idealGPS/sonar set-up

[jwmiller33]

Hey guys, I am looking to get some advice on the ideal placement of 3 GPS/sonar units in my dads boat. Prior to this year, there was only a Lowrance 527C in the boat and it was at the council. [The boat is a 19.5 deep V Champion fiberglass walleye boat with a 225 Merc and a 9.9 kicker]. My dad just bought a humminbird 1198c SI combo with intentions of this being the main unit in the boat now. We are going to get this installed on the councel (no brainer). We are also taking the Lowrance HDs10 from our ice fishing rig and getting it installed in the boat so we can now use it for both hard and soft water seasons.

So the question is where to put the 2 lowrance units. There is a RAM mount in the back of the boat right next to the 9.9 kicker motor and there is also a RAM mount in the front of the boat up by the trolling motor. Another key thing to consider is the trolling motor is a Minnkota I-Pilot with the remote, so you can control the trolling motor from anywhere in the boat, which means you don’t have to be in the front of the boat to use the trolling motor. We are thinking of putting the older/smaller Lowrance 527C up in the front of the boat so there is a graph up there to use while using the trolling motor IF you are up in the front of the boat. However, it would be nice to have it installed at the council so you could use the lowrance strictly for GPS and use the humminbird’s whole screen for the side imaging. Also, when you are sitting by/using the kicker motor, you are close enough to the council that you would be able to easily read the Humminbird 1198’s big screen, so is it really necessary to mount another graph next to the kicker? Maybe it would be best to mount the HDs10 and the 1198c SI side by side on the council so you could utilize one for GPS and one for side imaging (both of which can be easily seen from the spot where you would be using the kicker.

I am looking for opinions on placement of the graphs in the boat from guys who have multiple graphs installed in their boat and what they like/dislike about their setup. Any help would be much appreciated.

[PerchJerker]

It really depends on how and where you like to fish, and where you spend the most time in the boat.

I agree with the 1198 on the console, as you said that's an easy one to figure out.

Putting the HDS-10 on the console too might not be the best way to go, and if that's the way you're leaning then you for sure need to check to make sure both of those units will fit together there ..... depending on the dash and the windshield some boats do not have enough room for two big electronics.

If you want to use the 1198 for sonar functions only, maybe leave the 527 on the dash for gps only? Or put it by the kicker? When I run my kicker I can see my sonar and side scan on the console just fine, but I have a seperate GPS right at the kicker which makes it much easier to see contour lines, set waypoints, etc.

And, if you fish from the front of the boat at all, I would think you'd rather have the 10 inch screen up there instead of the 5 inch screen, especially if you're using a map card in it and splitting the screen.

Hope that helps, and have fun rigging.