New One Man Boat

[yoderjac]

Lowrance Hook Reveal 5x Splitshot

https://www.lowrance.com/lowrance/type/fishfinders-chartplotters/hook-reveal-5x-splitshot/hook-reveal-7-splitshot-us-inland

It's a pretty low end unit. To be honest I haven't used it much to look for fish (I do pay attention to them though), I find myself mostly looking for depth changes and structure.

I grew up on creeks and rivers. Read the bottom and structures by watching the current. That's my true love, but having a big pond in the back yard finds me on still waters more often than not. Still getting use to watching a screen instead of swirls and eddies.

I could not follow the link, but I was able to google it. That looks about the same level as the Helix that I'm replacing. Humminbird recommended a non-trolling motor battery for the Helix as well. I'm sure each manufacturer could be different, I'd see what Lowrance says to do. Again, I doubt it will be an issue.

I'm the same as you. I love fishing streams and rivers and feel much more comfortable there. Without the fish finder, I find myself pretty much fishing shoreline where I can see downed trees, docks, and other structure. I too used my older fish finders more for structure than fish, but with this Megalive 2 resolution and realtime nature, things are changing for me. I think the best apprach will be for me to use side imaging to find structure on a new lake and mark waypoints. I'll then go back and look at those spots in detail with the Megalive 2 and fish them when I see fish. However, I am getting better and identifying fish on the side imaging.

 

[yoderjac]

I'm trying to figure out all the networking stuff with the new electronics. Here is where I am with the planning. First, I ordered a dry box and 50 ah battery for the electronics:

The box Inside is 12"L x 6"W x 9.75"H and the battery is 8.98 x5.43 x 8.27. There should be enough room in the box for me to add fuses and switches. Evidently, Megalive 2 and the Ethernet switch don't have power buttons so you need a battery switch. Now, I'm trying to figure out how to run the cables for both power and ethernet. Here is what I'm thinking:

The blue rounded rectangle represents the raft and the tan square represents the mounting board for the trolling motor. The 140 ah trolling motor battery has two possible positions. It is connected with an Anderson connector so the cable to the trolling motor outlet can be moved to the other side fo the seat easily and reconnected to the battery. So, the black are grey 140 ah battery squares represent the same battery, just in different boat positions.

The M2 circle represents the pole with Megalive 2 transducer. The odd black shape on the trolling motor deck represents a future Kayak Terrova trolling motor. The orange rectangle represents the 50 ah electronics battery box. To the right of that is a future ethernet switch. The white circle on the trolling motor deck represents a future external GPS with magnetic compass. The shapes outside the boat represent the battery chargers.

Black wires represent ethernet cables. The red wires represent power.

This is the concept for how I plan to wire the battery box for the electronics.

 

[yoderjac]

While I'd love to have the new Kayak Terrova, there is nothing wrong with my Edge except the fact that it does not have advanced navigation features like spot-lock. With archery season around the corner and fall planting even sooner, I'll likely wait till next year to order one. Maybe they will go on sale over the holidays.

In the mean time, before I invest that much money and sell my Edge, I want to make sure I understand the networking and my pictures in the previous post are correct. So, my next step plan is to get the ethernet switch and cable. That should let me test out the concept of connecting the Megalive2 to the Xplore through the switch. I then likely add the GPS with magnetic compass to the network.

On another note, I decided to give the Aquaseal a try. After discussing the details with NRS support, it sounds like there was a wrinkle in the seam during manufacturing rather than a pin hole. The warranty is 5 years, and they say it will stay in force if I go the Aquaseal route. If it fails after we try the Aquaseal, they will still replace the raft. It doesn't seem like I have much to lose going this route. I would expect that if the Auqaseal is going to fail, it will do it in the next 5 years. Give then, I ask them to send me the Aquaseal and instructions for the repair.

 

[yoderjac]

It is kind of funny. NRS sent me a competitor's video as an how-to guide for repairing the seam with Aquaseal:

 

[swat1018]

Good luck with the aquaseal. I have a tough enough time getting it to hold on waders. I think I would opt for a replacement.

 

[yoderjac]

Good luck with the aquaseal. I have a tough enough time getting it to hold on waders. I think I would opt for a replacement.

i'll still have that option if the aquaseal fails.

 

[yoderjac]

I'm still waiting on the 50 ah battery. According to UPS, the new delivery estimate is Monday. I got come of the electrical stuff and more is expected tomorrow. So, I did a bit more planning today.

First, I took some cardboard and mocked up the battery based on the spec dimensions. I decided which way to orient the battery box in the boat and whare to put the ports and switches.

The power ports have arrived, but the switches come tomorrow. I took one of the ports and made a template out of cardboard. I used to to figure out where to locate ports. I decided to put the charger port on the top of the end panel. It doesn't need a switch for any reason I can think of. The Ethernet switch, MegaLive 2, and GPS don't have switches and will draw power from the battery anytime plugged in. I could just unplug them all after each trip, but I like the idea of having battery switches on them. That way I can leave them plugged in unless I want to take the battery and Xplore into the house to review recordings. I'll just switch them off when I plug in the charger. I plan to put the switches next to the associated port. Each one will be unique because they require different fuse sizes. I also decided there is no need to put a switch on the Xplore port. It has its own power switch.

Now that I think about it, I may get a small battery and rig it up for reviewing the Xplore recordings. that way I only need to unplug the Xplore and don't need to unplug the rest of the stuff.