depth/echo sounder

seaskimmer · 16 November 2003, 15:13

hi guys
just me again does anyone know of a battery operated depth sounder, as i would like to get one for my boat as i do not have any power on her at the moment,

regards

till the sands of the desert freeze over, and the camels come skating home:

nik · 16 November 2003, 15:43

I have a garmin ff80, and it will run on a 9v battery. I cant say how long for, but I tried putting the backlight on and it still worked (if the battery were struggling, then the extra load would drop the battery voltage so much it would stop working). Or you can buy a small 12v rechargeable battery for about a tenner.
Nick.

Ribald · 16 November 2003, 16:56

You could have a look at this:

http://www.humminbird.com/hb_Products.asp?ID=229

thewavehumper · 16 November 2003, 17:41

Peter's link looks pretty clever but there is also a small torch like device available, My friend has one and I am seeing him tomorrow, so I will find out what it is.

Garygee · 16 November 2003, 17:41

Hi folks

You can run almost any sounder or a small 12 volt gel cell.

I have seen small plastic boxs made to hold the cell and the sounder display put on the top of it.

Even a small lead acide gel cell would run a sounder for a few hours but you can get then in various sizes depending on how long you want to run.

you can get them from Maplins http://www.maplin.co.uk or CPC on http://custom1.farnell.com/cpc/.

Search for lead acid on both.

Dont use normal lead acid batteries, they must be sealed gel cell to be safe.

Regards Gary

Jklingel · 17 November 2003, 01:26

My portable Hummingbird (3 yrs old) runs a good week's worth of fishing on two 6-volt batteries. I believe the ad for it said 70 hrs. It reads to about 600' and seems to see fish well, too....better than I can catch them. Not terribly pricey, either. $150?? john

MeMe · 17 November 2003, 15:23

Hi Seaskimmer, welcome to the forum where you'll get 100 different replies to the same question......but that's the fun of it !

So, here's No5

Do you have a centre console? If so, you have room to mount a sounder and space beneath to place a battery. What you can't do (as far as I know) is keep the battery charged via the engine!

Taking this aside, if you install a battery you're then able to run the sounder plus any other instrumentation (vhf - nav lights - 12v socket) etc, which, must be an advantage. Further, you'll find these battery operated and hand held units just as costly, if not more expensive than a straight forward 12v version.

Keep us informed...........

Daniel · 17 November 2003, 16:42

Further to the wise words of Mr MeMe there is a chance you could purchase a conversion jobbie (just a diode pack on some engines) for your engine to output 12v DC. If you let me know the exact age and model (or serial no) i'll find out for you.

I did exactly that on a Yam 30 recently - added a diode pack to a pull start engine and used it to charge a battery. Cost about £45.

thewavehumper · 17 November 2003, 19:22

The doobrey I metioned is made by Plastimo, is around 115 poonds and just gives out a digital depth read out. it's about the size of a waterproof mini maglite

seaskimmer · 18 November 2003, 09:19

well gang thanks for the replies, there is a wealth of info in them with some really usefull links, but after carefull consideration i might go down the line of installing a re-chargable 12v battery in my centre console.i have seen a device thet has two battery clips and a cigarette lighter similar to one.s in cars. i wouild then be able to use a fixed vhf+ echo sounder,i wonder if you could use this eqpt straight from the batt, if so how do you go about it, it,s not a problem for me to re-charge my batt after use as i have a charger, and would only use it for 6 hrs max..

thanks

jwalker · 18 November 2003, 10:50

Why are you so reluctant to do it properly. Your engine has an output for charging/lighting. Just get a wee rectifier and then connect to an ordinary battery and it'll all be fine.
If you don't know how to do this, just ask here.

thewavehumper · 19 November 2003, 09:35

If youstill want to go Portable then the Hummingbird RF30 may be of interest to you. It's works on RF to transmit back to thedisplay unit

Pete7 · 19 November 2003, 10:13

Think JW's solution is the better option for running all the things you will need on a rib.

Radio
VHF
GPS
Nav lights
Eng Instruments
Cigar lighter
Phone charger
Fridge (absolutely)
spot light
12v kettle
Bilge pump
12v soldering iron (to fix the above at sea)

and if you have a battery then electic start is a posibility.

Pete

seaskimmer · 19 November 2003, 14:00

well thanks again for all the advice, so now here is a couple more q,s.
)1(if i go down the line of installing a battry to run a gps+vhf, how do i do it, there is ample room in the front of my console for a small batt(what type/make).
2 how do you go about connecting the various bits to the supply.
3 to recharge it from my exsisting engine( mariner 40hp p/s l/s 1984 ser no 6e9-s-005336) what will i need.
and also in relation to my engine as you can see it is quite old but runs like a dream,but takes some starting from cold so i would love to convert it to electric start- is this possible,if so how.

in anticipation regards

MeMe · 19 November 2003, 14:06

I'm always the first to jump in there with advice, however, on this one I'll hold my hands up and say - dunno - It's about now that I usually reach for the cheque book, however, Ifeel sure you'll get some good advice in due course. In the meantime. A leisure battery is what you need along with a battery case and mounting bracket, total cost between £40 - £80 depending on where you buy.

thewavehumper · 19 November 2003, 16:49

An 85 amp battery would do you fine but you would need to fit it in a box to keep it a bit waterproof. You can buy one of these Boxes from towsure for about a 6 poond note and a Battery for a single 35 poond note( you'll even get 5p change)

Daniel · 19 November 2003, 18:54

OKay, just spoken to the man that knows everything.

Apparently, and it's news to me, but all the older Mariners under 50hp were, infact, Yam's.

This is good for you because Yams (even that age) had two (i think they are green) unused wires coming out from under the flywheel. With a diode pack this will produce a 1 or 2A charging circuit - you could make it if you are on a real budget, but they are only about £45, let me know if you want me to get it for you.

Hope that helps!

Daniel · 19 November 2003, 18:57

A further note... converting to electric start, i would have thought, will be quite expensive unless you happen to syunble accross the parts from a 2nd hand identical engine. Someone on here may well not agree though!

jwalker · 19 November 2003, 19:44

You need to buy a bridge rectifier from some place like Maplin or you may have a local electronics shop. In my catalogue, a 25amp one costs £1.55. Bolt it to a bit of sheet aluminium and bolt that to your engine wherever it is convenient. Connect it up as per the diagram and connect the DC output to your battery.

As Daniel says, the output isn't high but it will keep you in radio and depth power without problem.

If your flywheel has a starter ring (some did, some didn't) you will need a starter motor and a starter solenoid plus a start button.

Get the electrics going first.

thewavehumper · 19 November 2003, 19:57

As usual JW you have come up with pragmatic and cost effective advice. Out of interest what subject do you teach?