DSI shoot through hull

How is this working out for those that have tried it?

I'm considering one of the Lowrance Marks or Elites, but the shoot through hull and 200' max depth give me reservations that I'll be unsatisfied with the performance.

Good, bad?
Rest easy. I probably won't have it ready for the ORC. But I'm sure trying!

Shoot through hull works great.  Marie has it and it's setup that way.

How often do you need to fish deeper than 200 feet?  Most places it's not even legal.

Good. Glad to hear it works. Sometimes you don't know what to believe on the Net.

Certainly don't fish 200'+ very often, but it does come up now and then. The bigger concern is the specs list 200 as max which leaves me to think there will be degradation in the signal much earlier. Fishing in 120 to 180 happens often enough to warrant good signal.

You will get an attenuated response, the big question is, by how much.  The companies putting out DSI technology state that a shoot-thru-the-hull method of mounting is not recommended for sounders that use a higher frequency (400 MHz and up) than the older models.  Since DSI runs 800, I'm going to plan on having some kind of mount that is outside the hull and doesn't have to shoot through plastic, which has air in it.  If I'm going to pay the extra bucks to have DSI, I want to get the most out of it.

When manufacturers say shoot through hull method is not recommended, they are talking about a real boat, not 2 millimeters of plastic.

  Since DSI runs 800, I'm going to plan on having some kind of mount that is outside the hull and doesn't have to shoot through plastic, which has air in it.

Lowrance, I believe, is making a scupper mount now. Looks ok but not sure if the Revo hull has enough protection for the ducer. Does seem the transducers are pretty tough.

Like Rawk said "the big question is, by how much". Is two millimeters of plastic enough to cut my usable depth back to 160 or 199.

Seems like we need some guinea pigging.

When manufacturers say shoot through hull method is not recommended, they are talking about a real boat, not 2 millimeters of plastic.

We discussed this same issue some time ago on the forum. Here's the url for that discussion. (I hope this works). There are pictures in this thread of rigging your fish finder using a transducer  deployment arm (TDA), for those that want to not shoot through plastic, since some experts feel that you can have a signal attenuation  to 10%, with high frequencies used in down imaging. Some people feel that you can avoid using the TDA if you like, by drilling a hole in your rudder and attaching the transducer  to that.

Hope this helps.

Carl
 
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=7532.0

When manufacturers say shoot through hull method is not recommended, they are talking about a real boat, not 2 millimeters of plastic.

Hey! Kayaks are real boats too!!!     Yeah, shooting through a plastic boat isn't the same as shooting though a thick 'glass (motor) boat, which might actually have enough air in the mix to matter...I doubt there's enough in the thin hull of a yak to ever worry about.

Lowrance, I believe, is making a scupper mount now. Looks ok but not sure if the Revo hull has enough protection for the ducer. Does seem the transducers are pretty tough.

Since Lowrance is producing a fish finder with an external  scupper mount for a transducer, and that company also has a very close relationship with Hobie, it looks like other folks are concerned about a high frequency signal loss as DI and DSI sonar passes through the plastic hull of a kayak. I've also heard rumors that Hobie is experimenting with an externally mounted transducer in some kayak hulls.  Owners of some models of  Ocean Kayaks have already seen such innovations built into their hulls.

I'm just saying ... some kayak manufacturers may be concerned.

Carl

Hobie's scupper mount actually has a plastic plate that protects the tx. So it still "shoots through." Hobie worked with Lowrance on the design so I'd guess it's not much, if any noticeable, degradation of signal.

Hobie's scupper mount actually has a plastic plate that protects the tx. So it still "shoots through." Hobie worked with Lowrance on the design so I'd guess it's not much, if any noticeable, degradation of signal.

Good info there.

Also, when looking at Marie's shoot thru hull Mark 4 DSI, we can see individual strands of kelp.  It's pretty neat to see.  There is another thread on NCKA about a Lowrance Elite 4 user that set it up for shoot through hull.  Skip to the last page where he talks about seeing kelp strands and bait balls.  All of that detail after installing it with duct seal, in the parking lot, right before he went fishing.

Shoot-through on a kayak hull is not going to noticibly decrease your results, unless you have a crappy install job.

Lee, where on the hull did you install the transducer? I initially installed mine forward of the mirage drive and wasn't getting very good detail over 40 feet. On the new boat I've going to try farther back.

Between the drive well and the mast post, it's a 2012 Revo, which boat do you have?

My new boat is a 2012 Revo, my old one was a Hobie Classic. Good possibility it was my crappy install job I'll try it again this weekend with the revo.