upgrading electronics for use at DVL

[khanhqpham]

I need to upgrade the electronics on my one year old Tracker 175. I read an older post by Matt M. (last chance tackle) regarding this topic and he said to get a Lowrance HDS 5 for the console and a cheaper X-135 for the bow. Just wondering how you mount the bow transducer? I see that motorguide sells trolling motors with transducers in them. Thanks in advance. Khanh

[Matt_Magnone]

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[Matt_Magnone]

I need to upgrade the electronics on my one year old Tracker 175. I read an older post by Matt M. (last chance tackle) regarding this topic and he said to get a Lowrance HDS 5 for the console and a cheaper X-135 for the bow. Just wondering how you mount the bow transducer? I see that motorguide sells trolling motors with transducers in them. Thanks in advance. Khanh


there's no substitute for good electronics on your boat if you'll in fact be using them on a regular basis. you'll definitely get what you pay for and i suggest going with the best graph you can afford within your price range. i run an hds 8 at the console and an hds 7 at the bow. i prefer the better graph at the console as its purely going to be used for searching. the larger screen allows me to see more clearly. once in position i'll generally know my cover and structure and use the smaller graph to pin point. i tend to fish with the chartplotter screen as opposed to the sonar. i prefer to look at contour lines to fish instead of the actual bottom.

as far as mounting the bow graph transducer, they make a hose clamp bracket that you can attach to the bottom of your trolling motor. the transducer cable can be zip tied to the shaft of the trolling motor with as many zip ties as you would like. some places run a ton ; others run a few. make sure to leave a little slack midway up the trolling motor shaft to allow the bottom to swivel free without any restraint. cable can be inserted into the bow under trolling motor mount via a hole and then fished out another at the location in which your head unit will be installed. transducer cable to the transducer plug on the back of the graph, power cable to the power plug on the back of the graph. very easy job to do yourself. if you come by the shop i can show you exactly what you need to do.

[khanhqpham]

Thanks i"ll need to stop by because I need a dobson swimbait rod which you guys carry. Thanks again Matt for all your informative posts.