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| Complete Lowrance sounder installation kit | | Print | |
| Thursday, 03 January 2008 | ||||
It couldn't be any easier Everything you need to get started in one package There was a good reason that I stopped using a sounder whilst I fished my way up the coast of QLD and that was that it was just a pain in the arse to set up each time I went kayak fishing. When the going was good that was pretty much every day so it didn't take long for the enduring process to get shelved in favour of getting onto the water faster. Why was it a pain to rig up? Mainly because I was using an external (transom) mounted transducer set up, as opposed to an internal mount. There are pros and cons with either set up, although after my own experience, I've concluded that the major pro for an external mount (the ability to read water temp accurately) just wasn't worth the extra effort I had to go to in order to set it up and later dismantle. I think I paid a price for that lethargy (in fish) but although this became apparent to me a while ago, I didn't do anything to reverse the situation. Perhaps I could have gone about rigging it differently, but to do so would have been somewhat laborious. Yeah, perhaps I was a little lazy. On the first day I started working with Hobie of all the new kayak fishing products that have recently become available there, one product in particular really grabbed my attention. That was a full fish finder/sounder installation kit. This includes a Lowrance X50DS sounder unit and every single appendage required to make it all work, either as a external or internal mount. It also comes complete with AA battery power supply (incorporating 8xAA's) and a small dry bag with which to store it in. Of course, a 12 volt battery would work just as well but the AA solution is significantly lighter and much easier to manage. The package even includes these nifty little gel-based wire connection gadgets that negate the need for soldering, let alone electrical tape. They're made specifically for marine use as well (the gel keeps the exposed wire ends that are connected water tight), so that's a bonus.  A novel and crafty method of connecting wires, ideal for marine use Another handy addition is a small dense foam housing for the transducer (for internal mounting). It offers good protection for the transducer and also simplifies the process of installation. This gets glued into the inside of the hull (directly behind the mast post is an ideal location) and once set, the transducer is bonded to the hull surface within it. Even the guess work is taken out of what should be used to glue the transducer and the foam insert, because the package comes with a tube of marine goop that does the job perfectly.  AA batteries are lighter and much easier to store than a 12 volt battery  XDS50 mounted, RAM style Installing the entire package (plus the RAM mount) took me all of about 30 - 40 minutes - 2 or 3 of which were consumed by reading the instructions, which are pretty simple to follow. As for using it, attaching the display unit it a simple matter of clipping it into it's bracket and plugging it in. The rest of the package stays inside the kayak. So what would otherwise take me an extra 5 to 10 minutes to rig up on my old (Garmin) unit, now takes me about 30 seconds, tops. At the end of the day I found this package to simplify installation and usage. That's a pretty big deal to me because as I've mentioned numerous times, I'm often fairly lazy when it comes to preparing for kayak fishing trips. As for the quality and capability of the unit itself, I'll leave any commentary on that for another day. So far I've used it 5 times and haven't had any complaints, but I don't feel as if I'm intimately familiar with it yet so I'll hold back on that for a few weeks. Any google search on 'Lowrance X50DS review' should provide you with some answers in that. If you're interested in taking a closer look at one of the Lowrance X50DS installation kits, contact your nearest Hobie dealer.  Transducer installed, protected by foam insert and mast post    
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