Homemade fish finder for ice-fishing

[ricochet]

Made a box out of plywood and inside this box goes a lawn tractor battery. On top of the box i installed a fish finder from my boat. At the back of the box i made a boom and i rapped the transducer cable around it. The boom is hinged so i can put it a different depths. Should work as good as a store bought machine . Do not see why not

[The Whale]

Absolutely it'll work. Great, too. I've made a couple "portable" units now out of varying graphs that have just turned out to be the bomb. Excellent manual mode operation for seperation, zoom, ping speed, chart scroll etc. can detect a tear drop with a wax worm at 50' from most common decent units.
(No delay in signal return either, don't let anyone tell you different. ;))

Those 12V re-chargeable (lead acid or gel) batteries that power the under water cams, x67c's, Vex's and such are great. You can catch Cabelas offering them up for $20.00 with a maintenance charger occasionally.

You done good ! :)

[Passmeabrewski]

I received a new fish finder for Christmas (Humminbird 727) and I was wondering if I could use it for ice fishing too? :confused:

I need to come up with a light-weight battery that will power it but if I get around that hurdle I should be able to drop the transducer through a hole in the ice and it should work just the same as if I was in a boat, right? I know that this particular model has the ability to shoot out sideways for still fishing so that would probably be perfect for ice fishing. If I had my ATV with me, I'm sure I could run power cables from that as well; I have a pull-start for my quad so if I killed the battery fishing I could still get it to start.

Not to mention, having to keep this in the box and un-used until Spring is going to drive me crazy.

Hey - do you have any pictures of your plywood box & boom? I'd be interested to see them. Thanks!

[ricochet]

Last time i got the wife to help put pictures on the site it almost ended in divorce. The cheapest battery around that i could find is a simple lawn tractor battery. Make a box for it to fit in with a hinged top , on the side i drilled a hole for the wires to go thru ,at the back i mounted a 2 ft long 1\2x2 boom and rapped the transducer cord around it. This boom has 1 bolt thru it so it will pivot up and down. I put a Knife Sheave on the boom to stick the transducer in when in travel. On the top of the box i mounted the Fishfinder,simple as that. Let us know what you come up with. I used leftover 5\8 plywood to make the box

[Passmeabrewski]

I went to ole' Wally World yesterday and I picked up a lawn tractor battery as well for $19.94. I think I'm going to use an inexpensive plastic toolbox to make this happen. Wally had one, but it was $21 and more than I wanted to spend. My thought is that I can store the battery and the sonar fish finder inside the toolbox and put a hinge on one side for a bracket that I can flip out and mount the transducer arm on. The battery will be fixed to the box in some way and I'm not quite sure if I'm going to mount the sonar system up-side down on the inside of the toolbox lid or if I'm going to cut the toolbox tray and use that to raise the sonar system up out of the box for ease of visibility. The final option is to mount the bracket for sonar on the top of the toolbox but I prefer not to do this as I want to keep it all inside for protection. I'll have something by the end of the day tomorrow but for now it's still a work-in-progress. I don't have the toolbox yet, that is today's shopping project.

[Passmeabrewski]

Ok, it is all done (except for a couple things that I'll note below).

I picked up this Stanley 19" toolbox at Meijer's for $9.99. The top yellow compartments are available for storage, they each have 3 sub-divided compartments inside.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/3142702426_080d86064d.jpg?v=0

When opened, I removed the included tool tray and as you can see the battery from Wal-Mart ($19.94) sits on the right. To the left is a cutting board that I found at Meijer for $2.00 - it fits perfectly in the spot that the tool tray once sat, the 4 little silver spots are the back of the screws.

:dizzy: Unknown to me, the 3/4" screws that I bought would not complete go through the bracket and the board on the back of the bracket, they were 1/4" longer than the front. The front two have nuts and washers the back two will too once I go back to the hardware store. Oh, and they were $1.40 total.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/3142702456_551f21514f.jpg?v=0

to use, I just clip on the alligator clips from the power connector to the battery. I already had the clips laying around from a previous project but you can get them for $1.00 at Harbor Freight. Then I flip over the cutting board that rests in the tool tray and angle the fish finder as desired. Instead of using the transducer that was included with the fish finder, I purchased an iceducer just out of ease but if you don't want to do that, a 2" hinge fits perfectly on the right side of the toolbox where the top and bottom parts meet. On that hinge, screw in a block and use a clamp to control the depth of your transducer.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3242/3141875151_5385676767.jpg?v=0

The only indecision that I have is whether or not to mount the battery in a bracket. When the cutting board is in there it rests on the top of the battery and is up against the positive terminal so it keeps both items in place quite well. I've carried it around a little bit, and it doesn't come out of place.

[ih772]

You guys are going to regret using a lawn tractor battery after its fumes start corroding all the metal it comes in contact with. Been there, done that, and I ruined some very expensive electronics!

Even if you don't spill acid out of the vent hole, the fumes it generates still corrode every piece of metal in the box, including the traces on the circuit board of your electronics.

Go buy a sealed gel-cell battery designed to power that kind of equipment.

[sfw1960]

:sad:
Ian's right on the battery - take it back to Walmart & get a gel (SLA) battery from either GM , Cabela's or a battery shop.
You need to take care of your stuff proper.
Otherwise it looks like you're ROCK!N' DUDE!!:evilsmile

[ricochet]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/IMG_0185 http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/IMG_0186

[Passmeabrewski]

I returned the Lawn mower battery and purchased the marine 12v 8amp battery from Cabella's; and damn was that place every busy! :rant:

Cons: I had to drive 35 minutes to Dundee and my wife insisted that I take our 16 month old daughter with me. With the Wal-Mart battery gone, I had to add a couple bolts and nuts to keep the cutting board from dipping inwards.

Pros: The box weighs A LOT less and now I have space for my GPS and all the accessories.

I ended up using a couple strips of adhesive velcro to adhere the battery to the tool box and then another strip to adhere the Garmin GPS III Plus to the top of the battery. Everything is held together well-enough and works like a charm. This is quite nice, I'll be using it in the boat during the summer as well and what a great protected way to transport everything.

[glnmiller]

Great work on the home made boxes. I agree with the comments on going with a gel battery. Less weight and you won't get the corrosive gases.

[Passmeabrewski]

Anyone know of a quicker approach to charging these 12v 8amp batteries from Cabella's? They provide a charger and the instructions with the charger state to charger the batter 15-18 hours but do not exceed 24 hours as it may harm the battery. I plan on using a timer (if I can find one) that will charge for 15-18 hours and then cut off. However, is there a better/quicker way of charging these without compromising the battery life? :confused:

[Melon]

I plan on using a timer (if I can find one) that will charge for 15-18 hours and then cut off.

A cheap lamp timer should work!?

[sfw1960]

Yep - you can get a timer from Walmart in the electrical section for about $7 , but after the timer kicks off - you will be draining the battery with loss from the leads being connected to the charger.
I usually put my charger on the night before and after I get home from work.... It's all good!
Not that big of a deal , just need to put it somewhere that you won't miss seeing it & forget.
:chillin:

[MSUICEMAN]

vexilar makes one that doesn't take that long and will go to a trickle/ battery tender type floating mode when its done...

V-400 or V-410 I believe are what you are looking for.

[MSUICEMAN]

heres what ya want: (or at least I like mine, as it gives me a little sense of set it and forget it)

http://www.vexilar.com/pages/accessories/accy_batteries_v-410.html

[Passmeabrewski]

I usually put my charger on the night before and after I get home from work.... It's all good!
:chillin:

Since you own one, can you tell me how many hours you get on a single charge? I'll be powering a Humminbird 727 and my GPS, Garmin GPS III Plus.

[Passmeabrewski]

This looks like what you are talking about:
http://www.vexilar.com/pages/accessories/accy_batteries_v-410.html

Automatic Digital Charger

The V-410 is a fully automatic 1 amp digital charger. It also serves as a battery maintainer. After the charger bring the battery to a full charge, it automatically switches to a float mode. The battery is held at a full charge until you're ready to use it.
The storage period is the most difficult part your battery’s life. During this time, the battery can degrade, sulfate, and be unusable when you need it. That’s why you need to maintain the battery during storage periods. You could mark your calendar and charge your battery each month, or you could connect this Universal 12 Volt Automatic Charger and be assured that your battery will be ready to go when you are.
Features



Fully Automatic 3- Stage Charging
1 Amp 12 Volt Output
Digital Operation - No Heavy Transformer
Will NOT Overcharge the Battery
When Full, Maintains the Battery Charge
Colored LEDs Indicate Charge Mode
Connect it and Forget it

[sfw1960]

I have a Lowrance LMS332c running on a 7AH/12v SLA batt'y. (GPS module not in use & disabled in unit display)
If I run the back light on high it gulps up the battery fairly quick , like 4-5 hours and I do not run my ping speed full blast most of the time .
The faster you run the display speed the more transmitter pulses - per - second and the battery goes faster buh-bye.
:D
Your machine is 2400 watts (output) also - but it's a B&W display and probably won't eat the power like a color screen does. That's good.
Now having a small GPS hooked up along side might not make too much of a difference.
I am going to estimate you will get between 4 and 8 hours from a charge , but one of your units should tell you your battery voltage.
When it gets below about 9.9V I think you're about done for......
I wouldn't keep the GPS on all the time , and the FF's backlight should be low or off when you can.
I am curious to see what knid of mileage you get - and I'd appreciate a report back from your tests with it.

Hope that helped !
:)

Robert

[Passmeabrewski]

I have a Lowrance LMS332c running on a 7AH/12v SLA batt'y. (GPS module not in use & disabled in unit display)
If I run the back light on high it gulps up the battery fairly quick , like 4-5 hours and I do not run my ping speed full blast most of the time .
The faster you run the display speed the more transmitter pulses - per - second and the battery goes faster buh-bye.
:D
Your machine is 2400 watts (output) also - but it's a B&W display and probably won't eat the power like a color screen does. That's good.
Now having a small GPS hooked up along side might not make too much of a difference.
I am going to estimate you will get between 4 and 8 hours from a charge , but one of your units should tell you your battery voltage.
When it gets below about 9.9V I think you're about done for......
I wouldn't keep the GPS on all the time , and the FF's backlight should be low or off when you can.
I am curious to see what knid of mileage you get - and I'd appreciate a report back from your tests with it.

Hope that helped !
:)

Robert

Thanks!! Yeah, I'll be sure to get back to you with the results. Both devices have voltage read-outs. Humminbird has a voltage alarm.

[Passmeabrewski]

We fished from 11:00am until 4:00pm and the battery never dropped. I had the sensitivity maxed out and sounding away. Hopefully I'll get a chance to try it again for longer than 5 hours next time, but the battery never showed fatigue.