Garmin livescope ice bundle

[sig357]

I made the plunge and bought a Garmin live scope this weekend. Seemed the battery life was pretty quick on these units or maybe I didn't have it charged all the way up. Just wondering what you all are using for batteries or maybe mine is just a rotten egg. Thanks in advance. The battery it comes with is a hefty little bastard.

By the way these units are amazing for ice fishing and cant wait to see what they can do from the boat. I was able to see all the lines in the fish house in about 13-15 feet of water while looking in down mode. We also fished 38fow and man could you see everything out there.

 

[snow]

congrats,started a similar thread "new for 2020....capt ahab has some good insight about this unit,but yeah i'm told the unit eats up battery life quick,some guyz use a car battery ...but this unit as good as it is isn't for the "run n gun" type guyz that travel lite but for a perm shack or wheel house guy its your huckle berry,also CAPT said it has issues reading soft bottom? buddy has one as he chases lake trout on lake michigan,tough read beyound 600' even tho specs claim 1000' but my take its alot to move the thing around,suspect they'll down size in coming years,hopefully the price as well.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I am running an 18ah Amped Outdoors lithium battery. It will run it 12-15 hours. You can also run two 12ah Amped Outdoors in a series for more run time with minimal weight.

Dakota Lithium has a 10ah that you can run 2 of in a series as well for long run times.

Amped seems to be identical technology to Dakota Lithium for less $$.

The standard battery is super heavy and will only get you maybe 5-6 hours of run time.

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P.S. Make SURE you get the right charger for the lithium batteries.

 

[MarbleEyez]

What's the best way to set these up? I was going to put together a "shock-proof" box when I take the plunge! Not sure how big of a box a guy needs to house everything along with 2-10ah batteries!

 

[Captain Ahab]

What's the best way to set these up? I was going to put together a "shock-proof" box when I take the plunge! Not sure how big of a box a guy needs to house everything along with 2-10ah batteries!

I put together a box. It is heavier and less portable than the bag especially if you want to hole hop. That said it offers far more protection and I mounted a 1.5" Ram ball to use my Ram mount from the boat. It works well moving from a permanent, to a snobear, etc, etc.

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BTW, 2-10ah lithiums take up pretty much the same space as the big, heavy thing that comes with it.

 

[gone_fishing]

A little off topic but I got to see Livescope in action last weekend for the 1st time in person. Friend of a friend had it setup in his ice castle (and hooked up to a TV). I was pretty impressed. The transducer was in the 2nd hole (front to back in house) with lines down in the 1,3,4,and 5 holes. Had it pointed towards the other end of the house and you could see all the baits (I think it was set on a 20' scale). I was surprised how good it looked and the detail you could see (much better then the original panoptix). Not in the budget right now but a guy can dream!

 

[Sluggin_Guts]

I built mine before the "livescope bundle" was available by buying the individual components and piecing it all together. I bought the shuttle from this site below, housed it all in a clam flasher bag and I power it with Milwaukee 18 volt batteries. I use a Milwaukee drill on my auger, and use Milwaukee tools for my job, so it works well for me. I have two battery mounts in the shuttle and with two 5 AH batteries I'm good for about 7 hours. It's not a big deal to throw another battery or two in the bag, atv, or truck if I'm going to be out all day or punching alot of holes. If I didn't already have all the Milwaukee batteries, I'd probably be using an Amped Outdoors battery for the longer life (my current setup is still lighter weight though).

The livescope is a big and heavy compared to everything else out there but the pussy is so worth the price even on the "run n gun" days The capabilities of the Livescope are so much greater and my vexilar only gets used now when someone is tagging along that wants to use it.


https://summitfishingequipment.com/...OYClHsmSTsiWQat6pmV87n8f8RsjhsfRoCsIkQAvD_BwE

 

[Captain Ahab]

A couple pics of my setup.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

I built mine before the "livescope bundle" was available by buying the individual components and piecing it all together. I bought the shuttle from this site below, housed it all in a clam flasher bag and I power it with Milwaukee 18 volt batteries. I use a Milwaukee drill on my auger, and use Milwaukee tools for my job, so it works well for me. I have two battery mounts in the shuttle and with two 5 AH batteries I'm good for about 7 hours. It's not a big deal to throw another battery or two in the bag, atv, or truck if I'm going to be out all day or punching alot of holes. If I didn't already have all the Milwaukee batteries, I'd probably be using an Amped Outdoors battery for the longer life (my current setup is still lighter weight though).

The livescope is a big and heavy compared to everything else out there but the pussy is so worth the price even on the "run n gun" days The capabilities of the Livescope are so much greater and my vexilar only gets used now when someone is tagging along that wants to use it.


https://summitfishingequipment.com/...OYClHsmSTsiWQat6pmV87n8f8RsjhsfRoCsIkQAvD_BwE

I want to know more about the Milwaukee battery setup please. Do you have links or pictures to further explain.

 

[Sluggin_Guts]

I want to know more about the Milwaukee battery setup please. Do you have links or pictures to further explain.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z7GNQ6R/?tag=nodakangler10-20

I bought two of these and mounted them in the battery compartment of the shuttle. I connected them to the main harness with weatherpack connectors allowing me to easily disconnect the Milwaukee docks if wanted. Days that I'm moving non stop trying to locate fish I'll use 1 battery to save some weight...I was worried that not having a battery in both docks would create the potential to create a short on the live terminals of the unused dock by back feeding power from the dock being used, hence the reason I put the connector plugs in.

Garmin has verified that their products can easily handle 20+ volts, so I have not installed any kind of voltage regulator as they reduce the batteries efficiency resulting in less run time. I have the voltage showing on the screen of my Echomap all the time, so I can use that to monitor battery life and I'll usually switch them out before I drain them down too far. I've heard pulling them down too far can shorten the life of the battery, but I have no experience to verify that. What I do know is that the livescope likes good voltage, so once you start getting low you'll start having issues with the livescope not functioning properly.

 

[Kentucky Windage]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z7GNQ6R/?tag=nodakangler10-20

I bought two of these and mounted them in the battery compartment of the shuttle. I connected them to the main harness with weatherpack connectors allowing me to easily disconnect the Milwaukee docks if wanted. Days that I'm moving non stop trying to locate fish I'll use 1 battery to save some weight...I was worried that not having a battery in both docks would create the potential to create a short on the live terminals of the unused dock by back feeding power from the dock being used, hence the reason I put the connector plugs in.

Garmin has verified that their products can easily handle 20+ volts, so I have not installed any kind of voltage regulator as they reduce the batteries efficiency resulting in less run time. I have the voltage showing on the screen of my Echomap all the time, so I can use that to monitor battery life and I'll usually switch them out before I drain them down too far. I've heard pulling them down too far can shorten the life of the battery, but I have no experience to verify that. What I do know is that the livescope likes good voltage, so once you start getting low you'll start having issues with the livescope not functioning properly.

I had a hunch this was what you were doing. I have seen mixed reviews about those 3D printed power packs so I was a bit gun shy about them. I’m Milwaukee as well, so this is what I’m headed towards as well. Thanks for the info.

 

[Sluggin_Guts]

I had a hunch this was what you were doing. I have seen mixed reviews about those 3D printed power packs so I was a bit gun shy about them. I’m Milwaukee as well, so this is what I’m headed towards as well. Thanks for the info.

There is not much to the battery docks...just a printed frame to give you something to lock the battery in to with some wires and spade connectors molded in to it. I was a lot more concerned about the strength and longevity of the shuttle from Summit and some of the accessories they put out. I've used mine for awhile now with good results and I'm on a couple facebook groups where there is countless guys with time and miles on these shuttles and very little negative feedback.

 

[pluckem]

I pieced one together with the Summit Shuttle, Summit Bag, 30ah Amped lithium. So far so good. The fit and finish on the 3d printed parts is a bit different. But they do feel like they will hold up.