Fish Finder Questions...

[Chris Snider]

Speaking of fish finders... I have a HumminBird Platinum ID 120 installed on my boat (1994 2000 DC). The boat actually has two mounts to move the fish finder between. One on the front deck and one by the driver's seat. There's also a flasher in the dash. I noticed that there's a transducer mounted to the trolling motor and another one mounted to the transom. Are one of these for the flasher and one for the 'bird? OR is the trolling motor transducer for the front 'bird mount and the transom transducer for the driver's position 'bird mount (with the flasher transducer in the hull)?

I'm just wondering if anyone knows the "normal" way this would be setup... I know you guys wouldn't know for sure without seeing the boat, but I thought I'd ask.

Oh yeah, are the readings I'm seeing on my HumminBird reflecting what's directly below me (straight down) or what? These transducer's I'm talking about are really small (about the diameter of a pencil and an inch or two long). Is that large plastic piece on the trolling motor just protecting the pencil shaped transducer, or does that big plastic piece do something else?

Wow... I got carried away with questions in that post... Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Mike Watson]

Sgt.Thump, usually the transducer on the trolling motor would be wired into the mount at the bow of the boat. That allows you to see the fish right under the bow as apposed to the transom. The transom transducer is usually for the console mount. I can't help you with the flasher, I've never owned one but Mac has so he might be able to answer that one. As far as the shape of your transducers, I wouldn't know without seeing that specific model. It's nice to have those options.

Mike

 

[Chris Snider]

Thanks Mike... I just thought of something... Maybe the small "pencil shaped" thing is the transducer itself and this is what it looks like when it's not in a case or protective covering? The transom mounted transducer is pointed down, but the front one is pointed straight ahead. I guess I probably need to take pictures and display them here... I'm probably not explaining it very well. I would like to understand how it works, though. The manual on the HumminBird website doesn't show what I'm talking about. It shows a large plastic thing for the transducer (which is probably the pencil shaped thing I'm describing inside a protective case).

 

[Bill McElroy]

Sarge,...i had a platinum ID a few years back......the pencil shaped thing you're talking about is your temp probe.
your transducer will be much larger and shaped alot like a boat hull....judging from what you described, i believe the previous owner had 2 locations (bow and console) so he could move the unit to either location. The flasher's transducer is probably mounted in the hull....and the exterior transducer is for the 'Bird when it's used on the console.....once he got to his spot, he'd move the unit up to the bow and use the transducer mounted on the trolling motor.......this is just my guess, but w/o pix's it's hard to tell. The pencil shaped object you're talking about though is deffinetely the temp probe and not a transducer. Next time you use the console mount,...look up in one of the corners of your screen display and see if the temp is displayed.......then move the unit to the front mount and check again.....if he doesn't have a temp probe on the trolling motor, than you will only get the temp displayed when you're using the console mount. Hope this helps.......holler back if you need any more assistance........best of luck!!
Mac

 

[Chris Snider]

Thanks Mac!!! I get it now... Well, kinda. If that's the temp probe, then there's one on both the trolling motor and transom. The confusing part is that the front deck mount and the console mount can't be sharing the same transducer, because I do get accurate readings when the trolling motor is stowed away in the up position and the 'bird is in to the console mount... Hmmmm... I wonder if the transducer for the console mount AND the flasher are both inside the hull? I bet they are...

Thanks! Does that make sense?

 

[Chris Snider]

I'm not sure if I said that right. According to what you say (and it makes complete sense), there is a temp probe and transducer on the trolling motor. There is another temp probe on the transom, but no other transducer's are visible (for flasher or console mount). Those are probably both in the hull. Right?

 

[Bill McElroy]

That's entirely possible Sarge,....your boat more than likely has a "shoot thru the hull" transducer in the rear for your console mount.......and for obvious reasons the temp probes have to be mounted externally both up front and in the back. Your trolling motor probably has a transducer and a temp probe (that is GOOD) for the bow location and the console mount is utilizing a "thru hull" transducer and a outside temp probe.....makes perfect sense,.......now you can use the ID in either location and get the same results....you're golden!! Tight lines and full wells!!! Take care dude,....
Regards,
Mac

 

[Chris Snider]

Alright! Thanks for the help Mac and Mike Watson... I appreciate it...

SgtThump

 

[Bill McElroy]

No problem Sarge,...Mike and I are artists/illustrators...our livelyhoods depend on our ability to "visualize just what the hell people are talking about!!"...ahahah....right Mike??!! Glad to be of assistance Sarge...tight lines!!
Mac