Topic: Some more pre purchase questions

[spes]

Hello,
First off I want to thank all that contribute and answer questions on this site. I know alot gets repeated,but it is sometimes easier to ask again than find the answers on your own.
   Ok, this will be a little long winded, forgive me.
I have an aluminum boat the I fish rivers and coastline in MA for striped bass. I am often in and around the rocks in very skinny water. I usually get up very early to fish, then later in the day/morning my better half will meet me with our 2 dogs. This requires most fishing gear and the TM to be removed from the boat to create enough space.
  I am going to purchase an SI unit and believe I will be going with the 798 ci HD Si. I have already asked a bunch of questions and you all have been a great help answering them. I now want to tie everything together.
  I want to  run a second transducer on my TM. I was told no problem with a TS3 switch. Since then I found a post mentioning I might have a problem disconnecting TM ducer and still running unit with transom ducer.
http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1368.msg7366#msg7366 
Is this post refering to a TS3 Switch?
 This post suggests a Y cable as being a safer way to disconnect the TM ducer.
   I also want to connect the HB to my VHF to enable my DSC. So I will need the AS-HHGPS cable LocDown.

Sooooooooo, my questions are,,,
1)Should I go with the Y cable to be able to disconnect the TM ducer and still run transom transducer?
 2) Are there enough connections on the back of the unit to connect 2 trancducers and the  AS-HHGPS cable ?

Thanks,
Mike

[LocDown]

1) I think the ts3 switch should be fine. If in doubt, just turn off the unit and flip the switch while swap the trolling motor out.
2) yes, the TS3 switch will goto the transducer port while the AS-HHGPS connection will goto the accessories port.

[spes]

Tks Lockdown.
How does this sound,,,
The TM ducer to a 10' extension to the TS3...
Then I can just unplug the TM? And make dang sure switch is in the transom position when powering unit?
(be afraid )

[LocDown]

I think you'll be coiling up a lot of transducer cable to the trolling motor. Will 10ft be enough to reach the switch after being routed? Hopefully, with all of those coils up there I hope you don't get any interference. I don't know if there will be any problems with the switch in the wrong position when disconnecting, maybe it will just say transducer not connected. ..dunno. I don't do multiple transducers.

[spes]

Anyone else care to weigh in on this?

I don't need the extension cable,,, I just want to be able to remove the TM and use the transom without frying the unit.
And since the TS3 needs to be mounted,, I wouldn't be able to easily disconnect the TM from the switch.
 Could I connect transom to TS3,, then connect TM to a Y then that to TS3 ( just to act as a quick disconnect ) ??

[Humminbird_Greg]

Yes you can do this.
Not sure if you will damage the unit if it is on and switched to the trolling motor transducer when you disconnect it though.
Your best bet would be to always make sure that you switch back to the transom mounted transducer before you go moving things on/off the boat.
Oh, and label the TS3 switch so you know which way connects which transducer.

[spes]

I called Humminbird yesterday.
I have a little hearing loss, so sometimes have a hard time on the phone.
From what I got from the conversation I can use the TS3 and disconnect the TM,, the woman I spoke with said it wouldn't fry the unit if the switch was mistakenly switched to the empty position.
Now,,, since the TS3 is really designed as a in dash switch I will have to come up with a setup that lets me disconnect the TM from the switch easily.

[Humminbird_Greg]

spes,
There are actually two parts to the TS3 switch.  There is the switch itself and then there is a relay box.  It is the relay box that the transducers will connect to.  The cables that connect to the transducers are about two feet long so you could mount the relay box in a location that allows you to access the connection cable to disconnect the trolling motor transducer.

[sonar2000]

I have a TS3 switch and it is one component and three cables. One to the unit, and two transducer cables..
Chuck

[spes]

How old is your switch Chuck?
I looked at the manual for the TS3 on HB's website
http://store.humminbird.com/media/document/TS3.pdf

It shows two components, i.e. switch and relay.

[sonar2000]

We have had ours for several years. It is a swtich built into a block and the three wires go out from that..
Chuck

[Humminbird_Greg]

Chuck has the older TS2-W Transducer Switch which we stopped making last year (I think).  It had a toggle type switch that has a rubber boot that fits over it.

What we sell now is the TS3 Transducer Switch which uses a relay to do the actual switching from one transducer to the other.  It has a (non-lighted) rocker type switch.

[sonar2000]

Actually with your cables you could have the switch built for you.  Check with your electronics shops..
We made our first one and it works well with just the switch...
Chuck

[Humminbird_Greg]

Guess I should add that the (TS3) relay box and the connectors were also designed to keep electrical interference out.  Not sure that would be what you would get at the local electronics shop.  Of course this won’t make any difference if your trolling motor isn’t putting out large amounts of RF interference.

[sonar2000]

Prefiltering the unit inputs is always a big step in interference elimination. Afterall the interference is from an external source and the switch only changes the input or output direction.
Filtering is done best on a particular piece of equipment like the trolling motor. Or some other electrical motor or radio.. And of course the electrical wire of connection..
Chuck
 

[spes]

I'm just looking for the easiest way to unplug the TM,,,
and still use the transom safely without frying the unit by mistake.

[sonar2000]

I would suggest the TS3 switch for your operation..

Chuck