Anyone install Livescope to an Old Town Autopilot?

[FryDog62]

I have Livescope on my bass boat during the summers in Minnesota, but have an Old Town Autopilot for fishing winters down in FLA. I plan to take the electronics with me this December when I leave here. Has anyone mounted a pole (Brew City, Traxstech, DIY, etc) to their OTAP?  Any good solutions as to where to mount the transducer pole or the black box?  TIA

 

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

I haven’t but a bunch of guys on the Facebook group have. Couple options it seems but I don’t know enough to explain them since I don’t have live scope. 
 

if you’re not in the Facebook groups have a look and search around. 

[txchaser]

I bought a mount for my electronics from fishfindermounts.com - I'll buy their livescope mount when it is time, as the regular electronics mount is really well thought out, and feels like it was machined in a local shop vs a bunch of plastic or cast parts. Maybe worth looking at as you are deciding. 

 

[FryDog62]

11 hours ago, txchaser said:

I bought a mount for my electronics from fishfindermounts.com - I'll buy their livescope mount when it is time, as the regular electronics mount is really well thought out, and feels like it was machined in a local shop vs a bunch of plastic or cast parts. Maybe worth looking at as you are deciding. 

 

Thank you, looks like some good stuff. Wondering if some of their track plates would fit into the track fittings on the AP120.  Also, I see they have a mount for the Garmin unit PLUS the black box. As I look at that it appear the black box would be mounted externally instead of inside a storage compartment (which is a challenge on the Autopilot). Not sure how all that would work, would like to see it in person but maybe will call the co.  Thx! 

[Darth-Baiter]

I saw a Kristine Fischer video where she talked about the mount made by the Dugout.  it looks like a manufactured part.  they  named the part, "The Fischer".  

 

not sure about the black box.  

 

 

[Choporoz]

55 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

 Wondering if some of their track plates would fit into the track fittings on the AP120.  ..... but maybe will call the co.  Thx! 

I say call them.  Most of these smaller mod companies are great to work with and more than willing to talk about how to make best use of their stuff

[Darth-Baiter]

found it.

 

https://www.dugoutfishing.com/product-page/panoptics-kayak-over-the-rail-arm

[MarkG4040]

I'm going to buy my 136 tomorrow I already have lvs32 with a gpsmaps1022 I have been using it on my boat. I was looking for a good pole for th

[casts_by_fly]

I went with the fishing specialties mount which I think Frydog also went with.  Its a solid mount and I like it for my Mega Live setup.  The only thing I don't really like is that when I am making a full speed run I don't like to leave the pole in the water.  That means I have to take it out and lay it on the deck next to the motor.  I've got an AP120 so you'll have an extra foot of space to work with, but on the 120 the front well gets a little cramped when I do that.  There are other mounts that allow you to rotate the pole 90 degrees in place that I think might be better (but that I haven't tried).

[immortl]

I used the sniper marine pole on my Hobie PA14 and have been pretty pleased with it the few times I've been out.  I normally use the twist handle to rotate the transducer, but when necessary, you can also just rotate the whole pole around too, it doesn't really lock into place.  At first, before actually using it, I thought this would be aggravating, but it's really not and is actually useful.  When I tool around the lake, it 'self rotates' due to resistance and faces backwards if I don't remember to rotate it around first.  I do tend to pull it out of the water if I'm going a longer distance. 

 

One thing I did a little differently than in the videos I watched was to mount the marine board mount with its long axis parallel with the kayak instead of perpendicular.  It's mounted to a hobie h-rail mounting plate where the plate is on the outside side of the rail.  This keeps the pole pretty close to the side of the kayak and it's not sticking out to the side by several inches, while not intruding into the 'interior' space of the kayak.  Been working pretty well for me.

 

It continues to be pouring rain here but when it stops I'll go take a picture of how I have it mounted and will add it to this thread.

[FryDog62]

1 hour ago, immortl said:

I used the sniper marine pole on my Hobie PA14 and have been pretty pleased with it the few times I've been out.  I normally use the twist handle to rotate the transducer, but when necessary, you can also just rotate the whole pole around too, it doesn't really lock into place.  At first, before actually using it, I thought this would be aggravating, but it's really not and is actually useful.  When I tool around the lake, it 'self rotates' due to resistance and faces backwards if I don't remember to rotate it around first.  I do tend to pull it out of the water if I'm going a longer distance. 

 

One thing I did a little differently than in the videos I watched was to mount the marine board mount with its long axis parallel with the kayak instead of perpendicular.  It's mounted to a hobie h-rail mounting plate where the plate is on the outside side of the rail.  This keeps the pole pretty close to the side of the kayak and it's not sticking out to the side by several inches, while not intruding into the 'interior' space of the kayak.  Been working pretty well for me.

 

It continues to be pouring rain here but when it stops I'll go take a picture of how I have it mounted and will add it to this thread.

Will be interesting to see your mount... for comparison sake here is mine:

[immortl]

@FryDog62 Sorry for the delay, stopped raining a few days ago and I finally got around to uncovering the kayak (and bringing it inside so I can work through the next round of rain this weekend and finalize some wiring).  Been working on some RV repairs.  Anyways...

 

The end result of your mounting and mine is pretty much the same.  You have the t-slot track which puts the mount in the middle of the kayak edge but I had to work with the h-rail which pushes the mounting point off to the side of the rail.

 

 

[Koz]

On 9/25/2023 at 12:29 PM, immortl said:

I used the sniper marine pole on my Hobie PA14 and have been pretty pleased with it the few times I've been out.  I normally use the twist handle to rotate the transducer, but when necessary, you can also just rotate the whole pole around too, it doesn't really lock into place.  At first, before actually using it, I thought this would be aggravating, but it's really not and is actually useful.  When I tool around the lake, it 'self rotates' due to resistance and faces backwards if I don't remember to rotate it around first.  I do tend to pull it out of the water if I'm going a longer distance. 

 

One thing I did a little differently than in the videos I watched was to mount the marine board mount with its long axis parallel with the kayak instead of perpendicular.  It's mounted to a hobie h-rail mounting plate where the plate is on the outside side of the rail.  This keeps the pole pretty close to the side of the kayak and it's not sticking out to the side by several inches, while not intruding into the 'interior' space of the kayak.  Been working pretty well for me.

 

It continues to be pouring rain here but when it stops I'll go take a picture of how I have it mounted and will add it to this thread.

Are you still satisfied with the Sniper Marine mount? I’m thinking of replacing my Fishing Specialties mount,

[TheBaitMonkey]

2 hours ago, Koz said:

Are you still satisfied with the Sniper Marine mount? I’m thinking of replacing my Fishing Specialties mount,

I have a Sniper Pole (used it all of last year) and I absolutely love it. It’s built to last, really sturdy, and the customer service from their team has been great. 
 

I have mine mounted with a RAM ball system (using the tracks on my kayaks) but have been debating on getting their new holster mount. The RAM ball is nice though since I have my livescope setup portable to move it from my Old Town powered by Minn Kota to my other Old Town PDL that I store at a pond near my house.
 

Their new mode shift bracket looks nice too where it allows you to switch from forward to perspective mode quickly.

 

I started with the Sniper pole so I don’t have much to compare it with.

[MRQturbo]

Most of the builds I've seen... The black box is mounted in the compartment under the seat or in a crate in the back.....there aren't too many other options... Hull storage is at a bare minimum on the autopilots.. I have a railblaza hexx transducer mount I will be using once I finally pull the trigger and add the lvs34.. I was waiting for mega live 2 to finally appear but since it's not compatible with my helix 9...garmin is the better option.. 

[Koz]

8 hours ago, TheBaitMonkey said:

I have a Sniper Pole (used it all of last year) and I absolutely love it. It’s built to last, really sturdy, and the customer service from their team has been great. 
 

I have mine mounted with a RAM ball system (using the tracks on my kayaks) but have been debating on getting their new holster mount. The RAM ball is nice though since I have my livescope setup portable to move it from my Old Town powered by Minn Kota to my other Old Town PDL that I store at a pond near my house.
 

Their new mode shift bracket looks nice too where it allows you to switch from forward to perspective mode quickly.

 

I started with the Sniper pole so I don’t have much to compare it with.

Thanks for the great info. It seems to fit my needs as pivoting the handle on my FS can be a pain and I want something that can stow on the rail. I need to check out that mode shift bracket as well.

[FryDog62]

I see the old post has been revived. I too have the Fishing Specialties mount and it works “ok.”
 

Then I added a second transducer mount - this time for 360 Imaging. I used the Dugout Kayak “Pivot 2.0” and really prefer it over the Fishing Specialties - although it’s nearly twice as expensive.

 

The Pivot 2.0 works for either Livescope or 360. I like it better because it’s a solid mount (unlike the break away collar of the Fishing Specialties mount, which seems to wiggle loosely at times) and the Pivot 2.0 stows nicely along the gunnel of my kayak when not in use.  
 

I have thought about swapping out the Fishing Specialties mount for a second Pivot 2.0. 

Pictures in the link:

https://www.dugoutfishing.com/product-page/pivot-livescope-mount-2-0

 

[casts_by_fly]

I'll echo the comments about the FS mount.  I like it, it's fine.  For the price it is probably the best option around.  After 2 years of use, I would have preferred the sniper or another rail mounted option that can pivot up.  when I am traveling in the AP, I have to pull the entire arm out of the FS mount and lay it along the motor at my feet.  There is a good bit of flex if you are running over 2 mph with it that I don't like.  That said, would I pay double to have a pivoting arm?  maybe.  That's all just convenience at that point.