As most of you may know, the new MEGA transducers do not read well with any sort of speed. Although there have been a handful claiming they read at speeds of 45+ mph. I lost bottom around 5-10.
After some research, I learned that I should be able to use a
splitter and a "high speed" transducer along with the MEGA transducer to get readings at speed. I had the transducer (XNT 9 SI 180 T) from my Helix 7 just lying around so i thought I would give it a try. I use to get readings at 20-25+ on it when it was on the transom.
I also wanted to add on a transducer mounting board to reduce the holes in my transom. I went with one from Amazon.
HERE IS THE LINK . First, I tried to just glue the board to the transom with 5200. I did get to fish a while before it broke lose!
That did not hold so I ended up having to use screws. The board came predrilled but did not include the screws. One other note, the board needed to be just a little thicker as my MEGA screws would have still reached the transom. I used a shorter screw.
Once I got the transducer installed I took the boat out and used the "coin trick" to level my MEGA transducer. So far it seems to be getting good pictures. I now get readings at faster speeds but nothing to write home about. I need to fine tune the 180 T.
HERE IS THE COIN TRICK
Once I got it where I was happy, I added silicon to the cap in the mount to reduce water spray onto the motor. That is working fine so far. Previously it was spraying way up on the motor where the trim button is.
While I was waiting for the 5200 to set (7days) I went ahead and replaced the tail lights with
LED lights. One of the old ones was corroded and had stopped working. I had a
side marker out as well so I swapped it for LED. Eventually I weill replace them all.
I also added
retractable straps, they are so much better/faster than the old style!
I managed to put a freind on fish before the 5200 broke lose and we called it a day.
We did get to have lunch at Pig Tales before heading to the ramp!
