Date: Tue Oct 23, 2001 2:36 pm

My Datamarine depth finder finally died. I sent it in for repair but haven't heard back yet. In the meantime, I bought a Raytheon ST60. I installed the transducer in my wet well using both water, as I had in the past, and mineral oil. I though that i might have developed a void in that spot so I tried it in another well that I had not used before. No response. it works fine when I hang it overboard. Any ideas.

For those who have through-hull mountings (as it seems I'll be needing), what is the best location?

Date: Tue Oct 23, 2001 8:27 pm

I would imagine the manufacturer of the unit can give you the best guidance for getting it to respond from within the hull. That is what I would want.. My tranducer is mounted thru the hull. It is located on the inside of the port settee as close to the center and rear as allowed.

Date: Wed Oct 24, 2001 12:19 pm

I have a standard depth sounder. the transducer is mounted inboard in a 3" section of pvc pipe with an end fitting cap. it is filled with mineral oil.

It took a while to find the spot to mount it. i found it by putting the transducer in a zip-lock bag filled with water and moved it around till i found the best spot. this is the hardest part.

One thing i found out is that you have to let the transducer rest in one spot for a few seconds before it would start reading. once i found the spot, i shaped the pvc pipe to conform to the hull shape and epoxied it.

Been working fine for three years.

Date: Mon Oct 29, 2001 8:41 pm

Ours is mounted with in the forward V berth port locker. It has a fairly large wood mounting block on the outside of the hull because of the sharp lines at this point, and has worked well now for over 14 years.

Date: Wed Oct 31, 2001 9:02 am

I have two sonars. The original sonar is mounted under the forward part of the main stbd berth, and as functioned without a hitch on precision and reliability, plus is easily accessible. The mounting block is relatively modest at that section. I believe that this position enjoy a smoother, more laminar flow than under the forward V berth.

On upgrading for offshore including the Bahamas, I decided to add a forward looking sonar which has a fatter sensor, hence a fatter, bigger block, but still negligible overhang and drag. It is also located under the forward part of the main port berth, so it is well isolated from the other emitter-sensor, although I do not operate them both at the same time: they are both on the INSTR panel switch, but the earlier sonar has a separate switch on the cabin entry side, and the new Interphase Probe has its own on-off switch on the screen.

My crews have been impressed by the forward-looking sonar abilities, and the latest models are supposed to be even better. The old sonar is now essentially a redundant back-up, which I don't mind for such an important navigation tool (I have 2 hand GPS on board).

Date: June 16, 2012