Besides the case, battery and suction cup for the transducer, is there any difference between the portable and non portable fish finders?
Nick
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Besides the case, battery and suction cup for the transducer, is there any difference between the portable and non portable fish finders?
Nick
You can use a portable for ice fishing, fishing trips...
No difference. For example the Lowrance Elite 5, portable or not it's the same unit with different transducer and so on. I bought one not portable, but since I bought the ice pack and a few week ago the suction cup.
That's what I thought. It seems that, on some units, they charge an awful lot for the portable unit compared to the non.
Ya... portable unit means you're paying for the battery and the carry bracket.
I bought a little coleman soft sided cooler bag, stuck an 8ah battery in the bottom, mounted the fishfinder to a small piece of plywood cut to the profile of the bag, and carry that around with me. Made a mount for the boat transducer that I can clamp on with a C clamp to a transom or canoe gunnel. In the winter I swap out to an ice transducer.
That sounds exactly like what I was planning to do
I converted mine to portable for the cost of the suction cup kit, wholesale alarm system battery and a cheap box to mount it all in/on. The portable version was $100+ but I spent less than half that for everything to convert. I screwed the mount to the top of the box and I store the display in the box for travel. For winter I use two zip ties and make a hanger that works surprisingly well. I used pipe wrap for a float above but it's not really needed. I got the idea from this:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07...9660fcd57f.jpg
That is amazing, i was wondering what i could DIY to convert my finder for winter use. Would love to see pics of your setup or what kind of box you used. How long does the battery last?Quote:
Originally Posted by chris1395
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08...9b46ffe031.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08...fdd53a87ba.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by phoenix
It last a long time. I have to charge it only after every 10-12 trips out. 5-6 hours per trip. This thread got me to thinking how I can improve it and I have a knockoff pelican case I wasn't using I am going to try to mount it inside so it is one contained unit and easier for transport. Right now it gets knocked around a bit on the back of the sled because everything is loose inside. The box was a cheap "first aid" box from princess auto.
Originally I had it hooked to the trolling motor battery but it caused so much interference I had to go to a stand alone battery. I still haven't cleaned up the long cords but I plan to tidy it up this week and you can see the float I rigged up there I never took it off. It worked very well on the ice just like you see it.
Not really a ton of differences. But I believe one to keep an eye on is the Transducer cone angle. Since ice fishing your very vertical, they might use a narrower cone angel.
Cheers Henry