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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 5:40 pm 
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Location: Virginia - Pro Angler 14 owner since Feb 2010
It doesn't get in the way at all.

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:35 am 
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Location: Stafford, VA
Does Anyone have any experience with the Hummingbird 385ci Combo Kayak Kit? It comes complete with the Unit, Kayak transducer Installation Kit, 12V/7AH sealed battery & charger, Battery dry bag, Quick disconnect cap and unit cover.

It is close to the same price as the Hobie Fishing package that includes the Lowrance X50 FF. but you get a battery, charger and a GPS with built in Antenna?

Thanks,
Bob


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:38 pm 
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Location: garwood, nj
Meatbucket, just a word of advice to anyone buying a Lowrance; once out of warranty you will be SOL. I swear by my X67C, once it took a crap at the end of last year AFTER the warranty period; Lowrance offered to fix/replace the year and a half old unit for $212.45...that's 95% of retail!!!!! AND, with only a 6mo. warranty!!!! All based on fact,all paperwork accounted for; and no receipt of the $212.45 from Navico(Lowrance repair center).Too boot, the unit I paid 95% of retail for didn't come in a new box w/manual and extras; it was just a head unit w/ 6mo. warranty.
I'd go Hummingbird dude. Just watching everyones back, don't want anyone to get burned like me. I just finished a piece for On the Water Magazine, March issue; I retracted my reference to Lowrance as a great FF.
Buy what you must, but be forewarned about their customer service policy on warranty work. MJ.


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:48 pm 
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sifisto wrote:
I'd go Hummingbird dude. Just watching everyones back, don't want anyone to get burned like me. I just finished a piece for On the Water Magazine, March issue; I retracted my reference to Lowrance as a great FF.
Buy what you must, but be forewarned about their customer service policy on warranty work. MJ.


That is the information I was hoping to get. Thank you...


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 6:25 am 
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Location: garwood, nj
Glad to help. Your FF will be the most important piece of equipment you buy in being successful fishing. It will weed out all the dead zones, and put you on structure. Buy the best that your buget can afford, but do the research on your future investment and see how well spent your hard earned money goes.
Lowrance was once a great company,new owners= change; which in this case is not in YOUR favor. Hummingbird has been around a while, and from what I hear will go overboard to help you out. Garmin is new to FF's, but also makes a great product; not sure what their customer service policy is. Simply stated they are too new to find out. Good luck, and good hunting using that FF.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:22 pm 
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I am using a Humminbird 788ci combo FF and GPS. large screen with the highest resolution in its class makes it easy to read. not cheap but I use it my aluminum boat too. I also have a humminbird 797c2 side scan sonar but I actually like the 788ci more and the 797c2 is rarely if ever used. I have the FF mounted on Mad Frog's Liberator mount with a transducer arm. best thing about the Liberator mount? I did not drill a single hole anywhere to do the install! I am using a 5 amp hour gel battery in a waterproof Walmart case. I get one and a half days before the battery will get to 8 volts and the FF shuts off. I recharge the battery daily with a Battery tender or if I am camping I hook the battery to a portable jumper battery and charge it that way.
the 797c2 came with a much better transducer, I can see a 1 oz. jig on the bottom at 70 feet on the FF.
see pictures in this thread:

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=33618


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 1:36 pm 
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Location: Stafford, VA
atavuss wrote:
I am using a Humminbird 788ci combo FF and GPS. large screen with the highest resolution in its class makes it easy to read. not cheap but I use it my aluminum boat too. I also have a humminbird 797c2 side scan sonar but I actually like the 788ci more and the 797c2 is rarely if ever used. I have the FF mounted on Mad Frog's Liberator mount with a transducer arm. best thing about the Liberator mount? I did not drill a single hole anywhere to do the install! I am using a 5 amp hour gel battery in a waterproof Walmart case. I get one and a half days before the battery will get to 8 volts and the FF shuts off. I recharge the battery daily with a Battery tender or if I am camping I hook the battery to a portable jumper battery and charge it that way.
the 797c2 came with a much better transducer, I can see a 1 oz. jig on the bottom at 70 feet on the FF.
see pictures in this thread:

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=33618



Very Nice... That unit is a little out of my price range right now, I did consider it though.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 11:43 am 
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No offense to the owner, but those pics on the first page look like a sloppy install if you ask me... I guess it's cool if you want to get the correct surface water temperature with the transducer, but not being able to drag your kayak across the sand, having all that exposed cord, and the unit right on top of your cutting board/storage hatch is really janky (lame) to me. If you're going to do it like that, I seen a cleaner install where they mounted the transducer through one of the scupper holes in the rear cargo area of the PA using PVC pipe.

Probably the cleanest and easiest way to install the transducer is in the hull using the "shoot thru hull" installation (you just glue the transducer to the hull with marine silicone, no drilling). There's plenty of room for it right in front of the sail mount on the Pro Anger. This way, you run the wires through the hull, and mount the fish finder on one of your 2 replaceable rails, and only 1-2 feet of the power cord are visible. You lose out on the surface water temp, but it still gives you a pretty accurate air temp reading which can still be useful information.

I got the Lowrance X67C when I first bought the PA in June 2010 (the mid-range color unit that Hobie offers), but recently upgraded to the Lowrance M68C which is basically the same as the X67C except with GPS/Maps (got it from Bass Pro for $299.00).

Both have the same great quality screen which is very easy to see with no backlight when it is daytime, and both have a variable backlight that works perfect in the early morning or after dark. The split zoom view on the fishfinder works great especially when the fish are deep like they are in the winter here.

Haven't had any problems with either yet and hope I never do, but for now both units work really well for finding fish and the M68C for navigation, and both have a slew of options to customize to your preference.

Hope this helps someone.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 6:06 pm 
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forgot to mention if you have a bass pro shops nearby they have a large assortment of fish finders on display.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 6:44 pm 
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Location: Charlevoix, MI
Dfievelson - As I understand the discussion, having the transducer in the water is all about increased imaging sensitivity, not better water temp measurement. I had lots of difficulties with my setup last season, mounted for through-the-hull operation exactly as you describe. I finally pulled it out a couple weeks ago and found some small air bubbles in the marine goop which I hope were responsible for the poor performance. I converted it to portable use for ice fishing, and this past weekend had the transducer in the water for the first time. What a difference! I could easily see my small jig in 20' of water at 50% sensitivity. I usually had sensitivity at 85% or higher when shooting through the hull and was unable to see such detail. So from my limited experience, seems that in-the-water is better for seeing fish, and through-the-hull is better for keeping all the wires neat and shipshape.


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:56 pm 
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Location: Virginia - Pro Angler 14 owner since Feb 2010
dfeivelson,

I have to disagree with your “janky” perception of my setup. (Thanks so much for the helpful definition)

I actually think the nice thing about the rig I use is that it doesn’t really require any “install”. I put the unit in the boat, run the transducer and cable and I’m done. It’s just as easy to pull it back out of the boat. I certainly don’t find it to be sloppy – there’s one cable with the extra length coiled under the seat. I wrap the safety retainer clip for the cable around the grab bar and then pull it snug against the side of the boat. The cable doesn’t get in the way at all – nice and neat. The unit and base are just sitting on the center hatch. If I need to access the center gear bucket, which I do regularly, I just fold the head unit down and set it aside. As I said, there is a bracket available I could mount that would allow me to snap the base securely onto the sideboard, but I haven’t felt that would improve my experience at this point. I’m perfectly happy with my "janky" setup.

As I said in my post, I don’t have a temperature sensor hooked up on this unit, so that’s not why I have my transducer in the water. I did a fair amount of research on this and other sites and found many reports of unhappiness with the sensitivity of through hull transducer installation. I definitely agree with Jim_MI on that point. I also considered mounting the transducer through a scupper, but that would still expose it to damage when I land the boat and it would be much more difficult to move or clear vegetation from the unit when on the water. With my setup, it’s very easy to reach around the side of the boat and place or move the suction cup once I’m on the water. I can tell when I’ve picked up weeds and it’s very quick and easy to slide the suction cup to the side of the boat, clear it, and replace it. This is also how I handle moving the transducer when in super shallow water or when landing. I can easily move the transducer, drag the boat across a sand bar or shallow area, and then put it right back in place in a matter of seconds. This would be much more difficult with a scupper mounted transducer, which would have to be accessed from the bottom of the boat. I can guarantee you the scupper mount would still catch grass and weeds.

So, I encourage you to enjoy your neat and tidy setup. I guarantee you that I have and will continue to enjoy mine, and I share it as a simple alternative to anyone who is interested.

Image

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:05 am 
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Location: Stafford, VA
TDK wrote:
dfeivelson,

I have to disagree with your “janky” perception of my setup. (Thanks so much for the helpful definition)

I actually think the nice thing about the rig I use is that it doesn’t really require any “install”. I put the unit in the boat, run the transducer and cable and I’m done. It’s just as easy to pull it back out of the boat. I certainly don’t find it to be sloppy –


TDK
I was actually considering considering a simular set up with the transducer attached by a suction cup. I also have a corection of something I said earlier. "My Jet Boat (JB) Treanducer shoots through the hull" Actaully that tranducer is transum mounted. I took it in about five years ago when I upgraded the FF to a color unit and asked to have the transducer installed through to shoot through the hull but I was told you can't shoot through aluminum. and therefore it was transum mounted. I forgot that when I was asking the question here earlier in this post. a few days later I walked out the house looked at the transducer on the JB and remembered.

The guys at Back Yard Boats assured me that if they mounted it through the hull that it would be a wet mount where only the pad would be epoxied and I would have to add a little watter in the transducer pad each time before going out and there would be no problems. But I intend to move this unit (Humminbird 788ci HD DI) from the PA to the Jet Boat but until I buy a second transducer for the JB trolling motor I was looking at the suction cup option.

Note: I'm mainly a Bass Fisherman and I have Another question for the forum; which new technology is recomended and why; the Down Imaging (DI) or Side Imaging (SI). I was looking at the DI for fishing deeper water but the SI has some cool features as well. I do know that the SI tranducers can not be mounted to shoot through the hull. Thanks...


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:12 am 
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Location: Virginia - Pro Angler 14 owner since Feb 2010
Hi Meatbucket,

I didn't think I would like the suction cup mount initially, but it has turned out to be really simple and effective. Someday I may consider getting another boat, probably an Outback, for certain applications and this will allow me to easily move my fishfinder where I need it. Here's another creative suction cup rig that I like -- http://sckayakfishing.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1403&start=0

If I was to consider a shoot though the hull mount I would go with either the wet mount or, more likely, the setup that Humminbird has put together with the 385ci. It uses grease for the medium between the transducer and the hull, which seems like it would be less hassle than filling the transducer cup with water every trip. I'd be very intrested in knowing if anyone has tried and compared these methods.

TDK

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 5:20 pm 
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Location: High Point, NC
I use an Eagle 350C and have been very pleased. Great display and easy to use.

The transducer is mounted through-hull just forward of the sail mast tube inside the hull. I used a foam block gooped to the hull cut very closely to approximate the shape of the transducer. The transducer fits very snugly into the foam and there is a small diameter water tube that has been fitted through the foam and empties in the small space left between the edge of the transducer and the hull. The water tube snakes around inside the hull to a small opening in the side deck to the right of the seat. A single capful of water poured into the tube, from my normal seated position, runs down into and under the transducer to ensure a positive bubble-free medium between transducer and hull.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:02 pm 
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Location: Charlevoix, MI
Tom - Your wet mount sounds very similar to my evolving Plan B for next season. I have some specific questions...
1) How deep of a water gap do you have between the bottom of the transducer and the inside of the hull? Do you find that the depth of water in the sump affects imaging performance or sensitivity setting?
2) Do you have a vent hole cut in your foam block in order to permit air to escape and water to flow in easily?
3) How often do you have to add water when out fishing? If not too frequently, then would you still recommend cutting a hole in the side deck for easy filling?
4) What are you using for filling? I imagine a small diameter plastic tube such as that used for aquarium pumps would require a syringe or something similar to force water into the sump. Larger diameter would be more amenable to pouring, but requires bigger holes, deeper water gap,etc.

Thanks for inventing the wheel for me!

Jim


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