Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

[TheWrks]

Well I need some advice on the placement of the Paddle wheel and the Transducer.

Here are some photo's on where I think they should go.

Dose the Paddle wheel have to be mounted Horizontal to the hull? (or is it ok to have it at an angle)
They way that the paddle wheel mounting bracket is shaped it is not flush with the hull, "It tilts up" when it's flush on the transom.

Scott

 

[John_S]

Re: Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

The paddle wheel needs to match the angle. As far as the "tilt up", are the wheel blades still exposed to the water flow? It would need to be lowered such that they are. A straitedge along the bottom of the hull will help with alignment. I would move the transducer a little further away from the paddle wheel. I recommend a mounting board, such that you do not end up with multiple mounting hole in the transom. You may get lucky with your first try, but many have to reposition after water testing at slow and onplane speeds.

 

[TheWrks]

Re: Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

I was going to use 100MPH automotive grade double sided tape to hole them in place, reposition as needed until I get the correct place then drill

The Paddle wheel is at the same angle as the hull i will have to check that the blades are in the line of flow (Blowing compressed air in the direction of water would confirm this)

Scott

 

[John_S]

Re: Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

I was going to use 100MPH automotive grade double sided tape to hole them in place, reposition as needed until I get the correct place then drill

Scott

30mph water resistance is probably allot more pressure than 100mph wind resistance. is the tape designed to work under water?

 

[dingbat]

Re: Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

Mounting board, 100 MPH tape, you will never get that transducer to read right with all those rivits sitting right in front of it.

 

[John_S]

Re: Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

Mounting board, 100 MPH tape, you will never get that transducer to read right with all those rivits sitting right in front of it.

It probably makes it harder, but not nessasarily impossible. The higher top speed of the boat, probably more of an issue. Before welded alum boat (mid-80's) this rivit pattern is very common. I have two alum boats with the same type of rivit design. I able to get readings upto my max speed of 33mph. That is with larger HB 3 beam and even larger SI transducers. Is my screen just as clear at 3 mph as 33mph? No, but i don't loose bottom track either. I wouldn't give up yet, and still recommend the board.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

It probably makes it harder, but not nessasarily impossible. The higher top speed of the boat, probably more of an issue. Before welded alum boat (mid-80's) this rivit pattern is very common. I have two alum boats with the same type of rivit design. I able to get readings upto my max speed of 33mph. That is with larger HB 3 beam and even larger SI transducers. Is my screen just as clear at 3 mph as 33mph? No, but i don't loose bottom track either. I wouldn't give up yet, and still recommend the board.

It depends on your performance standard. If simple bottom tracking is your goal you should have no problems where it's at.
If your goal is mark individual fish at WOT then you have a lot of work to do.

 

[John_S]

Re: Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

It depends on your performance standard. If simple bottom tracking is your goal you should have no problems where it's at.
If your goal is mark individual fish at WOT then you have a lot of work to do.

Maybe, but haven't seen an improvment when I run on a fiberglass boat without any such rivits, outside of it will start to loose bottom track on deeper water and >45mph. My thought was the ping rate and scroll speed of these consumer units limited the high speed definition shown on the screen. I see fish, there just allot shorter.

 

[TheWrks]

Re: Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

Thanks for your comments and suggestions My main concern is for the Depth if and when the whole fishing thing sparks my interest then I'll get a better system.

(I'm just starting out with the whole boating thing on non Caribbean water )

 

[dingbat]

Re: Paddle wheel and Transducer placment for a "Green Thumb"

Maybe, but haven't seen an improvment when I run on a fiberglass boat without any such rivits, outside of it will start to loose bottom track on deeper water and >45mph. My thought was the ping rate and scroll speed of these consumer units limited the high speed definition shown on the screen. I see fish, there just allot shorter.

Poor high speed performance has nothing to do with ping and scroll rates. It?s a combination of mounting the transducer in an inherently poor location and poor transducer designs.

A transom mount is a less than ideal location to mount a transducer because the location inherently involves large amounts of turbulence. As the speed increases, so does the noise injected into transducer signal by the turbulence. After the while the transducer is so overwhelm with the noise it can?t differentiate between signal and noise and you lose bottom.

See good and bad transducer installation comparisons of the same transducers, connected to the same head unit.
http://www.airmartechnology.com/uploads/brochures/High Performance Comparison.pdf

You don?t have this problem with a thru hull. Turbulence is kept to a minimum and the transducer has ?clean? signals to work with at all speeds. The difference in performance between a transducer mounted on the transom and a thru hull mounted in clean water is like day and night.

Look Mom, no problem holding bottom at 29 mph in 100? of water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd07PIkmnfI&feature=related

I will not bore you with specfications, but you can tyically turn a so-so unit into a better machine just by upgrading the transducer.