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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I've been reading the old posts on setting up a regular sonar unit for ice fishing and getting some good ideas from the likes of BLM and Tubedude etc. Some people made reference to a box of some sort that Sportsman's sold, for holding the battery etc. I'm curious whether Sportsman's still sells it, and what the general opinion of it is. Would I be better off making a custom one from an ammo box or cooler? BTW, I have 2 of those little 7 amp batteries from Sportsman's that I always use even in my boats to power my sonar units and they work great for me. I bought a little charger at Harbor Freight that I think is just 1 amp, and it looks like a miniature car battery charger, which is what it is meant for, and even has LED's to show when the batteries are fully charged. It takes about 7 hours to fully charge a battery with it. It was only $10 on sale but I think it generally sells for $17. [/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]One more question. My transducer cable is probably 25 feet long. I've always been reluctant to cut a transducer cable and resplice it shorter. Does anyone have any thoughts on that? If it's no big deal to cut it and solder it back together so it's only about 6 feet long I'll do that, even if I need to shield the splice. Or should I just coil up the long cable and live with it?[/size][/black][/font]
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I used a cooler. I like how it keeps my battery warm when I put a hand warmer in there. It will also keep the LCD screen from freezing while transporting it in the back of a truck or on a snowmobile. It also keeps the bait from freezing. I hard wired a cigarette plug to the battery. I just pull the finder out and plug it in.. that way there are no holes in the cooler for moisture to get in or heat to escape. I then charge the battery right back through that cigarette plug. Works great!
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Somewhere Tubedude has a pictorial of cutting and shortening a transducer cable. I'm sure he will chime in here soon.
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[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, I have cut and spliced the cables on a couple of sonar systems to make it easier to stash and carry on my float tube. But, after the last one...with all the additional wires inside the main cable, I don't think I would try it again. It works okay and a proper sealing job makes it waterproof, but the connection becomes bulky by the time you reconnect all of the little wires.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=199901;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]LINK TO ORIGINAL POST[/url][/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]These days I just roll up the extra cable, into a small bundle, and then use a couple of plastic ties to cinch it tight. It doesn't really take that much room, and if you ever need to mount it to a boat...or want to sell it to someone else...it is intact.[/#0000ff]
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Take a trip to the NPS store they have batteries and sell them by weight I got mine last year for around $1.50 each and you can get other things as well...
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[cool][#0000ff]I just took Coot there for his first time. Got three 7 amp 12 volt batteries for a total of $12.50. All tested at over 12.6 volts resting charge and have never been used. Better than paying $20 apiece.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For those who have never been there, the NPS Store is in Market Square...at 1650 S. Empire St. That is between 15th and 17th South...about 2 blocks west of Redwood Road...Just east of the 215 West...in Salt Lake City.[/#0000ff]
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I purchased three batteries from NPS and they have been by far the best batteries that I have used. Look around and find the ones with the largest Amps.
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[cool][#0000ff]They have a lot of the 7 and 8 amp, but I was surprised to see that they also had the gel cells in up to 18 amps. A bit heavier, but that would power a higher wattage sonar for a bit longer.[/#0000ff]
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There are two NPS stores, one needs to go to the one on the East side of the street for batteries.
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If you travel with your gear in the back of a pickup,, go with a small cooler to protect your finder and batteries from the cold. A frozen sonar screen sucks. I hate the "puppy feet" marks left on the screen for months due to the unit getting to cold.. Besides that, and depending on which size cooler you choose to use, everything pucks away fast and neatly in a cooler when its time to call it a day.
PS, agree'd with above advice, dont slice and splice the ducer cable. A couple zips tie will keep what you dont use for ice fishing neatly contained.
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