Graph mounting ideas

[TyGuy02]

I'm going to be getting a HB 1198 and possibly the i-link, just have to sell my 14' boat and scratch together some cash. I have an 18' tiller with a VERY open layout, and where would I like to mount the unit? The current depth finder is port (left) side, and I don't feel it's very comfortable to be staring in that direction while steering the boat. I have seen graphs in that position, but the other day I saw a similar boat had one mounted on the right side (almost directly in front of the driver, just above the knees). How comfortable would that be?

The second question is, I like to fish from the bow. What would the best way to be able to use the 1198 from the bow as well, without a 2nd unit (not possible!). My thought would to just have enough cord length to accommodate both locations. Any thoughts on that?

[CaptainMusky]

For cruising it would be nice to have the unit in front of you since you would have your eyes forward and not looking down and to the side, but when fishing, especially back trolling I think having it on the side is going to be better for you. Perhaps you could mount a couple RAM balls in both locations and just move the unit between the two places. Not ideal, but could work for you.

There are some swing arm style mounts that count get the unit down and out of the way to your side, but possibly come out and up a ways for when you are going at higher speeds.

Try checking RAM HSOforum to see what is all out there.

Regards to fishing from the bow, I would just run an accessory power line up there. If you have a trolling motor in the front, there may already be a stub there to tap into. Then just mount a RAM mount up there. If you have a trolling motor mount a transducer on it.

If none of the above is possible you could just leave it mounted in the back and turn the unit to be visible in the front. I know thats a long ways away, but you could get by doing this until you could afford a unit to mount up front.

[Old Dewjabber]

On my old boat I had 2 Johny Ray mount bases. One up front and one in the back for running the kicker motor. I just ran enough wire so it reached both places but was still out of the way. It worked well for me and never shut the unit down while moving it! Just a thought for you.

[TyGuy02]

OD, that answers the main question for me. I thought that it might, but of course it's hard to visualize if it'll work without the graph and the boat in the water. Did you use a rubber band or something to keep the wires coiled up when in the back? The not having to power-down is a huge factor!

CM, I like the idea of multiple mounts for while driving or for when trolling with the outboard. What I'll probably do is start with the one in the traditional spot, and maybe with an extra hand one day see how comfortable it would be with a swing mount in front of me.

[PerchJerker]

Couple things come to mind .....

The 1198 is an SI unit and to use SI you need an SI transducer. That will be mounted on your transom. The idea of using the US2 in the Terrova is great, but the downside is that it won't give you SI or DI when you have it connected to the Terrova.

The next issue is the external gps puck. Wherever you move the 1198, you'll need to connect it to an gps antenna.

The "cleanest" dual location installation would be a power cord, US2 cable, and separate gps puck for your bow. The downside is that you'd need 2 gps pucks, you wouldn't have SI and DI in the bow, and you'd have to power down each time you moved the unit.

You could also use 2 mounts and just move the unit and cables from one mount to the other. The downsides of this are that you will not be able to have a "clean" installation, ie. there will be slack cable exposed somewhere at all times. Another downside is that when you're fishing in the bow, you'll be reading transducers from the transom. That may or may not be a big deal, depending on how you're fishing.

For tiller boats, I prefer the electronics on the port side, and up fairly high. For me that's the best position for the best viewing in all situations ..... not the best for each situation, but overall the best location. I would not put it on the starboard side unless you drive facing the starboard side (ie. left-handed).

If it was me, I'd put the electronics on the port side in the best position for the drivers seat. If you go with the i-Pilot you will have an 18 foot cord on the foot pedal, as well as the wireless remote. If you need to use the bowmount and the 1198, do it from the drivers seat. Maybe add a unit to the bow somewhere down the road if you decide you need one.

Hope that helps and good luck!

[FisH_SLaYer24]

Couple things come to mind .....

The 1198 is an SI unit and to use SI you need an SI transducer. That will be mounted on your transom. The idea of using the US2 in the Terrova is great, but the downside is that it won't give you SI or DI when you have it connected to the Terrova.

The next issue is the external gps puck. Wherever you move the 1198, you'll need to connect it to an gps antenna.

The "cleanest" dual location installation would be a power cord, US2 cable, and separate gps puck for your bow. The downside is that you'd need 2 gps pucks, you wouldn't have SI and DI in the bow, and you'd have to power down each time you moved the unit.

You could also use 2 mounts and just move the unit and cables from one mount to the other. The downsides of this are that you will not be able to have a "clean" installation, ie. there will be slack cable exposed somewhere at all times. Another downside is that when you're fishing in the bow, you'll be reading transducers from the transom. That may or may not be a big deal, depending on how you're fishing.

For tiller boats, I prefer the electronics on the port side, and up fairly high. For me that's the best position for the best viewing in all situations ..... not the best for each situation, but overall the best location. I would not put it on the starboard side unless you drive facing the starboard side (ie. left-handed).

If it was me, I'd put the electronics on the port side in the best position for the drivers seat. If you go with the i-Pilot you will have an 18 foot cord on the foot pedal, as well as the wireless remote. If you need to use the bowmount and the 1198, do it from the drivers seat. Maybe add a unit to the bow somewhere down the road if you decide you need one.

Hope that helps and good luck!

+1 lots of good info posted by PJ!

Another idea you could consider is taking the money of the big 1198, and splitting it amongst two smaller units. Either go with an 898c HD SI and an 858 c HD or go with the 998c HD SI and the 858c HD. That way you are paying roughly the same price (give or take on which unit you decide to purchase) and then you still get the iLink capabilities without having to worry about loose wires and powering on or off the units and swapping brackets.

[TyGuy02]

Great suggestions! This is why I ask this stuff on here! I need some time to comprehend and digest this info

[TyGuy02]

I already have the PD2 w/i-pilot, so the foot pedal is out of the question since it's not compatible with that unit. But since I have the remote, I could just control everything still from the driver's seat

[Old Dewjabber]

I taped the wires together so it was like 1 cable. Found the center point of both locations and zip tied the wires under the side. Wires did not get in the way at all after planning. Still had the wires visible but not in the way. Took less than 20 seconds to to switch spots with out loosing anything on the gps or graph.

I know it wasn't the greatest but it worked well for me. Also I only got the readings from the back of the boat. But it was only one unit too!

I have now moved up though, I have 3 units in the boat.

[Musky_Madness]

the nice part about the 'Birds is that as long as they are the HD models they network with one cable. You can share transducer data over the network so you could still side image if you had 2 units that have Side imaging but only have one transducer on rear of boat and use US2 for traditional sonar on bow. I dont know about sharing the GPS puck, but waypoints are shared between both units. unfortunately you weed need 2 map cards as those do not link. I second the 2 898HD SI units.

[TyGuy02]

The OCD is ramped into high gear for me again this year. Something about tinkering with the boat this time of year! I graduate with my RN in a couple of weeks so I want my graduation gift to myself to be the BEST!

DewJabber, I really like that idea. I never thought about that wire configuration. I mostly troll with the bow mount or cast, so I fish from the bow 90% of the time. I just like the bird's eye view for trolling shoreline breaks and weedlines over sitting in the back. I'm not too worried about only having the transducer on the stern. I do have a flasher on the bow mount as well

[Myrt]

I third the idea of two units linked, that's how I run my 20ft tiller with one on the bow ( with my terrova ipilot) and one port side by the drivers seat, off one gps antenna puck. Did all the other stuff talked about here. Wouldn't go any other way now!

[graf703]

You might also consider the screen size if your vision is good enough. With a flexible ram mount, you could swivel it to face the front of the boat and glance back for side imaging/gps. I would just get a plain/smaller depth finder for the front with the us2.