Transducer location on T160

Hi all.  Looking for some input before drilling holes on my new boat. 

I was thinking of mounting the transducer to the rudder.  That would be a nice place to keep it from getting bumped in case I forget to pull it in or drift into something.  Not sure if I'd get interference though.

It also seems like I could mount it through a scupper because the bottom of the Tarpon has two channels cut into the bottom that run the length of the boat and it would be safe in there since the scuppers are in line with the channels.

Most people are putting their transducer inside the hull and shooting through the plastic. There's no need to have the 'ducer actually in the water outside of the hull, as the hull doesn't cause significant interference. What is important is to make sure there are no bubbles between the 'ducer and the hull.

Over the years the interior mounting methods have evolved from simply "gooping" the 'ducer in place (a permanent mount), to gluing in a piece of snug fitting foam that's carved to receive the 'ducer (which allows the 'ducer to be moved from boat to boat). A little water poured in to the well of the foam allows the 'ducer to have contact and no bubbles for interference.

I've read about that a few times, but I also read a T160 specific article about not so great results.  When I picked up my new boat last night, I could immediately tell a difference in the material of the Tarpon and my 2008 Tsunami.  The Tarpon is MUCH MUCH harder, so I'm thinking it has a denser material. 

Anyhow, in the article the guy said he got blurry images and putting the transducer directly in the water gave much better results.

Article from a guy on the Wilderness Systems fishing team:  http://www.northeasternangler.com/Issues/Current%20Issue/Sonar_SOT.htm

I know a lot of people who have Tarpons and the through hull trans. setup and none of them complain about any issues. In fact, of the hundreds of people out there who use this setup I'd say that it works pretty well. I think the guy who wrote that article may be feeling a placebo effect about having the trans. directly in the water.

Z

All right then, I'll give the foam + water, through the hull technique a shot

Lee, If you use that method with the stiffer copper cable (article you linked to), be sure that your transducer is oriented properly. That copper cable might flex a bit and be hard to line up.  I'm just mentioning this because on one occasion I didn't notice that my transducer (at the time, using a suction cup mount on an angled transom) was "aimed" downward at an angle, and my depth finder read 30' in 20' of water. I corrected the orientation, and it read correctly again.
I don't know about flexing the transducer around to view stuff sideways away from the boat. Seems like flexing the mount would make it hard to return the transducer to a normal orientation, and thus result in variable and/or inaccurate readings.

Where can I find some thick non-porous foam to use for this?  They sell that stuff at Home Depot or Lowes?

Where can I find some thick non-porous foam to use for this?  They sell that stuff at Home Depot or Lowes?

Go and find a jumbo pool noodle at your local discount store. Measure or bring your trans along to make sure the diameter of the noodle will fit it.

Z

I couldn't find big enough pool noodles, and used a foam gardener's kneeling pad for mine.

On my first transducer setup I used a one of those kneeling pads and it worked great.  I tried the pool noodle thing on my latest one and gave up messing with it... I just gooped the crap out of it and put it on the hull.  After the fact I made a nice 'noodle sheath for it so that stuff wouldn't hang up on it.  Bottom line, you can pretty much do whatever you like with your transducer and it will get the job done IMHO.  The goop is hardley permanent; I twisted my old tranducer right off and used abig pink eraser to rub off the remaining goop.

I like that kneeling pad idea.  It will be really hard to find pool noodles this time of year.

Pisco - I went with the foam pad + water technique.  Worked perfectly yesterday.  Thanks.

Sweet- glad it worked for you!

I went with the foam pad + water technique.  Worked perfectly yesterday.

Just for future info, where did you pick it up and how much did it cost?

Z

Garden kneeling pad from Wal-Mart.  Think it was $3.99.  I took the chunk out of the middle, and its still useable for gardening.

That foam is also a lot more dense than pool noodle foam and holds the transducer in really tight.