Need some help LiveScope Guru's

Finally getting everything ready to purchase a live scope unit.

Give me what your thinking is the best set up and unit? Looking for a 10" or 12" model and pole mounted.
On the fence if I just want to go chartplotter or go ahead and get the full unit with sonar and all.

Go big! and budget a solid mount to get the unit high up close to your eyes (like a Beatdown outdoors!).

do you have any other garmin electronics like the Force or other graphs? If not, the cheapest solution is probably a 1222 GPSMAP garmin (barebones unit).

`Nope. No other Garmin units. Just me an ultrex and a skeeter

I have the 1022. It is awesome. If all you will be using it for is livescope because it doesn't have side imaging. I just use mine for livescope. I was told they were better because the processors don't have to process a bunch of other stuff, don't know if that's true or not, kind of doubt it because I have not heard any complaints from any others but that is the cheapest 10 inch.

The 1022 works great for me.

Plenty of options now for mounting the unit but I agree with Dude, get the unit up off the deck at least 12-15" closer to your eyes. You can see the image better and not bent over looking at the screen.

Also plenty of options for mounting the transducer if you're not mounting it on the TM shaft. Several mfgs of separate pole mounts and some like All Aboard Marine https://allaboardmarine.com that mount to the Ultrex. The All Aboard Marine unit has a nice twist handle so you're not swinging and chasing the handle around.

1022 or 1222 is probably the route I will be going, but I may want to spend the extra money for the sonar unit, just in case I get a hankering to use it for a single up front graph.

Now the mount for the livescope is a WHOLE other debate! i would always suggest starting with it on your trolling motor shaft and see how you like it. I have the all-aboard all-sync which i think is the best of both worlds even though it adds some weight to the troller. I've got the 1022 as well and a 12 would be nice, but i don't think i need it.

1022 and no pole, just mount it to the ultrex, but make sure and run 10 ga wire, they suck the power, There are about 5 times a day I wished I had it mounted on a pole, but the more you use it the better you just get use to it. Even Josh Jones who is the best at Livescope mounts his to his Ultrex.

I already have Lowrance up front, but if I didn't I'd do the upgrade for the graph and mapping up front.

Already have a lowrance up front so I’m good there

Given I’m still rocking the LCX-27

This is easy. Call David Goodson at Shut Up And Fish. Tell him what you're looking to do. He is the 'resident expert' on Livescope in DFW. 972-623-7066

Well i pulled the trigger on the 1022. Hopefully it will be here early this week, so i can start mocking up what I am wanting to do.

More than likely for right now I am goin to mount it in a cooler, so it will be portable and then have a separate pole that will mount off a ram mount or if i can make it work to the boat cleat.

I have two boats, my bass boat and then i have a Tracker Crappie pro that i use for Crappie and catfish.

If i can find another Ultrex mount then i will swap the trolling motor back and forth depending on which boat I am in.

I have already cut out a couple of mounting plates on my CNC Plasma cutter that mount to the Ultrex for buddies that built their own poles.

I didnt want to drill holes in the gunwale of my alumium boat, so I used a custom made clamp mount.
I used a plastic ammo box, and attached a carrying strap off of a luggage box. it is hard to carry the box and the poleducer together without the strap, because the box handles are on the side of the box.
im running an 18 amp hour dakota lithium because livescopes draw abt 500 watts. livescope module is bolted to the side of the box, and battery is velcro down. I keep the charger in the box, and plug it in when needed.
my other boat is fiberglass and I just mounted another ram ball mount onto it., I dont remove the clamp mount off of my aluminum boat it stay on that boat and I just mount the poleducer on what ever boat im using that day.
if using this ammo box, I recommend putting a strap from the lid to the back of the box, because if folded too far back it will unhinge. if u have a smaller screen garmin u may want to go with a smaller box.

the clamp mount is awesome, very solid and strong, I may eventually cut the tightening bolts down some, so they dont stick out as far or make some shorter ones, and keep the longer ones in case I ever decide to mount it to a different boat with a wider gunwale.
The clamp will fit virtually any boat with a gunwale. the pads that sit against the gunwale are on a moveable hinge, so it conforms to any angle.
I mounted the slotted plate on top, to give side to side adjustment capability so I can position the livescope pole exactly where I want it.

also I am new to livescope, far from a Guru, but getting it dialed in slowly. biggest thing that I found that needs to be adjusted is the color gain. it comes from the preset at 50 percent, and is not enough for the lakes Im fishing. 72 to 80 seems to make a huge difference.

I like what you have done there. Helps me start game planning for what I’m gonna have to do.
The gunwale mount give me a good idea on the tin boat. On the skeeter I will just screw a ball down to the carpeted deck.

Not sure on the battery supply yet. May go with tool batteries since I have a bunch of those,

The tool batteries work fine but I'd suggest at least an 8 amp hr battery. Mine are Milwaukee. A 6 amp hr will probably work for 5-6 hr trips. Also go with 18V tool batteries. The 18V on the 1022 reads 19.8 to 20.4 at start up. Fish all day and it's reading 18.9 to 19.1. However, the black box draws more current. The black box will be down to about 15.7V after all day. You can fish two days without recharge with 18V batteries but not recommended.
Seelite makes great battery adapters for Dewalt, Milwaukee or Ridgid tool batteries. Also make a transducer mount.
https://www.seeliteleds.com/search?q=tool+battery+adapter

Little late to the party here but this would have been my suggestion! I probably didn’t reply since you were asking for experts!! I’m more semi hack than expert level!!

Yea, Looks like you were out of pocket a few days. Great finish BTW.

I run 3 93sv plus, livescope off my grp 24 deka and don't have a problem with low voltage, just had them all on all day for the dyson and still showed 11.8v at end of day.

just run a dedicated wire to the bow from the battery and you should be fine.

how many AH does the black box and a 1222 draw ?

thanks
MO

I haven't gone through all the specs yet on it, but picking it up today so i should know shortly.


Going back and forth between just buying a Lithium battery dedicated for them, or using tool batteries. Wondering what size 12v battery would be needed if i went that direction. Trying to keep the foot print small but want to make sure it will work. Looking at a Dakota Lithium.

i run mine off a group 31 house battery (1022, 2x 93 UHDs, and livescope and never run out of battery). my motor charges it plenty in between stops to keep it running all day. if you go lithium, i'd go 40 to 50 amp hour capacity.

40 to 50? Im talking about a portable set up. Was thinking more like the 10 AH battery. 40/50 is a 1K battery.

A 10ah is only going to last 2 maybe 3 hours tops.

I have Livescope and a 1022 unit running on a 12v, 18ah battery it works great, most I have ran it was 6 hours but still had a solid 13.4 volts at end of day

https://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/products/product/12v-40ah-lithium-ion-battery.php

https://www.amazon.com/LiFePO4-Batt...p;hvtargid=pla-4584482464052206&th=1

I might switch to 100ah lithium with David before long! I need it to run 1 12” graph a couple days or 2 at least one! Probably get 2. Fish one and have other charged and ready! That’s plan anyhow! And an extra TM! It never ends!!!

Some good info on this site about amp draw for different units. Also some good lithium batteries. Click on the brand and see a chart with amp draw rates and battery life for different units.

https://ampedoutdoors.com/collections/lifepo4-battery

I run a Dakota Lithium 23AH.It works awesome for my Garmin 126SV and Livescope.

That is some really good information on the link. Thanks Ken!

Just my personal experience. I started out with the Garmin 1022 up front with a Humminbird beside it for mapping, waypoints, etc... After having it about a year, I upgraded to the 1222 on a mount that raises it up about a foot. The bigger screen really helped me see the screen better and raising the 1222 REALLY helped my neck and back. My wife said I should not whine about any pain but now I can see better and not feel like my neck and back have icepicks rammed in them. I have the "black box" and the 1222 powered together off a AmpOutdoors 30ah lithium battery and have had no problems there. Never did get stranded with them running off the starting battery but I did have one instance where the outboard was a little slow to turn over. It was worth the peace of mind for me. And David Goodson is a really good source of info. Has helped me out a few times, no problem. Hope this helps a bit and enjoy your Livescope. The fun part is you WILL find them. The aggravating part is watching the ones not interested just swim away. It wont catch a limit for you but you will enjoy the ones you catch alot more.

I run a 1222 and (2) Lowrance HDS 12’s on the GYLL 12v 100AH with zero issues.

Garmin 126SV on separate pole.