Fish Finder Questions

[bc sportsman]

Thinking of purchasing a fish finder for portable applications. Ice fishing as well as boating. Will be renting bigger boats for Shuswap lake so need something portable. I looked up the reviews and really like the Raymarine Dragonfly. Its not designed to be portable but thought I could make this work by rigging something up to make this portable. Needs a 12V power source. Has anyone done something like this? I'd appreciate some input on this.

Thinking I would buy a padded case to house the display (much like what the PiranhaMax 176i Portable Fish Finder/Chartplotter has). I'd make a vertical rod that clamps to the side of the transom that the transducer attaches to and which lowers the transducer down by variable amounts based on the height of the boat used or ice thickness (much like the Fishin' Buddy 140c Fish Finder setup). Last thing is the battery. Those 12V car/marine batteries are heavy. Anyone used an alternative (ie lighter weight). Concerned about run time for a fish finder with colour display. The battery would be dedicated to the fish finder.

Anyone with ideas about battery run time or problems with this design? Reason I am thinking of this fish finder is that it has great reviews, but worried about run time on a battery that is not being recharged on the ice or in the boat.

[lip_ripper00]

Ok I'll have a go.... I did this with a Humming bird sounder to clamp to the transom of my inflatable boat housed it in a cheap Canadian tire tool box. Used aluminum square tube (would slide in to each other) for the transducer, I used a lawn and garden 12v battery.,nothing special. I leave the fish finder on, on my boat by mistake a few times a year for a week at a time, still enough juice to start the main, they don't use much power. You should easily get a full day day out of a lead acid battery.

[bc sportsman]

Thanks very much lip_ripper00

[reach]

I use a 7 amp hour sealed lead acid battery, the kind used in alarm systems or computer UPSes. Similar size to a motorcycle or lawn tractor battery but can't spill if it's tipped over.