After about 25 outings, the transducer mounted on my Skeeter gave up its fight. My first hint was the depth reading of 2500+ feet in a lake with max depth of 35, and a quickly darkening sonar screen (I was in SI mode). When I stopped the boat and followed the cable down, I knew there was a larger issue. The cable was loose and didn't seem to be attached to anything. Sadly enough, I was right. (Photos of both the remaining part of the transducer and the resultant cable end below)
The worst part about this is, it's only about 8 months old (transducer only; the 997 has been with me for a couple of glorious years now) and it has, according to HB CS, ruined my 997 head unit. I have no temp reading nor a readout for temp selection in the menus when I hook it up to my other boat's fully functional HB system. They said I have to send it in for repair at a cost of ~$225. Not to mention the cost of a new transducer.
No impact damage is evident on the leading edge of the remnants, and the day it failed I was several hours in to just open water running.
At least it happened on the outside of tournament season.
So, has this happened to anyone else and if so, were there other solutions than to send the head in to HB for repair? I need a line on a good cheap source for another transducer, too...