I have a factory Hummingbird (i know people don't like them here), but it is what I got.

In hull mounted x-ducer. This boat is 4 years old and has seen 100 + heat to -15 Cold. Everyonce in a while the Depth will go to 600'plus and mark fish like crazy at 300' or so and I am in <10' of water. Should I try a rear-end x-ducer. Or break down and buy another Depth Finder?

Well, a new transducer will set you back between $50 and $65 for a 4-year-old unit. If it were me, I'd opt for a new Eagle 320. $129 almost anywhere and a LOT better than your older Humminbird.

Thanks I figured that. Do you lose anything by having the rear mounted x-ducer as opposed to a Thru Hull?

You lose about 12 to 15% of your sensitivity depending on the wattage output of the unit. I wouldn't use anything less than 1500 watts to shoot-through. You also lose water temp unless you mount an external probe. BUT, you don't have to worry about knocking it off on a stump and it typically picks up better at speed.

RaiderRED,

What is happening is that the unit is losing the true bottom reading internal electronic noise in the unit. This could be from several sources � some of which you can test for yourself. Since the problem does not seem to be consistent, it may take some time before you can figure out what is causing it.

Interference � test for this by turning everything else in the boat off. If the problem still happens, than it is something else causing it.

Transducer mounting � you can possibly test for this by pouring some water into the hull of your boat. The water will help displace any air that may be under the transducer. If the unit starts working better, than you need to remove and remount the transducer inside the hull � or you can just keep water in the boat. This is not a 100% test as the transducer could be coming loose and the added water may not help.

Transducer or unit going bad � the only way for you to test for this is to run your unit on someone else�s boat or their unit on your boat. You didn�t state what model you had so I would recommend only testing it on another boat that is using the same model.

Jignpig is right in that you would find that a newer model depth sounder would be better than a four year old model depth sounder.

Even with the best inside the hull transducer installation you will lose sonar sensitivity. A lot of this will depend on the boat hull construction and how well the transducer is installed. I�ve heard numbers around a 10% loss in sensitivity. I have also heard that many of today�s depth sounders are so sensitive that it is just a matter of cranking up the sensitivity a few notches to compensate for this loss.


Greg Walters at Humminbird
gwalters@johnsonoutdoors.com

Greg,

thanks so much. You will have mail real soon.

Lee

Lee,

Got it and replied back!


Greg Walters at Humminbird

I agree with Greg on putting some water to see if air is getting under the transducer. That is what happened to mine after about 3 years. Greg, can I just take a hammer and knock off the old transducer. I have since gotten a different unit and I just let the transducer sit in the water in the transom. It seems to read OK. It is a TX 300. I just got a Matrix 17 that was on sale at Academy for $99.88. Will the temp sensor from the TX 300 work with the Matrix? Also, how much less bottom coverage will I get with the Matrix 17 than with my TX 300? I think the TX 300 is supposed to be 90 degrees and the Matrix 60 degrees. My old Wide View seemed to get good coverage although I think it is 53 degrees. I have never owned anything but Humminbird and mainly because of the wider view of the bottom. That is all I am concerned with since I am a crappie guide and only need to locate the brush piles. I found 3 new brush piles this week just by keeping my eye on the screen as I move around the lake. One had fresh willow limbs, another fresh live oak, and another was a pvc condo that someone made. I still use the ID 1 on my trolling motor. I just wish I could get a new screen replacement for them. I have 3 or 4 that work but the screen is so scratched up that I can hardly read it. It is still the best for reading fish in brush since it shows fish in red.

Crappie1 (that sounds funny if you read it fast!),

Usually all you have to do to remove an epoxied in transducer is tap it on the side with a hammer. Do this all around the transducer if you can reach it. I have also used a piece of wood to reach down in the bilge area and just tapped on the board that was set against the transducer.

Before you do this though you may want to consider just using the transducer from the 300TX that�s inside your boat�s hull now. When you plug the Tri-Beam transducer from your 300TX unit into the Matrix 17 it will use it as the standard DualBeam transducer that comes with the Matrix 17 (minus the water temperature). As long as you don�t mind keeping some water inside the hull of your boat there should not be a problem.

Wow! Good price on the Matrix 17!

Yes, the temperature probe accessory (TG-W) from your 300TX will plug right up to the Matrix 17. If you end up using the standard transducer that comes with the Matrix 17 the temperature reading from it will be overridden by the temperature from the TG-W when you plug it in. In this way you could epoxy in the standard Matrix 17 transducer (with built-in temp probe) and still get actual water temperature readings when you plug in the TG-W.

Although the 300TX had the two extra 455kHz beams that provided a 90 degree coverage area, this was mainly only used to display sonar targets. You will have a wider effective coverage area with the Matrix 17 over the 300TX and Wide View mainly due to changes in the receiver and the capability to process and display more sonar target levels simultaneously. The rule of thumb for the DualBeam coverage of the Matrix 17 is the depth times 0.35 (or roughly 1/3 of depth) for the 20 degree 200kHz beam and the depth times 1.15 (or roughly the same as the water depth) for the 60 degree 83kHz beam.

For your TCR ID-1 you could try some of the commercially available plastic polishes. I believe that this will work.

I don�t know how you are marking those brush piles now but in the future you could connect a GPS receiver to the Matrix 17 and use it to save the locations as waypoints.


Greg Walters at Humminbird
gwalters@johnsonoutdoors.com

Thanks, Greg. I thought you had said in a previous reply that the transducer for the TX 300 would work with the Matrix but when I called Humminbird, one of the representatives told me it would not work. I will try it to see. Since I am in such heavy timber during spring fishing, I have not mounted a transducer on the outside of my boat. Mine has seemed to work fine just sitting in water in the transom. The only problem is when some dirt or debris gets under the transducer or the water dries out. If I run across a good deal on a GPS that goes with the Matirx like I did on this one, I will get one. I think the GPS lists for what I paid for my Matrix 17. I could use a GPS for foggy weather. I can find the 100+ brush piles that I fish by memory. I have a hand held Garmin Etrex Venture right now that I can use in foggy weather. Thanks again for the help.

Crappie1,

I know for a fact that the 300TX TriBeam transducer will work correctly as a DualBeam transducer with that Matrix 17. Wish I knew who you talked to as I made a transducer cross reference spreadsheet for all the Customer Resource folks to use. I wouldn�t put a transducer on the outside unless I had to as it would take getting hung up on just one stump or tree and that transducer could be history.

Instead of buying a GPS receiver you should be able to connect your Garmin eTrex Venture to your Matrix 17 and use it as the GPS antennae. You would than be able to mark Waypoints and Trackplots in your Matrix 17 and even use the HumminbirdPC program to store and manage countless waypoints (to use the HumminbirdPC program you would have to also buy the PC Connect Kit). We make a cable that will connect directly from the eTrex Venture to the Matrix unit (AS-HHGAR205) and you would have to make some menu changes in your Garmin. Contact me via e-mail if you want some added details and I will send back a document I wrote on how to do this.


Greg Walters at Humminbird
gwalters@johnsonoutdoors.com