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[black]Tubedude,
I've seen the way you mounted your Cuda 168 sonar onto the piece of PVC pipe and stuffed it full of the cord and then into the cup holder on the front of your Super Fat Cat. My Fish Cat 4 is very similar with the cup holder so I was rigging my sonar mount up to match what you had. My question is this: How do you keep it from being floppy and loose. It isn't extreme but it certainly isn't solid either. Seems the round PVC allows it to rotate a little. Is this a problem on yours? If not, how do you shore it up? I've been thinking of running a strap through the middle of the PVC pipe and around the tube. Any help is appreciated.
zonker
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I used a piece of wood, (2x4) measured and cut to size for my mount. It fit extremely snugly, in fact, I had to tap it in with a small hammer. It fits so tight, there is no movement at all. I just got back from my "shakedown" trip on my fat cat and the entire sonar set-up worked superbly.
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[black]DGF,
Did you mount the sonar on the wide part of the 2x4 or the edge?
zonker[/black]
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I mounted it on the edge. I only put in one screw for tonight, due to my need of the finder for a weekend ice fishing trip, but there is actually room on the edge of wood for a 3 screw placement on my finder bracket. The 168 should be even easier to mount "on edge" than the 320, because it is a center mount monitor. The fishmark 320 monitor attaches to the bracket on the sides and thus has a larger bracket.
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[black]Thanks DGF. That helps.
z~[/black]
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[cool][#0000ff]Yes, there is some "flip flop". Most times though, the bulk of the wires sticking out the ends of the PVC make for a tighter fit and little wiggle. On cold mornings, when the wire is stiff, it is difficult to stuff the whole thing down inside the pocket. Gives me an opportunity to practice my "fishing" vocabulary.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I tried the 2/4 too. It works great. However, unless you cut out all the excess cable, and make an inline splice, you have a bundle of wire to stuff in your pocket, along with battery and tackle. I have stayed with the PVC tube because it at least solves that problem. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have cut and spliced most of my previous float tube sonars. Ya just don't need all that cable. Basic electrician skills will allow you to make a clean and waterproof splice...especially if you finish the job with shrink tubing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The main reason for leaving the cable long is if you also have a boat (or will be using it on someone else's boat). By leaving the cable full length, you can set it up on a boat as double duty...triple duty if you also rig it for ice fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[black]Thanks for the help, guys.
zonker[/black]
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You may have your mount already done, but one idea that I had when I was considering how to do mine may help if you use PVC pipe. My wife has this velcro "tape" that could be affixed to the PVC and then you could sew in the "felt" to the sides of the cupholder. This was how I did affix my foam battery mount into the pocket and it works great. That should eliminate any front-to-back movement. The velcro "tape" is sold at sewing or craft stores.
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[black]I haven't finished yet but am nearly there. I ended up mounting the finder receiver on a curved plastic plate cut from a bucket, running a strap through the plate, and wrapping the strap around the tube. Very stable but it doesn't lift the unit up very high. I'll have to try it on the water soon. If it's too low I'll go back to the pipe or block in the cup holder.
As for the extra cable, I'm thinking of stuffing that into a piece of PVC pipe as Tubedude did with his mount and just leaving it in there with tape on each end. I'll just place this into the pocket on the tube beside the battery. At least that's the theory. Real life tests often temper the seemingly best plans.
zonker
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[black]Now if I could just remember to log in!
zonker[/black]
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[cool][#0000ff]Hey Tex, welcome to the shindig. That's a pretty good idea for the display mount. Let us know how it works out after a couple of trips. That is usually enough to let you know if you have a great idea or just another false start. Looks to me like it should work.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Don'tcha just love Home Depot? I own stock in that store. They keep forgetting to send me my certificates and dividend checks though.[/#0000ff]
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Welcome to the boards WoollyBugger. I'm glad to see that there are more of us whacky floaters out there.
What part of the US do you wet your line in??[cool]
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What a nifty idea! Welcome aboard!
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