Transducer location for Tomcat255

S

squidslayer

New member
On the 255 Tomcat what are the options as far as mounting the fishfinder transducer??? Is transom mount the ONLY location feasable?? If the transom mount is used were is the BEST location?

any input is appeciated

Dick E
 
Dick... I just broached this question on my new TomCat. Scott Mathews said there is an inset in the hull with no balsa core designed to allow thru-hull shooting of the proper transducer.

I am having a Raymarine 300 unit mounted there - no holes needed. I think most of the TomCat users are shooting for no, or only one (the washdown pump inlet) hole in the hull for all the electronics, etc..

John
 
Dick,

We use the Raymarine(Airmar) TriDucer mounted on the transom. It performs very well. It's visible in our album, page 1, photo 16.

We sometimes lose the bottom fix momentarily in rough conditions at high speed. Never enough to be a problem.

Welcome to the TomCat litter!
 
To clarify - I think that, if you order the Honda digital guages, you do not need the "triducer" with paddlewheel off the transom.

John
 
The speed wheel sort of became obsolete with all our newfangled Lorans and GPSs . We have great results with the transom mount units on the Tomcat. I have never seen a shoot through the hull that worked as well as a transom mount for detail .
Marc
 
John ....or anyone

you stated.....
"on my new TomCat. Scott Mathews said there is an inset in the hull with no balsa core designed to allow thru-hull shooting of the proper transducer."

Do you know or have you seen "WHERE" this inset is located??? My electronics dealer does not know where it is...is it very hard to get to?

I would perfer it to be hull mounted so it will work best especially at high speeds

Dick
 
My dealer "Sportcraft Marina" stated that there wasn't an easy way to mount an inhull or thruhull transducer in the TC255. I had a 1kw garmin that I wanted installed. We decided to go with the 600 watt transom mount. I have two installed, one for each station/unit, they are towards the boat's centerline hung on the transom below the Armstrong bracket. They work OK but I do have problems at speed with the sonar. The temp sensor seems to work well at speed. Let me know what you come up with, I still haven't given up on the 1KW.


Gene
 
I suspect that on the stb side, that in the very bottom of the aft bilge the hull is solid. The bilge pump on my boat is offset to the outside in this location. I was going to try a second transducer there to see if it worked.

I have the Lowrance LXC 26 HD. I keep the bottom at all speeds up into the 40's. The only time I have lost the bottom, was when a small stick kicked up the the transducer. The place where there is not too much turbulance and yet not causing issues for the water flow is relitatively narrow.--less than 1/4" depth--so you may have to play with the transducer position to get the best results. I don't use a triducer. There is some use of a paddle wheel when trolling and there is current--so you know the speed of the boat thru the water--but for 90% of navigation speed over the ground--which is what the GPS gives, is more than adequate.

Consider mounting a piece of starboard on the hull--then screw the transducer into the starboard. You don't want to put any more holes in the boat than necessary! With the starboard (roughed up surface) put on with 4200, it will be sealed. Then you can adjust the screws of the transducer to your hearts content.

I only got a 600 watt 200 khz transducer because we stay in less than 200 feet of water most of the time--I am sure that the 1 KW--50/200 would work just as well.

Use cable clips to route the cable up to the edge of the Armstrong bracket and around its side. Cut the hole in the transom big enough for the cable's fitting, and then use one of the cable seals over this hole. Be sure and seal this hole with epoxy, before you run the cable thru it. The hole is at the level of the top of the Armstrong bracket.

If it warms up tomarrow, I'll get a picture of the Starboard block and mounting location--You want clean water flow across the transducer.
 
Raymarine C-80 integrated electronics-; transducer mounted on the transom on the starboard side as low as possible- excellent performance. We never lose the bottom at speeds up to 45 mph. In shallow water, the transducer reliably reads down to 2 feet (maybe even less, but I don't want to know!).
 
Alok, any chance you could shoot a pic [ or get one from Charlies voluminous photo archives] of the transducer monting ? As I remember and you confirmed , your system worked well in all conditions we encountered . It might be helpful .
Marc
 
Hi all.... My boat is at Edmonds Marina, WA, and I am in Kansas... I can't go out and look at the installation. I think the Raymarine "shoot-thru" transducer is 1000 watt, so plenty of power there.

Scott Mathews is the guy who told me about the shoot-thru hull area C-Dory makes. I don't know exactly on what hull number they started that.

Maybe someone should call Scott or Jeff.

Thanks for all the info, John
 
Scott Mathews, of Lake Union Sea Ray - Fife, emailed me the location for shoot thru transducers on a TomCat 255:

The area where the shoot-thru transducer goes is in the back under the battery shelf on the tunnel side of the starboard pontoon.

John
 
FYI
I got this reponse from the C-Dory Factory...........YES!!! now I can do a Thru the Hull transducer when the TomCat comes in this month....bottom fishfinding readings at higher speeds will result!!

Hello Dick,



The spot is approx 12”by 12” in the starboard sponson against the transom. There is an indent where we have not cored the hull. It will be pretty obvious to whoever is doing the work. Your boat looks beautiful! Congratulations and thank you for your business.



Jeff







Jeff Messmer

Vice President Sales and Marketing

C-Dory Marine Group

25 37th ST N.E

Auburn, Wa 98002

Office 253 839 0222

Cell 206 940 0571
 
I have an Airmar shoot-through transducer for my Raymarine E-80 mounted where Jeff describes. It has worked very well so far!

Warren
 
I'm thinking of getting the Raymarine St40 Depth gauge with the 600 watt 200/50Mhz adjustable transducer. Any experience with this rig/transducer? I would verify if my Tomcat has the non-cored section of the hull near the transom.

Thanks
 
Matt,
I like a depth meter as a back up to a fish finder. But a fish finder gives you so much more information--like bottom slope, structure, wrecks, debris etc. You can always just read the numbers, but I sure appreciate the "pictures".
 
matt_unique":3rr9k40n said:
I'm thinking of getting the Raymarine St40 Depth gauge with the 600 watt 200/50Mhz adjustable transducer. Any experience with this rig/transducer? I would verify if my Tomcat has the non-cored section of the hull near the transom.

Thanks
Click to expand...

No experience, but how are you going to navigate? Aren't you going to get a chartplotter like a C-80 or E-80? Adding depth capabilities to that setup is very easy.

Warren
 
I plan to get the C-80 with radar and GPS. The cost of the DSM300 and requisite transducer was not worth the cost for me. I don't fish so I wanted either cheap/simple depth or detailed sonar, neither of which the DSM300/transducer system offers from my research. I can connect the ST40 to the C-80 to have a depth number in my C-80 if I want. I can also add real sonar at some point as well.

Thanks for the ideas.
 
Don't forget that the DSM300, etc. option shows you a lot about the depth besides just the numbers -- e.g., hard or soft bottom, and it gives you a visual indication if you are going into shallower waters.

Warren
 
That's a good point about the DSM 300. There's no question it would be nicer than simple depth but I'm not sure I would be able to realize the value relative to the cost. If I could do detailed searches for shipwrecks, I would be sold. The pictures I've seen from the unit while over wrecks were unremarkable.

I was also thinking about the virtue of having a separate critical system. If my C-80 crapped out I would have my hand-held GPS, charts, compass, and depth gauge if I go with the ST40. Via SeaTalk I can have the depth listed in a box at the top of the C80 as well.

Any experience with the 600W Adjustable In-hull depth gauge I'm considering?

Thanks
 
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