Thought about a new boat and been watching Ken's new boat reviews. Good work Ken. As he is saying, no boat is going to be 100% of what you want it to be straight from the factory.

I am the original owner of a name brand 21' that I really like and have customized a bit so have decided to keep it and upgrade the electronics. Currently have two Humminbird 1100 series SI units + original HB 360 and a couple of in-dash smaller units. Considering keeping the 1100s for Lakemaster mapping and 2D and adding a Helix 12 Mega SI at the console and a Helix 12 MDI at the bow to display Mega 360 and the new Humminbird Mega Live (whenever it really becomes available). Would like to stay all one brand of electronics all things being near equal. Have seen Garmin Livescope and read they might come out with Version 2.0 but nothing yet. Watched online videos about the Lowrance Active Target but they have been pretty disappointing (Jacob Wheeler and Clark Rheem videos) with lots of visual artifacts dancing across the screen. May wait for reviews on the Humminbird Live version before buying any of them.

With my current power load the front units flicker and sometimes cut off when cranking the outboard so obviously need stronger power at the console and bow to handle the additional units and accessories. Been reading up about wire gauge upsizing, the Sea Clear harness and the harness made by SonarPros. While I have installed most all of my electronics for the past 30 years, with the higher power demands and interest in getting the best pictures out of the new electronics may need someone experienced with multi large screen power demand to do the power upgrading and installation. Saw Ken's informative video with Jones Trolling Motor in Texarkana and have read the web sites by other qualified installers outside of Texas. Would like to find someone closer to DFW to do the installation to reduce travel initially and in the event of needed warranty service or system tweaking after some use. Who around DFW has a good track record of installations delivering appropriate power supply and interference free screen performance?

Reach out to Aaron at Texas Boat Works. He's upgrading my boat now with exactly the bird set up you have listed plus a new Ultrex on my 2003 Cougar. Upgrading the wiring and more. He was running Garmin Livescope on his boat this past year. He can give you some ideas.

Been watching for replies to this post. Was hoping to see a long list of great boat electronics installers around Dallas.

I do all my own, Id just run ten gauge to your bow, negative and positive off the battery, put a breaker at the battery or in a rod locker where its easy to get to or a fuse if you choose.

You can buy two strand wire.


Cant help you on who to pay for it, I know Ive redone paid for work for a few friends and helped some others on here.

Its not hard at all..

Honestly....i have a feeling we all are gonna need lithiums pretty soon.

I have a helix 12 and Lowrance Ti2 9 inch on a dedicated battery. I can run my trolling motor all damn day.....and itll still have more juice than my graph battery at the end of the day. They are energy hogs for sure....hell....go to the back of your boat...you can hear the thing pinging! LOL so thats some juice compared to old school 2d and even early SI (dont remember my 698 making noises LOL). Not only are they energy hogs...but they are damn divas...and you see the stuff like flickering when they dont get exactly the amount of juice they want...so you nailed it on the head about wire size...that alone can ruin you regardless of the batteries they connect to.

So get ready for that in my opinion...because I have a feeling its gonna be better to go all in with the right stuff than just trying to scrape by...investing in saving you future stress...and those "this $5k piece of junk dont work" are the worst LOL Also...wait for Humminbirds live. Will likely cost you an arm and leg as the down payment/preorder and then first born once they mail it to you.....but that things gonna blow the rest out of the water! 100% pure speculation....but is it really? Look at mega 360....that things stupid clear! Then considering how HB has progressed with their imaging, I cant see HB regressing far off from that...it will be in line with the rest of their tech....in my opinion.

But im really looking forward to seeing what they pump out...because it does really HAVE to be better for how much cleaner and crisper HB is compared to everyone else!......in my opinon.

No joke....for how much money is in that city, I may go down there and work on all your boats! LOL Only did mine, but have done tons of googling...so im google certified!!! 🤔😂 Its actually really easy and simple imo...but can be super tedious when dealing with a boat like mine!