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need some advice on mounting fishfinders to my tube
#1
Hey I just picked up the cuda 128 from sportsmans and am tryin to figure out the best way to mount it. anybody have any advice. I was planing on using pvc for the transducer. any advice on the best method for mounting my new toy?

Jed Burton

P.S. does anyone have any reviews on the cuda 128 if any of you have one what is your opinion on value. I picked it up for 89$ at sportsmans.
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#2

Hey there Jedburton,

TubeDude will be your man for all the good info you could ever use on your project or for that matter projects. PVC pipe!! Ah the sound of that word to the ears is like the greatest works by Chopin or Bach.

What kind and model of a tube did you buy, what do you plan to mount on it along with the fishfinder and what kind of fishing do you usually do? All these questions could, but not neccessarily, plan a part in his answer.

JapanRon
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#3
[cool]Hey, Jed, I replied to your PM, suggesting you visit our humble forum here, before I looked at the board and saw your post. Welcome.

I sent you a link to a past thread on the Cuda 168, showing my mounting method...including a rod rack. If you check EmuScud's recent reports, he shows how he mounted his transducer to the frame of his pontoon. We are all still tinkering around, trying to find the perfect solution.

You might want to PM EmuScud too. He also got the 128, although he has not taken it anywhere other than Utah Lake yet...where, as you know, it is so shallow that you can't really put it through its paces. Starvation will be a great test for it.

I am attaching a couple of pics I did not include on my original thread on the Cuda 168. It shows the bottom of the PVC shaft, and how you cut it and attach the transducer. I also have some written instructions I did for one of the other guys recently. Send me another PM or email and I will rustle up anything else I can from my files.
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#4
You are rigging up fast! I've been following your posts on the Utah board as well. I too have the 128, but as TubeDude said, I've only been able to play on Utah Lake thus far. If I remember correctly, you have a kick boat style tube rather than pontoon. TubeDude has the sweetest setup for those types.

I like my Cuda, I'm sure I'll like it more when I get to Strawberry, Jordanelle, or Deer Creek and can start marking fish in water deeper than 2 ft.

See you on the water!

ES
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#5
Speaking of fish finders... does anyone have any opinion as to Eagle vs. Lowrance?

Many regard Lowrance as more reliable. Interesting thing I noticed is that some of the Eagle models are exactly like the Lowrance models. An example would be the Eagle Cuda 168 and Lowrance X47. The price difference is about $20 higher on the Lowrance. I understand Eagle and Lowrance belong to the same company so I would suspect the quality are comparable? Is there anything to differentiate for the $20 difference besides the name???

Other identical models are Eagle Fish Easy 2 and Lowrance X51. Are these models overkill for float tubing?

Ahimanic
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#6
[cool]Hey, Mr. A., I have used the Eagles with good results for the last ten years or so. The low wattage models like the FE 2 and the newer Cudas are ideal for float tubing. They provide all the necessary info on depth, contour and bottom composition...as well as the little fishy icons.

The higher priced and higher wattage units are best for boats. Many of the extra features are lost on float tubes, and they suck a small battery dry in a hurry. You need what you need, but nothing more.

As you correctly observe, the Lowrance and Eagle are blended technology. I have not tried the Lowrance since the merger, so I have no first hand experience.
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#7
Sportmart is selling a watch fish finder. it uses the same technolgy the Navy uses when they drop sonar bouys looking for subs.

Your wear the watch then cast this sensor out on you line and it floats on the surface and shows you what activity is going on.

I used it tied to the underside of my pontoon like a conventional sensor and it still worked. Very small, last along time. Check out sportmart's website.

I cannot remember what it is called.

Joe C
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#8
[cool]Hi Joe, welcome aboard. If you had looked a few threads back, you would notice that we just did a little review on the "Smartcast" at: [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=59608;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=59608;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread[/url]

As we all agreed, there is a use for them, but for serious sonar fishing there are probably better systems.

Where do you hail from and what kind of fishing do you do?
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#9
I did read it after I did this one of course. I guess I was having alitte trouble navigating around the boards.

But I am ok now
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#10
Good info from both TubeDude and EmuScud. There are some great diagrams/pics here of a couple different set-ups. If you have a full-blown toon, or a mini-toon like TubeDudes, you are defenitely in the right place. Let us know what you end up figuring out.

PVC..........mmmmm........need more PVC......[Wink]
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#11
hi jed i'm assuming you also bought a battery and charger how much did that run you

chris
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#12
The battery ran me 20 bucks, but I still don't have a charger. I am waiting for them to come in,

JEd
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#13
[size 2][font "Courier New"]I found two good ways to hook the transponder to the float tube.[/font][/size]

[size 2][font "Courier New"]I have a peaces of Plexiglas that I cut two 1\4 inch slits in and I went to home Depot and got the Velcro bungee straps in a length that would fit around my tube they work great.[/font][/size]

[size 2][font "Courier New"]Then I saw tubedude.s PVC method and changed to it.[/font][/size]

[size 2][font "Courier New"]with some modifications so I can side scan front scan or bottom scan to find those drop offs.[/font][/size]

[size 2][font "Courier New"]I found a battery at a local electronics warehouse,[/font][/size]

[size 2][font "Courier New"] the charger and battery was 30 bucks.[/font][/size]

[size 2][font "Courier New"]the battery is 1 1\4 by 2 1\2 by 6 inches.[/font][/size]

[size 2][font "Courier New"]It last for days.[/font][/size]

[size 2][font "Courier New"]I mounted the head to a plastic plat and did the same thing, I put Velcro on the bottom of the plat to hold it from rooming around and along with the Velcro bungee strap it hasn't given me a problem.[/font][/size]

[font "Courier New"][size 2] [/size][/font]

[size 2][font "Courier New"]Fish tremble at the mention of my name[/font][/size][/url]

[size 2][font "Courier New"]><((((º>`•.¸¸´¯`•.¸.•´¯`•...¸>(((º> [/font][/size]

[size 2][font "Courier New"].•´¯`•.><((((º>`•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸.•´¯`•...¸><((((º> [/font][/size]
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