I'm sure this has been asked before, but.......

[itsaboattime]

Hey can anybody tell me why depthometer (spelling?) transducers are mounted on the transom?? Seems a little too late to me. I cruise rivers mostly and have a Four Winns F & S, fiberglass boat. The Rock river changes every spring and I always take the chance on bottoming out on somethin every spring. Is there a way to mount a transducer near or in the bow so that I can tell if Im running out of water before its too late??

 

[45Auto]

Re: I'm sure this has been asked before, but.......

Hey can anybody tell me why depthometer transducers are mounted on the transom?

Cause that's the part of the boat that's in the water when you're on plane. Depth gauges work on the SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging) principle. They bounce a sound wave off the bottom and measure the time it takes to reflect back to them. Sound travels MUCH faster in water than in air. Any air between the transducer head and water would give a completely false signal. Most transducers won't even work if they're in the air.

Nothing to stop you from mounting a tranducer head in the bow. It would work fine as long as you're at "no wake" speeds. But it would be useless once it came out of the water.

 

[JoLin]

Re: I'm sure this has been asked before, but.......

Hi, guy-

First, the transducer doesn't need to be transom mounted- there are thru-hull and "shoot-thru-hull" options available.

Second, a boat generally has only one depthfinder, and you want the transducer on a part of the hull that's always in the water. Your bow-mounted transducer will be useless at anything above hull speed, as your bow will be clear of the water.

Third, how fast can you stop your boat? A difference of 10 or 15 feet between a transom mount and a bow mount probably won't help you much if you sail into water that shallow.

Of course, there's no reason you couldn't mount a second DF if you've a mind to...

 

[capt sam]

Re: I'm sure this has been asked before, but.......

also understand most are set up to scan in a cone configuration, so you're not really losing anything in distance.

 

[Splat]

Re: I'm sure this has been asked before, but.......

Not trying to be overly critical, and not ball busting but when you start a new thread please post something useful in the topic line, many of us only read into topics we have some expertise in. Your title although accurate, doesn't even hint at what you need help with.

Bill

 

[David Greer]

Re: I'm sure this has been asked before, but.......

the cone function doesn't do any good at depths when you might hit bottom. I've also thought it would be useful to have a forward-casting sonar, but a guy on the bow with a shove-pole works just fine.

 

[capt sam]

Re: I'm sure this has been asked before, but.......

the cone function doesn't do any good at depths when you might hit bottom. I've also thought it would be useful to have a forward-casting sonar, but a guy on the bow with a shove-pole works just fine.

if you're that shallow and you're looking at the depthfinder as opposed to looking at what's in front of you well I'd guess you'd be right.