Fish finder

[Blade]

Hi Raiders, 

I am new to the forum and new to fishing from a boat, I have a small tinny that limits me to stay in sheltered water (I have only gone out on the Port Hacking) and I have been thinking about getting a fish finder, but I have been wondering:

1. Is it worth while getting a fish finder on the hacking considering it is a small body of water with limited deep water areas?

2. If it is worth it would an entry level finder like the Lowrance Hook 2 4x (https://www.JILLLNNL;stores.com/water/marine/marine-electronics/fish-finders/lowrance-hook2-4x-fishfinder-gps-plotter/BP90126579) be a good choice?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

 

[kingie chaser]

Welcome aboard.

They are definitely a good thing to have, even in the bays/inshore.

I bought the same unit about 6 weeks ago for my tinny to replace my old hummingbird 160 portable which was a basic grey scale & no GPS plotter so this is an upgrade for me.

I just installed the transducer today so then things get better I will be testing it out.

For me it was a bit easier as I just swapped out my hummingbird unit & screwed this new one into the portable housing which has a case & battery in it.

For inshore with the features it has it will do me.

Edited April 16, 2020 by kingie chaser

[Blade]

Thanks for the feedback. Let me know how you go with the new finder when you get to test it out.

 

[kingie chaser]

I'm sure it will be perfect for me, even though there is no memory card slot you can still input waypoints which I didn't know it was capable of.

You would just need to work out where & hiw to mount & where to hold the battery.

[hookerbruce]

I bought one of these last year for my car toper. It works really well can't believe how good it is for the cost. Set it up on a removable piece of ply which sits on the thwart use a rechargeable battery (spare caravan brake 7AH battery cost $28) lasts 3-4 trips. Set up transducer so it is removable when the boat goes on the roof.

In the Hacking like everywhere else you need to fish structure or bait schools sounder shows where they are. The GPS plot of your trip really handy in twisting mangrove creeks trying to find way back out and where you left the crab traps the day before.

Bruce

 

[kingie chaser]

I just set up my transducer for the unit like this

 

[Blade]

Thanks for the advice all, what size would an 18Ah SLA battery be sufficient to run 

1. The fish finder (Lowrance Hook 2 4x)

2. Bilge pump 1.8Amp current draw 

3. LED navigation lights 75mA

4. Anchor light 250mA current draw 

Max 10 hours on the water

[Blade]

1 hour ago, kingie chaser said:

I just set up my transducer for the unit like this

 

Where did you get this bracket?

[kingie chaser]

14 minutes ago, Blade said:

Where did you get this bracket?

I will PM you shortly 👍

[kingie chaser]

5 hours ago, Blade said:

Thanks for the advice all, what size would an 18Ah SLA battery be sufficient to run 

1. The fish finder (Lowrance Hook 2 4x)

2. Bilge pump 1.8Amp current draw 

3. LED navigation lights 75mA

4. Anchor light 250mA current draw 

Max 10 hours on the water

There are online calculators that will work this out for you but can't answer that myself without looking up the equation.

But I will guesstimate that that running all that at the same time with a 18ah battery it isnt going to last very long.

My battery for just the sounder us 20ah.

The thing to consider as well is standard lead acid batteries should not be drained to far constantly as this will shorten their life where as deep cycle batteries like AGM's are designed to be high drain.

It is also better to keep them in a charged state as well.

Edited April 17, 2020 by kingie chaser

[mii11x]

Mate it will do everything you need it to do.  It might not be the fanciest, but I'd say 80% of people that own more expensive to top shelf sounders wouldn't know how to use/interpret them correctly anyway.

As a start out with boating (fishing too?), learn to crawl with a basic unit, then onto walking as you understand settings, interpretation, functions to assist you (and maybe your level of dedication to angling vs $$$$ spent), upgrade to a better quality unit.

[Renegade460]

Battery will be nowhere  near big enough.

The sounder alone draws around 1 Ah so over 10 hours that is 10 Ah just for the sounder, no lights, pump etc.

Batteries generally should not be regularly discharged below 50% of their nominated capacity.

I would go something around 33 Ah.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Renegade460

[mii11x]

What outboard do you have?  Can you buy a rectifier kit to charge you're battery off the outboard?

[Blade]

I have a 1999 5hp Mercury, not sure if it can handle a rectifier?

 

[kingie chaser]

1 hour ago, Renegade460 said:

Batteries generally should be regularly discharged below 50% of their nominated capacity..

I'm thinking spell check kicked in there & where should was said is supposed to be shouldn't  

The term battery these days is pretty broad as there are so many types like the old lead acid, AGM, gel, lithium etc.

They all have to be treated specifically to there type in drain & how they are charged. 

Edited April 18, 2020 by kingie chaser

[Blade]

21 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

I'm thinking spell check kicked in there & where should was said is supposed to be shouldn't  

The term battery these days is pretty broad as there are so many types like the old lead acid, AGM, gel, lithium etc.

They all have to be treated specifically to there type in drain & how they are charged. 

Thanks for all the advice, It is helping me move the project along. As you said the question now is which battery Lead acid is the cheapest, with AGM and Gel pretty closely priced. Lithium is out of budget. Any advice?

Cheers