Mounting/installing Eagle Fish Finder

[Jason L]

Hey all,



Where is the best and/or easiest place to mount an Eagle 480 on the bow of a tracker 185?

On the carpet?

Right next to the Trolling motor?



Thanks

 

[Larry Harp]

Jason, here are some pictures of how I mounted mine. It's over on the starboard side on the deck. There is a gap between the gunwhale and the panel that the TM plugs into that's perfect to run the fishfinder cable through. Then you can tuck back in when your going down the road. In case youi can't tell I mounted it with a RAM mount that I picked up at BPS.

Hope this helps.



Harpo

 

[Marty Klein]

It looks like you're fishing a bit too shallow ...

 

[Jason L]

lol

 

[Jason L]

Where do the cables go once they are tucked in? Are they ran thru a rod locker ? or just along the side under the carpet?

 

[Jim B]

I helped my Buddy Dave flush mount his Garmin back when he had his 185. We mounted it to the angled plate at the bow. Check out the picture below of where we put it. It was an excellent location and worked very well for him when he had the boat. It helped keep the deck unobstructed and was at the perfect angle when standing. I wish i could do something like that one my 882.

 

[Larry Harp]

Jason, not sure I understand your question....we're nowhere near the rod lockers. What happens is the transducer cable runs up the TM shaft and the TM steering cable (re: the picture I posted on the transducer thread that I posted a couple of days ago.) and then I run it under the front panel near the TM foot pedal...then both the transducer cable and the fishfinder power cable poke out on the side next to the gunwhale. What I ment by tucking it back in is best seen in my second picture....you can take the wire and poke it back up inside when the finder is stowed so the cable isn't flapping around.



Jim's installation is sweet ... the only problem is you can't take it with you when you sell the boat and what happens when you change brands of finders?



Harpo

 

[TrepMan]

I did mine on my 175 under the Trolling Motor so when had the T motor up and getting in/out of the boat, that it was not near where in my way getting in/out of the boat at the dock, so its kind of protected and it won't be used unless the T motor is in the water anyway.



You can see mine in the Grab Bag under Electronics.

 

[Jim in VA]

I've got my Bill in VA special mounted on the right side of the trolling plug/tilt-trim plate on my PT175. The wires from the transducer go up the trolling motor shaft and into the left side of the plate via a notch I put in the plate. The power wires, transducer and temp plugs come back out the other side of the plate to the mount. The bonus of having the mount there is that it keeps the trolling motor wires and cables neatly out of the way on the front deck. I'll try to get some pics posted this evening.

 

[Jason L]

I havent looked at the cables on the FF yet. I understand where the TM wire goes.. Where do you get power from? Do you run that back to the battery? or tap in somewhere else like the TM? I was thinking you had to run the power cable back to battery and that's why I was wondering where the cables went.

 

[Eric Aasen]

Most people tap into the front light power wire. Too much interference if you tap into the trolling motor power. Your only drain on the trolling motor batteries should be the trolling motor.



NoCAL

 

[Jim B]

Jason

On my buddies 185 picture above there was a purple and black wire up front for ff power. They had crimp connectors on there ready to go. My 882 is the same way.



Harpo

Jim's installation is sweet ... the only problem is you can't take it with you when you sell the boat and what happens when you change brands of finders?

Good point. When he sold the boat he did have to leave it when he got his Triton but it was really no big deal, he left the one at the console too. That finder in the picture is a Garmin 240 and when he got rid of the boat they were sorta outdated technology anyway. He ordered his new boat with the latest Lowrance color units anyway( i would have done the same thing). I think if he still had the boat and wanted to change brands we could have made the switch without too much trouble at all.

 

[Jason L]

"Most people tap into the front light power wire"



The navigation lights? If so, then do those have to be switched ON in order to get power to the FF?

 

[Jason L]

"On my buddies 185 picture above there was a purple and black wire up front for ff power"



Cool, I'll look at it tonight when I get home. I just didnt want to get home not knowing what to do.



Thanks

 

[Jim B]

Jason

take the little plasic bow panel off and they should be attached to the same harness as the trim switch and bow light wires. If they arent there i would run wires either to the fuse box or battery( just my opinion) instead of tapping into any existing wires.

 

[Jim in VA]

Jason - I tapped into the trim switch using soderless blade-type connectors. Basically, I made a Y shaped connector with a female end on two legs of the Y and a male end on the other. I unplugged the lower power wire of the trim switch and hooked it into the Y, then I plugged in the trim switch on one female end and the FF into the other. Power was spliced between the two. For a ground, I just bolted the FF ground to a hole drilled into one of the metal plates under the switch plate. I used a multimeter to find a good solid ground. Works like a charm and doesn't negatively affect the trim switch, which, afterall, is used sparingly anyway.

 

[TrepMan]

Jason - if the boat (the newer Tracker Pro Teams do) does not have the extra wires already up front when you take the bow panel off and feel around, then check the Grab Bag Electronics article I posted on my Eagle, it has a great diagram from John Foster on how to wire it.



Trep

 

[Tim m]

Search for post by me and see how I flush mounted mine in the bow

 

[Tim m]

On the pt 175 there are are extra set of wires you can use up front under the bow panel...

 

[Steve Rizza]

Spend awhile standing on your deck with the F.F. in different positions. See where you think it will be best for you. I've had mine in three different places till I finally hit the "sweet spot".



My front deck gets cluttered up enough as at is. That's why I chose to put it up on the front.



Steve

 

[Jim in VA]

Jason - FWIW, here are some pics of my mounting set up:

 

[Jason L]

Thanks Jim. I think that is where I am going to mount mine.

 

[Jason L]

I ended up mounting mine like Jim C. There were already unused wires with crimps on them under the TM/motor trim switch that I was able to use.



Thanks