Cheap Depth Sounder - Thru Hull

[mercthunder]

Hi all,

I have a 2006 Tahoe Bowrider. Given the age of the boat and the fact that i dont plan to keep the boat too long before moving onto something else, i'm looking for a decent cheap depth sounder with a thru hull transducer. All i really need is the depth of the water primarily and maybe a very basic sonar image. It needs to be thru hull due to the design of my transom where many installers have advised against a transom mount.

Appreciate and help with some suggestions.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Ausfish mobile app

[TheRealPoMo]

I silastic'd my standard Lowrance 83/200 into the bilge just in front of the engine. It returns depth and bottom contours no problem even at 30 knots but I think resolution suffers because I rarely see fish arches.
Could be other reasons for that tho....

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[inveratta]

PoMo thats astounding!

I have a mate who never buys anything for his boat...I mean anything..flares always out of date,old fuel,unserviced...........so when we went fishing theres no sonar ..nothing.....got sick of that so I rigged up an old sonar unit with the transducer on a stick and just held it over the side when we wanted to see the bottom......it worked just fine but he never took the hint........

[Crunchy]

I silastic'd my standard Lowrance 83/200 into the bilge just in front of the engine. It returns depth and bottom contours no problem even at 30 knots but I think resolution suffers because I rarely see fish arches.
Could be other reasons for that tho....

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

That is good! I couldn't get mine to work on transom past 5 knots, piece of shyte tranducers.....

Mercthunder - most through hull transducers are top end & expensive so PoMo's suggestion is a good idea for your needs. If you do go through hull please don't try and install it yourself ....

[PROS]

I have a HDS7 getting removed from my sharkcat.
It has a basic shoot through hull type airmar transducer.
Few times I have taken the boat, it worked ok. Definitely get the depth readings and fish on the bottom.
No mapping card but generic map.

Max

[TheRealPoMo]

Yeah I was surprised it worked. I did see it done on American websites. Used non nasty silicone so it could be removed. Trick apparently is to get no air between transducer and hull. You see 4 inch Lowrances with transducers for under $200. Be fine as a depth sounder. If it fails mount it on the transom.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[Spaniard_King]

If using the above silicon method just ensure its not a chirp transducer or you will burn it out

This could be an option for you with a striker head unit

https://buy.garmin.com/en-AU/AU/p/530269

[mercthunder]

Thanks for the advice all. I am strongly considering an In-Hull transducer now given they are quite cost effective and as long as it does a decent job i will be fine. All i really need is a depth reading and very basic sonar.

Thanks for the suggestion SpanishKing and you have peaked my interest. I am considering buying the following unit and transducer together:

Head Unit: http://www.bcf.com.au/Product/Garmin...enuFrom=571543
Transducer: https://buy.garmin.com/en-AU/AU/p/530269#overview or https://buy.garmin.com/en-AU/AU/p/573584

Would this be a good cost effective combo and could i expect decent results on my fibreglass Tahoe? I don't do any fishing, so i'm not fussed if it can pick up fish or not, just depth, and basic sonar.

Thanks for the help all.

[Noelm]

If you're not fishing, why do you "need" a sounder?

[mercthunder]

If you're not fishing, why do you "need" a sounder?

Depth reading when travelling through some narrow channels on the Hawkesbury River. Also to understand the depth of water under the boat for anchoring. So essentially i don't need it for much, hence why i am not looking for anything state of the art