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.

 

[yoderjac]

The switches arrived today. They are smaller than I thought they were. This gives me some more flexibility with port and switch positions. After thinking about it for a while, since this is a self-bailing boat, there is always some water in it. If I stand near the front to mess with the trolling motor or something, water comes to the front. I'm a bit concerned that some of those positions were too close to the floor.

I decided to leave the charging and Xplore ports where they were, but move the other ports. I moved the ethernet switch power port to the side of the box opposite the Xplore power port. I put the switch for the ethernet switch power port on the end of the box facing me. I then put the GPS and Megalive 2 ports and switches on that some side. I was afraid if I had one switch on the side I might forget to turn it off. This way all 3 switches face me.

I'm now considering getting an extra power cable for the Xplore unit. They want $50 for the one that comes with the unit. I put in a question to Humminbird to see if there is a cheaper and shorter cable for indoor use. We will see what they say. Perhaps they will just give me the digikey part number for the connector and I'll make my own. Either way, I'll get get a small 12v battery and charger for in home use. That means I won't have to unplug anything but the ethernet cable and power cable from the Xplore unit and not have to take the battery box inside.

I'm not actually going to begin installing the ports or switches until the battery arrives tomorrow. That way I can fine-tune the positions if needed.

 

[yoderjac]

Well, the battery came in today. My mockup was pretty good, perhaps slightly larger than the actual battery which means a touch more room in the box. The one thing that I did not account for initially was the variety of wire sizes for all of these components. The switches have the smallest wires, but they are rated at 10 amps and 125v, so I'm not worried about wire size except for connection. I realized I could not use butt style connectors as I had originally hoped and ordered terminal block. They are scheduled to be here on Wednesday. Here is the concept for connection:

The picture shows one set of plugs, switches, and fuses. I'll use the same terminal block for a second set. I got a second terminal block that I can use for the third set and I'll have a set of spare terminal if needed. I should be able to use butt style connectors on the black ground wires and avoid terminal blocks for those. The two blocks should give me some flexibility in placement.

It looks like the repair kit is coming in on Wednesday as well. So, with any luck I'll be on the water again by Thursday.

On a side note, so you don't have to read back up in this thread, I ordered 2 trailers from Kaufman in NC, one is a 22' 16K equipment trailer for my mini-excavator and tractor, and the other is a small utility trailer for the boat. I got an email saying the large equipment trailer was complete. I'm now waiting for the small one to be done. They will stack them for me, and I'll head to NC to pick them up when the little one is done.

 

[yoderjac]

More minor challenges abound. The ethernet switch came in today. It was physically larger than I expected. I guess I never actually paid attention to the dimensions. The place I envisioned mounting it is a no-go. It looks like the best thing I can do is to mount another teak board on the silver anchor system and attach it to that. I headed out to TSC this morning to pick up some U-bolts. On the up side, I stopped at the county water authority and got passes to fish and two of their local lakes. When I got back, I checked and found the strip of teak I have left from the trolling motor deck is wide enough, so I cut it to length and drilled holes for the U-bolts.

I'm protecting it with Danish teak oil right now. I'll then mount the switch and mount the board in the boat. I'll take a picture then.

 

[yoderjac]

Once the Danish teak oil was dry, I attached the ethernet switch with the provided screws. I then connected the teak to the anchor system tube with the U-bolts.

I have not yet removed the protective plastic from the switch. I am noticing space is becoming more and more limited. I think that will be a second advantage of upgrading to the Kayak Terrova. It is the same length, but the bracket is much smaller.

Finally, when I checked online today, my boat registration number was assigned. I used the plastic plaques with the vinyl stick on letters. The registration decal has not yet arrived in the mail. Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll have everything I need to hook up power.

 

[yoderjac]

I w as being optimistic hoping everything ordered would arrive this morning and I'd be done by noon and be able to fish this afternoon. Well, things never go as planned. I slept in a bit and everything that was supposed to arrive did by the time I got up, with one exception, the boat repair kit. This is coming tomorrow, and the delay did not matter.

However, it is taking me much longer than I thought to build the battery box.

This shows the battery box in an intermediate state. I drilled out the mounting holes and did a soft insert of all of the bulkhead connectors. That is the state you see it in in the pics above. Next, I applied some silicon to them, put the nuts on, and screwed them in place. Because of the difference in wire sizes I put fork connectors on all the ends. I did not have machine screws the right size to put the terminal blocks in place. I decided to use the marine sealant adhesive that I used on the Megalive 2 pole build to glue them in place. While they are drying, I put the fork connectors on all of the switches. and fuse holders I also built jumpers for the terminal blocks. I got the 10 amp charger installed on the charging board as well.

Another issue I found was that the battery terminals were about 8mm in diameter. The only ring connectors I had that would fit them were for 8 gauge wire. I could not find ring connectors for smaller gauge wire that had large enough ID on the rings locally at Lowes. I decided to try a trick. I stripped about 3 inch off the end of a 16 gauge wire. I then folded that back in itself several times to increase the diameter of the end. I then used one of the ring connectors designed for 8 gauge wire. It seems to be holding.

My plan is to use that to go to a terminal block with jumpers to power each of the ports. Right now, I'm letting the marine adhesive time to bond. In about an hour, I'll head back out to try to finish up.

 

[Drycreek]

Jack, I hate to be a pessimist, (but it comes naturally), but for all this trouble and expense you could have bought a good used aluminum boat (and trailer) to fish out of. More comfort, more stability, more safety. OK, that’s the end of my pessimistic diatribe. Good luck with your endeavor.

 

[catscratch]

When I was first racing in demo-derby's and figure-8's I put together all of my electrical systems with all the right connections and switches. Then I lost a demo due to a switch that fell apart on a hard hit. I threw all that stuff away and started twisting wires together instead of using switches. Never had a malfunction again. The planner in me loves all the stuff that's going into this build, the old guy in me see's a ton of possible failure points. With that said... I'm rootin for ya to make the perfect boat that works flawlessly.

 

[yoderjac]

Well guys, another day another issue! A bad one this time I think. First, some words for @Drycreek regarding the boat choice. My neighbor has a small aluminum boat. Before I ordered my boat (raft with a frame), I helped him with his boat. We used it along with a bunch of friends and kayaks on the RIvanna river. We were putting the boats and kayaks in on private property with no ramp and a steep bank. It took 4 of us to get his boat in and out. A single person could handle a kayak (with nothing in it but a paddle). His boat was great on the water when I used it. The river was high, but we did get stuck in a few spots and had to get out and drag it over the rocks. Fishing from his boat was fine.

I wanted to be able to handle the boat myself with no help, so next I tried a kayak. It was way too hard on my back with my legs in that position. It was very tough to both control and fish from on a river. So, I was lookin for a couple things in a boat. I wanted to be able to launch it myself, so it had to be light. I can put my boat on the cart I made and move it around myself. I can launch it myself without a ramp if needed, just using the cart. The other thing I was looking for is a shallow draft. It has a very shallow draft. I can adjust the depth of the trolling motor so it is just below the water and make the boat go. It loses some power in that configuration, but I can do it when necessary. It operates best about 1' deep.

As for stability, and safety, I would rate it above my friends aluminum boat on both accounts. It is definitely more stable. I don't really see any safety issue. It has 4 chambers so even if there is a puncture, it won't sink. I will admit it is tight with all the electronics and fishing gear, but I chose to sacrifice room for lightness. The biggest area where the aluminum boat seemed to have an advantage was wind profile. This raft catches a lot of wind.

You guys are right about things going wrong. These electronics are amazing but complicated. It looks like I might already have an issue with the Megalive 2 sensor. Right now, I only have 2 things on my boat network, the Xplore and the Megalive 2. So, the Megalive 2 was plugged directly into the Xplore. Everything was working well.

I'm lusting after a Kayak Terrova trolling motor. It is electric steer, has spot-lock, integrates with my Xplore for advanced navigation, and is lighter with a smaller mounting bracket. Once you get beyond two items, they connect to each other via an ethernet switch. So, in preparation for a future Terrova, I decided to get the ethernet switch and just put it between the Xplore and Megalive 2 to test out the concept.

So, this morning after the new battery box was complete, I did a quick test. I plugged both the Xplore and Megalive 2 into the new battery box and turned on the switch for the Megalive 2 after plugging them both into the ethernet switch and plugging it into the battery box and turning that switch on. With everything plugged in, I powered on the Xplore. After it booted, the first thing I noticed there was no image from the megalive 2. It was just blank. Next I noticed there was no light about the Megalive 2 port on the ethernet switch which seemed odd.

I though perhaps the issue was the Megalive 2 transducer was out of the water, so I decided to test it out fishing. The same issue occurred on the water. After a bit, I did get a message from the Xplore that it lost sonar data from the Megalive 2. My first thought was that perhaps I did not understand the concept of how multiple devices connect. So, I decided to go back to my original configuration. I powered everything down. I disconnected both the Xplore and Megalive 2 from the ethernet switch and connected them to each other. I powered everything back up, that had no effect. My next thought was that I screwed up something wiring the new battery box and perhaps the Megalive 2 had no power. So, I swapped it to the charging port. That port has no switch inline. I got the same result

I tried powering everything up and down a couple times throughout the day. Still now luck with the Megalive 2. I decided to give up and test out some other features of the Xplore. This was the first day I put the boat on this lake. One of the things I noticed when I was fishing the other lake was that the navigation SD card that came with the unit had no bathymetry for the lake. I'm guessing the lake was too small for them to bother with. The Xplore has a feature called autochart live. It maps the lake for you as you go. So, I spent some time driving around looking at the side and down imaging and mapping the lake. I find it much harder to figure out fish without the Megalive 2. The previous MO was to use side imaging to find candidate fish and then point the Megalive 2 in that direction to confirm they were fish and the approximate size. I had no success stopping and fishing for what I thought were fish using the side and down imaging. I ended up just mapping the lake and trolling a crappie jig. I did catch a couple little crappie, but that was it.

So, when I got home, I took out the volt meter and verified I had good voltage coming out of every port on the battery box. Right now, based on the ethernet light not going on, I'm thinking my new Megalive 2 has failed. I'll be checking with Himminbird on it. When I get a chance, I'll take some pics of the finished battery box.

 

[Drycreek]

I see your point about being able to launch where there is no ramp. I had an electric winch on my boat trailer when I used to fish the river. I had a steel pull eye with a backer on my boat. I also had a four wheel drive vehicle so I could pull my motor off, drop it in the boat and flop that trailer over the river bank and launch most anywhere. I was young and stout then, it would be a hard no for me now.

 

[yoderjac]

I see your point about being able to launch where there is no ramp. I had an electric winch on my boat trailer when I used to fish the river. I had a steel pull eye with a backer on my boat. I also had a four wheel drive vehicle so I could pull my motor off, drop it in the boat and flop that trailer over the river bank and launch most anywhere. I was young and stout then, it would be a hard no for me now.

To be honest, so far, I'm beginning to wonder how much non-ramp use there will be. I'm finding the private launch spot on that river is great fishing, but when the river is low, I'm pretty limited and the electronics don't help much in a low river. I grew up on reading flowing water. Certainly a hard boat and boat trailer would have been easier if I limit myself to ramps. I'm getting old and soft (less-stout) too!

 

[yoderjac]

I just came back from reviewing the recordings and I grabbed a couple pictures of the finished battery box:

You will notice the lower port on the box now says "Spare". That is because, after talking with Humminbird, it seems the GPS/compass thing is a cluster. Evidently, it is not an integrated item that works across the network. There are some that are compatible with the Terrova, but the only feature it offers is jog. I'm not sure if it is worth it for that. Spot-lock does not maintain boat orientation even with the GPS/compass sensor. There is a different unit that is compatible with the Megalive 2. I decided the juice isn't worth the squeeze, so it is a spare port for now.

Another thing that is hard to see in the open box picture is that there is a piece of 2x4 in the bottom of the box in front of the battery. That is to prevent the battery from sliding forward into the electronics when the boat is tipped when launching and loading. The battery box and 50 ah LiFePo4 battery seem to be working out well.

Now, if I could just the get the Megalive 2 working...

I just reviewed all the recording for the day. The fish in this lake are screwy. I'm used to finding structure and seeing fish relate to it. So far, it seems there is little structure and the structure I find does not have fish relating to it. I do see groups of fish in seeming flat barren locations. Without structure, I don't know if these locations are random or not.

I'm busy tomorrow, so I can't fish and I won't go out on the weekends, so this is a good time to start preparing for the fall plant. So far, I see no rain in the next 10 days. I think I'll be making a trip to NC next week to pick up the trailers. I got an automated notification email that both are now done, but I have not heard back from the sales guy. He is going to have them stack them before I schedule a trip to pick them up.

 

[swat1018]

You make everything so complex, something is bound to fail. Multiple connectors, switches, plugs (another connector), etc. I'd take a hard boat with a comfy seat any day...

 

[yoderjac]

You make everything so complex, something is bound to fail. Multiple connectors, switches, plugs (another connector), etc. I'd take a hard boat with a comfy seat any day...

The electronics themselves are complex. Nothing I can do about that. Everything I built into the battery box is working fine. I get power out all the ports. It is Humminbird that suggests adding the switches for some of their equipment. I can see why. Some have no power button of their own. They would continue to drain your battery if not switched off.

It doesn't matter if it is a hard boat or a raft. The electronics are what they are.