Project: Second sounder

[fishwish]

Well, I have had my current boat for about 2 years. Awesome boat. Excellent electronics including an HDS8 at the helm with a radar and an Airmar transducer. One thing that has been an issue since the first time that I used it fishing is that I have difficulty seeing the HDS screen from the back of the boat in the cockpit area. It is tough to see through the windows to the front where the screen is located, especially when it is sunny and there is a glare.

I thought that I would get used to it, but I finally decided that I needed to install a second unit, networked with the first, outside in the cockpit area.

I was able to find a used HDS5x and a Structure Scan at Harbour Chandler. The Structure Scan was necessary to use as an expansion port for the Ethernet cables since I have radar and there is only one Ethernet port on the back of the HDS8.

This is where I am going to put it, just above my outside, starboard window:

 

[fishwish]

Sorry for double posting

Here are the pieces that I am installing.

 

[finaddict]

Looking forward to more photos and a report on results when you are done FW. I have the same system and currently have a 2nd sounder (eagle 520DF) running on a separate xducer off the stern of the boat. I'd like to replace that with n HDS 5. How much did you pay for the used HDS5?
Thanks

Fin

 

[Sir Reel]

Looks like a Sea Sport fishwish.
I mounted a Lowrance Elite 5 with seperate transducer on my outside steering station.
This gives me redundancy in a sounder and chart plotter.
Kinda wish I had mounted it up higher like you are going to. How will you run the wires up there? Inside the head?

 

[fishwish]

Fin...I paid $200 for the sounder, but that was just the head unit without a transducer. Once again, Harbour Chandler and their great pricing/customer service.

Sir Reel...You are correct. 22ft Sea Sport Sportsman (no head) There is a void on the starboard side behind the grab handle where I will run the wiring down to the wiring tubes (I will post pics). My wiring for the radar is currently there. You can see the wires on the right hand side of the first pic.

Got some stuff done tonight, but not as much as I had hoped...as always when doing electronics installs First things first, I made sure that both units were running the most updated software. Easy for the HDS8 because it has a card slot, but a little tricky for the HDS5 because it does not have a card slot. Got that finished.

Also got the Structure Scan wired to the power supply. I wired it so that the structure scan gets power as soon as I power up the main unit on the dash.

I ran into an issue with the location of where I am mounting it. It does not fit as nicely as I would like it to. I am going to fabricate a bracket out of "Starboard" to allow me to mount the unit a little lower. The problem was that it was hitting the overhang from the roof.

 

[finaddict]

Fin...I paid $200 for the sounder, but that was just the head unit without a transducer. Once again, Harbour Chandler and their great pricing/customer service.

Perfect, Thanks FW. That is exactly what I am looking for.

 

[Sir Reel]

I might have that same void behind the hand rail. Didn't want to run wires up my head wall.
would be nice if you were able to keep the Lowrance under the roof.
was the head unit used? That's a good price.

 

[seadna]

I installed a second chart plotter myself this past year. I bought an HDS5 genII with the std. Lowrance transducer and mounted it on the dash adjacent to my HDS8. I then replaced the HDS8 gen I with an HSD7-genIII touch. The latter has a built in wireless transmitter that allows me to see whatever is displayed on it's screen on my phone or a tablet (iPad or Android). That gives me a way to see the sounder in the cockpit without wiring up a second screen back there.

 

[fishwish]

Yes, it was used/trade in at Harbour Chandler.

Here is the piece of Starboard that I routered. This is what I am mounting the bracket to.