Should I Move Transducer?

[JPascavage52]

Hey guys, I have a Bass Tracker Pro Team 170tx. Since 2016, I've been trying to become a better deep/ offshore fisherman, and one of my key investments to doing so was to swap out the stock black and white fish finder that came with the boat (a Lowrance x51), for one that has side/ down imaging. Ended up choosing a Garmin Striker 7 SV, for which I installed the transducer in the same place as the old one, since the screw holes for the new bracket lined up almost perfectly.

It's been a great unit for the money, but I haven't been able to get as much out of the Sidevu as I've wanted. The image has often appeared rather grainy, even at idle speeds, and I've never been able to get the clear, detailed sort of images that appear on the box or the demo modes that show all of the sunken bridges, brush piles, and more, at most, I may see a log or two, and there have been times when I go past structure/ cover that I know is there, only for it to appear very blurry. When I was at Bass Pro Shops recently, I talked to the guy at the electronics counter about it, and he said the issue might be the stepped transom on Trackers before 2012 or something like that, and I should consider moving the transducer below the step to near one of the drain holes to get a clearer image.

Any input on this? I will post a photo of how I have it mounted currently when I figure out how to do so. Thanks! 

 

[JPascavage52]

Here is how I have it now. 

[mattkenzer]

Although the SI will not work well on plane, how does the rest of the unit work when you are on plane?

[WRB]

Hmmmm, looks OK from the photo. Try making a spacer about 1" think and use 1" longer screws to lower the TD before drilling new holes.

If the TD is aligned with a bottom strake, that will cause bubble turbulence the TD picks up.

Tom

[JPascavage52]

8 minutes ago, mattkenzer said:

Although the SI will not work well on plane, how does the rest of the unit work when you are on plane?

It works okay, the sonar and DI will often still show bottom.

I also have a pretty significant rooster tail. 

5 minutes ago, WRB said:

Hmmmm, looks OK from the photo. Try making a spacer about 1" think and use 1" longer screws to lower the TD before drilling new holes.

If the TD is aligned with a bottom strake, that will cause bubble turbulence the TD picks up.

Tom

Okay, I was actually thinking of getting a stern saver for this when/ if I do move it. Would this work? 

[mattkenzer]

I am leaning the same way as Tom.

If the transducer is in the water at all speeds, it is turbulence or air bubbles creating your problem.

 

 

[Team9nine]

Just an opinion, but it looks way too low to me. I've mounted them on a couple different aluminum boats and they were all just a little below flush with the hull bottom. One way to tell if it's turbulence is to simply see if the screen clears and the picture gets sharper when you're just drifting with the engine off. The other recommendation is to never trust the picture on the box. It's not real ?

[mattkenzer]

Just now, Team9nine said:

Just an opinion, but it looks way too low to me. I've mounted them on a couple different aluminum boats and they were all just a little below flush with the hull bottom. One way to tell if it's turbulence is to simply see if the screen clears and the picture gets sharper when you're just drifting with the engine off. The other recommendation is to never trust the picture on the box. It's not real ?

Good point .... Raising it so that just half the Transducer is below boat level may clear the turbulence as well.

[DINK WHISPERER]

17 minutes ago, mattkenzer said:

Good point .... Raising it so that just half the Transducer is below boat level may clear the turbulence as well.

This is what I did to mine when it had a lot of screen clutter/interference. Worked on mine.

[Tennessee Boy]

It looks like the stepped portion of the transom is to the left of your transducer and not below it or to the right of it.  If this is the case, I can see how the stepped transom might cause problems but I would expect it to only affect the left side of the image. If both sides of the side scan image look the same then I don't think this is causing a problem.  

[WRB]

The TD should be even with the boats bottom planning surface. Your aluminum boat doesn't have a pad that is flat, it's a V bottom. What you do is hold a flat board agianst the bottom and set the TD bottom surface on the board, that is the depth it should be. 

The lower corner near the engine is the deepest it should be, the outside upper corner needs to be level with inside corner. Before drilling new holes make sure no strakes are inline with the TD.

Tom