Topic: adding a high speed transducer

[rdstair]

I have a 1198C SI and a 998C SI ethernetted  together. I have the SI DI transducer hooked to them. I want to add a high speed transducer for depth readings at higher speed. What transducer do you guys recommend and what would I need to make this happen. Can I do this without using a switch?

[Humminbird_Greg]

I recommend doing it without a switch as would most.  Your shopping list:
XP-9-20 inside-the-hull DualBeam transducer
AS-Si-DB-Y transducer splitter cable

[rdstair]

I have a aluminum hull so I can't use a thru hull transducer. Greg what would you suggest for a external transducer?

[EZM]

I am doing the same thing - it seems the SI transducers have a poor reputation for giving you depth reading on plane.

I'm thinking of mounting 2 transducers on a switch as well - I'd be curious to hear a resolution ...... and follow the same advice.

I am running 2 858's Combos (just purchased) and 1 898c HD SI (yet to purchase).

[tschultz]

Have you played with the SI ducer enough to make sure you can't get high speed readings with it.  The solution is often moving it up not down for better readings.

[Humminbird_Greg]

Agree with tschultz.
That big HDSi transducer makes it harder to get a good high-speed depth reading on (especially without exposing it to possible damage) but I would recommend working with the transducer you have versus trying additional transducers.

Make sure that you transducer is not mounted behind a strake, rivet or other hull protrusion.  These will create aerated water which will not allow the transducer to work at higher boat speeds.

Try adjusting the running angle (angle when viewed from the side of the transducer) and running height of the transducer.  Sometimes angling the transducer downwards in the back a few degrees is all it takes.  Make small adjustments too as adjusting the transducer too far/deep can be just as bad.

Some things you may want to try: installing the transducer on a mounting board so you can move it around without adding more holes to your transom.  Try installing a spacer block between the transducer and the transom.  This can get the transducer back into cleaner (air bubble free) water.


If you want to try a second transducer you can try the XNT-9-20 (or XNT-9-20-T) transducer with the AS-Si-DB-Y splitter cable.  There is also a less known XSO-9-20-T that can be mounted under the back end of the transom that some have had success with:
http://store.humminbird.com/products/313992/XSO_9_20_T

You can also substitute the TS3 Transducer Switch in place of the AS-Si-DB-Y cable but it is more expensive.  The difference will be that with the AS-Si-DB-Y cable the 2D sonar will always come from the 2D transducer.  With the TS3 switch the 2D sonar will come from whichever transducer is selected by the switch.

[Captn_C]

I have a 1198C SI and a 998C SI ethernetted  together. I have the SI DI transducer hooked to them. I want to add a high speed transducer for depth readings at higher speed. What transducer do you guys recommend and what would I need to make this happen. Can I do this without using a switch?

The optimum place for transducer is, of course, installed making direct, unobstructed contact with the water. Your large high speed Humminbird x'ducer is no more problematic to optimize than any other, when following the basic installation RULES. There are several issues, however; that we create ourselves, which are aggravated by installation. Understanding the dynamics naturally occuring behind a fast moving boat, creating elevated displaced water, will help immensely when thinking about installing and then optimizing your transducer.

Typical high speed transducer installations relegate the transducer to be installed tucked up tightly to the transom (not to mention the damages created). Those damages take a back seat, but for only awhile, when you learn that, once installed (mounting board or no mounting board) you experience optimization issues. Stock brackets simply are elementary in design and function and, more often than not, contribute directly to lots of troubleshooting issues. Then, we are instructed to shove  the face of the transducer somewhere below the running surface of the watercraft causing it to drag or "plow" in the already agitated waterflow (the "trough") created by your boat. A fast planing or displacment hull thrusts the transducer down even further. By doing just this, one can be certain to compromise the sounding potential of the transducer and might even create that rooster-tail we all talk about.

If you think about a fast boats' running attitude (stern down and bow up), and constant pitch and yaw at rest, the angle of the transducer is constantly changing. A powerboat generally has a weighty stern and the thrust from its power will nauturally change the angle of your transducer. By tilting the fore end upward, as we often hear suggested, your at-speed or at rest watercraft fore-end tilt upward causes your transducer to look more forward than downward. By adjusting it to the same plane as your running surface, you have a much better optimization advantage and opportunity to "see" what you expect to see. 

If you think about a surfer, and how he flawlessly surfs the foreside of the crest of a wave, your transducer should be just as uncomprimised, and pretty much just as graceful, on the elevating displaced water created by your at-speed boat. We call them "skimming" transducers, not "plowing" or "dragging" transducers and some mfgr.s even brand "Skimmer" right into the transducer. Treat them right and they will serve you exactly as they were intended.

Safe boating...