I'm a weekend fisherman and want to upgrade my fishfinder a little. I'm thinking of the humminbird helix 9 si/gps. Does a thru hull transducer work?

Are most of you going with transom mounting or thru hull?

thanks

If your doing side or down imaging you have to use the transom mount that comes with the unit.

It is a combination of both for some. Some boats will not allow for the SI transducer to read 2d depth at higher speed so a y cable is installed along with a 2d only transducer which may be a transom mount or shoot thru. That way you get SI Di at slower speeds when you need it for scanning but you will constantly get 2d readings from the 2d transducer whether shoot thru or transom mount version. It really depends on the boat to determine which install is best

Remember this if you buy one do not open the transducer package because you can trade it out for a high def transducer for a small fee.

There is a thru-hull Side Imaging transducer. It takes a 1"+ hole through the hull for attachment and the transducer is on the exterior.
XPTH 9 HDSI 180 T is the model.
It is for slow non-planning hulls.
Some Ranger owners use it under the transom extension and pair it with a shoot-thru 2D transducer XP 9 20.

The trade-in for the HDSI transducer is about $85 including shipping. Then add the cost of shipping the included Compact SI transducer to Humminbird.