997c SI

[southern maine diver]

Just ordered my Humminbird 997c SI... can't wait to get it on the boat and go play with it. Any Do's and Don'ts from anyone would be helpful.

Can it be operated in very cold weather? Like Southern Maine weather? Anyone have any luck using the thru-hull transducer? I don't like the transom mounts because of heavy ice build up. I keep my boat in the water all year round, so I get a lot of ice.

Thanks for your help,

Wayne

 

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[rgecy]

Wayne,

Congrats! I would buy the thru hull and use the transom mount for the tow fish you are gonna make!

I also have some software that I wrote that will let you play back the recordings on the computer I will get to you. I will post some screenshots later.

As for any advice, the best images are obtained when you are running about 4-5mph. Of course, you have to keep a good straight line to keep the images from distorting and any wave action will also distort the image. That's where the towfish comes in! If you are using it on just lakes and rivers, the wave action usually isn't a problem.

Shoot me a PM when you get it setup. There are a few sites there to help if you have any problems.

http://www.xumba.scholleco.com/index.php

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/

Good Luck,

Robert

FYI: The towfish is actually Jason's (scubafinder) and I donated the transducer.

 

[southern maine diver]

Hi Robert...

Thank you so much for the input and for the photo of the tow-fish. I was going to trade the transom mount transducer back to Humminbird, but now... I am not going to and I will be putting together a tow-fish. Thanks!

This unit will pay for itself this spring. I already have a search/recovery job to do... a tugboat lost a 6,000lb anchor and no one has found it yet... also, I can recover dozens of abandoned granite mooring blocks , recondition them and resell them and I can look for some suspected wreck sites and places to go bottle hunting...

Any thoughts on the use of the machine in below freezing temperatures? I'll have to read a little more in the owners manual.

Thanks again, Robert and good chatting with you. I've been off the net for a while, swamped with diving work and now things have really slowed down to a point where I can take a few days off, relax and get some things done on my boat. I'll be posting some new photos of the boat soon. All new cabin, overhead, motor, engine bracket..looks good!!
Talk to you soon,

Wayne

 

[rgecy]

Here are a few images from some playback software and mosaic program. These images were all recorded with the 987 and the transducer hull mounted.

I will send you guys some more info as soon as its all complete.

 

[southern maine diver]

Hey Robert...

Great scans and super enhancements!!! I can't wait to get it all together. I just picked up my machine and I'm reading the instruction booklet as we speak!

Say, I've been thinking about making a road trip down to Virginia to see my brother, so it wouldn't be that much further to come down to So.Carolina. I was stationed there back in 1972 at Paris Island, but I wanted to go shark tooth diving bottle diving out of Charleston. Is it better for me to trailer my boat or just catch one of those charters in the area? Have you been out there to hunt for teeth?

A little off the subject, I know... but I was up all night just reading old threads and seeing what I've missed over the past couple of months. I still want to make up a blower for my new outboard (a 225Optimax or E-tech) I'm trying to broker a deal with the reps to get me an engine cheap...

I'm almost ready to get my boat back into the water. I have to make up a fairing block in order to mount my thru-hull to my boat. What boat did you mount your 997 to? Is it the one with the Yamaha 225 on it?

Anyway, thanks for all your help and I look forward to sharing some info with you and chatting with you. Have a great weekend. I'm getting ready for the Patriots/Steelers game, so I'll be off the net for a while. Gonna start cookin here shortly.

Thanks again,
Wayne

 

[rgecy]

Why go to Charleston and pay for a trip, when you can come here and dive from my boat for free! We have awesome tooth diving here!

 

[cliffscot]

Congrats on the new unit!! I have one and love it. Robert has helped me a good bit with my unit and I just wanted to pass on some lessons. Don't use more than one extension cable extention on your towfish. Also order hummingbirds toggle switch for multiple transducers... lot simpler than taking the unit apart to swith from hull mount transducer to towfish. I played with the tow fish design and will suggest this:

use a threaded pvc section in the design this will allow you to modify it once you get it running. The other big advantage is simply attaching a pvc pipe to it and sticking it deeper in the water than just the transom. Just make sure to include a couple of sturdy clamps on your transom and dont try to go too deep with the pvc. (I tried 12ft and it was too hard to hold!..but about 3ft in water works pretty good and gets you below the transom wake.)

 

[rgecy]

Good advice Cliff!

Anyone want to go in together on a roll of Belden 9730 Low-Impedance cable for use on the Towfish so we can get longer lengths without signal loss?

It comes in 1000 foot rolls and I cant seem to find it in lengths less than that. I will check on the cost, but I think its around $200. 5 people at $50 each for 200' (little extra to cover taxes ad shipping from my end)

I will buy the cable if we get 2 or 3 and you guys can just send me the money via PayPal and I will ship it out. If anyone can find it for less or shorter lengths let me know. Like I said, I need to check on the price later today.

Robert

 

[Voldbjerg]

Good advice Cliff!

Anyone want to go in together on a roll of Belden 9730 Low-Impedance cable for use on the Towfish so we can get longer lengths without signal loss?

It comes in 1000 foot rolls and I cant seem to find it in lengths less than that. I will check on the cost, but I think its around $200. 5 people at $50 each for 200' (little extra to cover taxes ad shipping from my end)

I will buy the cable if we get 2 or 3 and you guys can just send me the money via PayPal and I will ship it out. If anyone can find it for less or shorter lengths let me know. Like I said, I need to check on the price later today.

Robert

Robert,

Give your local Anixter office a call. They sell the cable in lenghts not only reels(at least they used to).

 

[rgecy]

Not familiar with Anixter!

 

[mad4wrecks]

Your local Anixter supplier:

Electrical & Electronic Wire & Cable
120 Trans Air Drive
Morrisville, NC, 27560
Tel: 919-380-3290
800-360-3066
Fax: 919-463-1093


Enterprise Cabling Solutions
9311 Monroe Rd
Ste ABC
Charlotte, NC, 28270
Tel: 704-847-5900
Fax: 704-847-5574


OEM Wire & Cable
2233E Interstate North Dr.
Charlotte, NC, 28206
Tel: 800-724-4071
Fax: 704-596-3384

 

[rgecy]

Thanks Tom, but those are all 3 plus hours. Maybe they will ship if they offer the cable in short lengths.

Anything in Savannah GA?

 

[Darren in NC]

Robert, Morrisville is a suburb of Raleigh. See if they have what you want. I'll pick it up and mail it to you.

 

[southern maine diver]

Hey Robert...

If you don't find the shorter length that you want from a couple of the sources mentioned above, I'd be interested in sharing the cost of the big 1000' roll you mentioned. I will be trying to put a tow-fish together and sure would need a 200' length for mine. Looking forward to meeting you some day soon.

Wayne

 

[cliffscot]

Robert,

Count me in on the cable. I still haven't shorten my tow fish cable to boost my signal. It just sucks since I used some thick as heat shrink to cover the connections. Have you tried the the thru hull sensor? I just bought the sensor and two of the toggle switches to allow all three transducers on the boat. (Transom, thru hull, and tow fish)

I am curious how you are gathering your mag data. Not to change the thread but i need some pointers to get the mag data, gps, and chart plotter data on screen and paper. What are you running? I haven't purchased anything and will get whatever you recommend. I do need the ability to run multiple mags. (Well, I have the mags thats all)

Cliff

 

[Slugrusher]

Thru-hull. We have two boats with the transom mounts and one with thru-hull. MUCH better picture with it. It's only decent to about 20 feet, due to the size of the screen.

With a tow-fish/transom mount you'll have good luck beyond that 25 feet. Practice, practice, practice in IDing targets too.