) I wait with interest to hear them?

 

It does mention not using mastic in the manual but it suggests that air bubbles get in if you just squeeze it out from the tube as you would in its normal use. However this is not the way I did it. I followed instructions from a senior member of this site and have had great success and am very pleased with the outcome. I will only post my experiences of what has actually happened, not an unjustified idea, that way people can make their mind up about which method they use, of which there are many. When you have been a member here longer you may realise this, otherwise people may be misled by an idea not an experience!.

 

Cheers anyway

 

SDD~~~~~