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what's considered a "small boat" ?

Ok thanks guys ., looks like I hv to bite the bullet and install one. Cheers

Hi guys, Does anyone know how these things work? So if I have a 27 hz antenna, can I connect the same antenna to te splitter and have my vhf radio miraculously work? That's the goal I'm trying to achieve here. Saves me installing a new antenna Cheers

Congrats !! Great report. Persistence is the name of the game

Great work! Angels of the seas

Yeh I do have a navionics gold on my hds 7. Was more interested so I can make my full screen on structure scan and down scan

That sounds like a great idea Ian. One question I have is does the navionics map interface with the sounder some how? Does it require mobile phone reception or something? would b awesome to have a larger screen!

Thanks for the help guys. Seems like the trip calculator does the trick

Hi guys, I'm trying to figure out the range of my boat and was wondering if anyone knows how to determine the distance travelled in a trail ? I have a lowrance HDS 7 touch fish finder. Cheers

Hi laddercat, Perhaps you can post up a picture of your boat and the back configuration ? installed my live bait well myself on a glass boat and it was pretty straight forward. Costed less than $80 (including bilge pump and pickup) Cheers

Incredible Hull, do you have 1 or 2 batteries ?

Thanks Geoff. Yeh seems I'll probably ruin the lead battery: When your engine is on and the start battery is sufficiently charged the isolator kit will begin charging the second (auxiliary) battery simultaneously I think the imbalanced resistance from the 2 batteries (calcium requiring 14.7V) will probably fry the lead battery Though maybe if the calcium is full already, it won't require any charging and the lead will charge at 13.5 V?

Thanks for that Valk. Now I'm thinking about getting a CtekMXS5 charger for this battery. Also worried my existing lead battery is going to be fried

Thanks Geofff. Yeh I will give it a shot. Would you know if my setup would be badfor my lead battery even if I have a digit dual VSR setup ? I am under the impression that the VSR should isolate both batteries and only charge one at a time unless I have it on "Both" mode ?

I just read this interesting post on some other forum: Calcium batteries require higher charging voltages (15v) than lead acid (14.2v). The normal alternator (boat or car) is set at 14.2 volts so it will never fully charge a calcium battery. It has to be adjusted higher. But that's too high for a lead acid. THAT'S the reason the story is to get 2 at a time. One cooking the other is horse-manure. Its because of the diffent charging requirements. The bl..dy alternator cooks the lead-acid because its set higher to charge the calcium properly and the lead acid can't handle it. Calcium batteries have a small doping amount of calcium (less than 1%) put into the plates at manufacture. That actually "stiffens" the battery plates but making them more brittle in the process. Like adding carbon to a carbon fibre rod. The increased stiffness causes failure in high vibation environment such as a motor vehicle or boat. Other chemicals are added to minimise the increased brittleness so it works in a car/boat. What determines the current capacity is the internal resistance of the battery. Lower internal resistance means increased current. Addition of calcium lowers the internal resistance. Simple as that. Sealed batteries have lower charging rates because they are sealed and the charging process has to be moderated to avoid gassing. Interesting subject though and everybody has a theory (including me I guess). This may be the reason my battery doesn't appear to be charging on the charger. ie. It needs to be set to 15V to charge ? I currently have 1 lead battery and 1 calcium battery on a dual VSR setup. Will my lead battery also get cooked ? Cheers

Thanks Geoff. Yeah i looks like that. Sea Master Expanded Calcium Grid EXG (80 Amp Hours). I'll have a check at the charger when I get home. But being a new battery, I'd expect it to be pretty full when I bought it. I previously charged it for 6 hours and the charger still didn't read that it was full

Hi guys, I've recently purchased a Seamaster Expanded Calcium battery. I tried charging this with a regular 12V lead battery charger. However, it seems like this batttery never reaches full charge. My main concern is that my outboard won't charge it either. I have a yamaha 115HP 2 stroke outboard. Is anyone familiar with these batteries ? Cheers

The method u have there of mounting the bait board doesn't look secure. Ie, I don't think those plastics tubes would hold very well. Mine are inside stainless Steel gunnels. What you maybe able to do is make a plywood, fibreglass platform that can be bolted onto the back. It can sit partially over the wash well and partially over the deck. The bait board would be screwed into this platform. That sounds like the most secure option to me. But this would all be dependent on the width of that area u will be attaching the bait board to. Should be more that 5cm I think

Perhaps u can look for a really sturdy fibre glass box and mount it inside ur well. Store things like life jackets or water in it. The bait board can be mounted on top of this. U can probably also do this with the brackets you have made. Ie. put the box on top of the bracket

Thanks mate. I'll give it a shot. Cheers

Hi guys, I was replacing my drag washers today and have lost my handle nut plate screw. Does anyone know where I may be able to buy a new one ? Cheers

Thanks fab. My trailer looks like this: With the number of rollers, I think I'll be doing this at home. Will probably jack the boat up on each side with some timber between the jack and the boat and just take the rollers off and clean and grease .. I'll document this for the future reference of others Many thanks !

Try one of the asian butchers if there's any in your area mate. Or alternatively, you maybe able to call up one in cabramatta (they normally do delivery but you're a little out of the area).

I thought about that but I will need to clean up the axles on a bench grinder .. thanks for the pointers guys

btw, is that lithium grease in a spray ? cheers