Transducer Placement

[DirtyMike]

I've been having a few issues with my transducer the last few times out. When traveling down river, it'll read one foot until I slow down and it isn't trying to read bottom through turbulent water. Upstream, I'll get anything from 1 foot to 60 ft. This isn't something I want while running up and down the river. Right now, I have it positioned about half way between the motor and port side of the transom with the bottoms of the ducer and boat being flush. Do I need to move it further to the port side, drop it down a bit, start it on fire?

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[huffranger]

The port side will get a wash affect from the rotation of your prop. Starboard side is always better.

Are you committed to the current location ?

Also does any rivets line up with the ducer ? or hull shape that would cause turbulence at speed ?

Dropping it down might be a simple fix......

 

[MuskyManiac]

Where are you guys mounting your down/side scan transducers as far as height from the bottom of the boat? Do they get mounted as low as a regular transducer? Does the down/side scan even work at higher boat speeds? I was thinking if it's not something that works at higher boat speeds it would be easier to just mount it higher on the transom, that way I wouldn't have to worry about any spray issues when cruising.

 

[DirtyMike]

I'm not married to the port side but my transom plate is on that side. I've heard the starboard side is best. I'm pretty sure I paid attention to the rivet line but I'll have to look at it again. Had a bit of an oil leak with the motor so it's back getting looked at. Looks like pure oil so I'm thinking its either a line or I trimmed it up too much.

 

[Fishmission]

Scanner transducer on mine doesent read above 18 mph on mine.
I don't use it anyway unless I am going slow

 

[huffranger]

My best understanding when locating structure scan transducer and the 2D transducer is,

The SS ducer has a beam off the crystal similar to a knife that is perpendicular to the the transom and the 2D skimmer ducer has a cone beam off its crystal, so in order not to have interference between the two the SS ducer must be mounted slightly higher compared to the 2D ducer.

I have a (step) on my transom so I cut a transom saver and screwed it back together in a L shape and glued it to the top of my step. Both my ducers are screwed to it. The SS is facing down and the 2D is off the back slightly lower.

My 2D reads at 62 MPH gets flaky any faster than that But the structure scan quits reading soon after I get on plane.

My mount is located between the main and the kicker on the Starboard side.

If you guys want I can post pics when I get home.

 

[Vollmer]

That would be great huff ... I am having similar issues.

 

[MuskyManiac]

I just upgraded my Lowrance so I can have StructureScan. Really looking forward to it. I know in the manual it says you can mount it like a skimmer for high-speed bottom reading or it can be mounted higher so it comes out of the water on plane and that way you don't have to worry about drag/spray as well as less chance for damage.

I just didn't know how effective these transducers were when on plane. Right now I'm leaning towards putting it higher on the transom so it is out of the water when I'm on plane.

I was also thinking about mounting the structure transducer on the other side of the boat than my 2D transducer, but it sounds like I might want to have it on the same side.

From Lowrance:
"The StructureScan transducer should be installed within approximately one foot of the Broadband sounder transducer (2D) to get optimum performance from the Downscan Overlay feature."

 

[huffranger]

6MPH is the perfect speed to search with the structure scan

 

[MuskyManiac]

Do you have your structurescan transducer on the same or opposite side as your normal transducer?

 

[huffranger]

Do you have your structurescan transducer on the same or opposite side as your normal transducer?

With in inches..

Gonna have Momma snap a pic for me and I'll post it.

 

[DirtyMike]

What's goofy is that there are certain days where it works like it's supposed to. Now that I think about it, it functions normally with two people in the boat which probably makes it sit lower in the water. I believe I'll try lowering it a bit.

 

[huffranger]

How I did mine.............

This is what I started with



I cut it at the same angle as my transom and screwed it together. Then glued it to the step with 3M 5200, It took a month to dry. Glad I did it in the winter, I would recommend 4200 quick dry to anybody else who might want to do this.



You can see where the 5200 squished out and was impossible to wipe off. I lowered the tongue jack all the way down then put a jack stand with a small piece of 2x4 on top under the mount and jacked it up... Worked slick.





No holes in boat and lots of mounting options

 

[Fishmission]

My scan ducer is exactly where Norm's is except factory installed right to the hull and 2D is through hull installation
Surprised the 2D reads good up to 60 mph

 

[DirtyMike]

Huff, I was trying to figure out where the heck your SS transducer was. I see it now. That looks pretty slick but I'm not sure how well it'd hold up with me running into sandbars when I'm trying to sneak into spots.

 

[huffranger]

Huff, I was trying to figure out where the heck your SS transducer was. I see it now. That looks pretty slick but I'm not sure how well it'd hold up with me running into sandbars when I'm trying to sneak into spots.

No way this would work with out the step. I'll find a pic of how it works without the step

- - - Updated - - -

No way this would work with out the step. I'll find a pic of how it works without the step

This is how I would mount my transducers if I didn't have a step.