Electronics Switcharoonie Walkthrough w/Pics

caddyjoe77 · February 17, 2024, 09:39:35 PM

After getting the Puma in December, and it having 4 birds and one garmin I decided that I wanted to make a couple changes and sell what was left when done.

three goals in mind:
1. try out Lowrance for waypoint management -- i like the fact one can get super detailed.
2. Try out Active Target 2 and see how it plays with Garmin Livescope.
3. Make it CLEAN looking

so i found a HDS10 and 12 Pro for a good price, got those. Also found a Garmin 1243 XSV for a good buy along with AT2. Was originally planning on AT2 later but i got the Garmin for such a good deal I threw in the AT2 since I knew I would have all the wiring ripped apart and a big mess on the front of the boat.

First issue was can i run a lowrance ducer and bird ducer off the jackplate. Transducer shield and Saver fixed me up.

Pics:

second issue was fishing the cable from the lowrance HD 3n1 to the console. I have always used a somewhat flimsy snake to do this. After several hours i said screw it and got a fiberglass pole that is in two pieces but screws together --easy peasy. recommend you unscrew the throttle controls so you can reach your hand up in there. Be careful of the wiring

Next issue was "what freaking network cable is hooked up to what on the old bird side". Had a 12 SI and 10 DI on bow and a 12 DI and SI on console. This took several hours to trace the cables. It took another day to figure out that the network switch was actually powered by the cranking battery and not the Lithium battery

that was frustrating to say the least.

Next issue was at the bow: "how the heck did this young man mount these graphs to the built in steps. My arm was not long enough and tried multiple tools but couldnt get them off." Drilled the heads off but this was still a problem later.

Designed several things that may have worked but kept running into the "arm not long enough" no tool that could start the bolt from the top to the blind underside. Tried wobbleheads, extensions, tape on the wrench to hold the nut in place, a flexible ratchet nut driver, a piece of clear tubing but nothing worked. So, I bit the bullet and bought the BBT custom mount for the STS models. unplanned, but F it -- its going to look amazing.

traced wires, made the wiring connections, verified i have power. Then off to travel for a week

next up -- AT2 install. Currently mounted below LS to be run in scout mode. Need to button up the cable routing but this may work, or maybe ill need a different mount -- water testing will determine that. Bought some more Ferrite rings which will be used somewhere i am sure.

marked holes for base of mount. All that is left is fill in old holes, going to use MarineTex i think for this. Needs to be warmer though to cure properly.

J.W. · February 17, 2024, 10:10:34 PM

That's a lot of work! Rigging is such a pain, but it'll be worth it when it's all done.

So are you planning on running one FFS in perspective mode and one on forward?

I have thought about doing that and maybe selling my 360 since it doesn't let me shallow up my trolling motor as much as I'd like when fishing skinny water. It's just that the 360 is do good at showing structure and grass lines, I hate to ditch it.

caddyjoe77 · February 17, 2024, 10:28:00 PM

Quote from: J.W. on February 17, 2024, 10:10:34 PMThat's a lot of work! Rigging is such a pain, but it'll be worth it when it's all done.

So are you planning on running one FFS in perspective mode and one on forward?

I have thought about doing that and maybe selling my 360 since it doesn't let me shallow up my trolling motor as much as I'd like when fishing skinny water. It's just that the 360 is do good at showing structure and grass lines, I hate to ditch it.

it is quite a bit, more than you think when you start. But, the key is to take your time and dont be afraid to run to the store and get the proper tool. Harbor frieght has been my friend. Especially for those "ill use these 5 times in my life" tools, save a little money this way.

yes, LS in forward and AT2 in scout --it looked like the AT2 scout is pretty good.

as for the 360, if the AT2 works as good as I hope, yes i will ditch. What you said about grasslines is the exact reason the 360 is still mounted. Might need to modify the pole a bit and make it shorter, which i have done before.

the water will tell the truth.

Also might run into some interferance which might dictate more modifications or maybe ditch the LS and get two AT2's -- not planning that now but you never know with me

Donald Garner · February 18, 2024, 12:09:18 PM

Joe, tks for sharing the Electronics update with us. Your front deck sure is busy looking for sure

Everything looks great. I hope it works out well for this coming season.

caddyjoe77 · February 19, 2024, 12:13:07 AM

Have power to both scopes. Lowrance isn't documented the best

Yellow wire must be hooked to same pole as power. Never seen that one before 😂 thought yellow was NEMA.

Mount installation tomorrow and button up / clean / group wires for a nice look.

caddyjoe77 · February 21, 2024, 09:52:52 PM

Finished up the wiring. Have great power. Wired livescope and AT2 to this switch. Ops check good. All 3 units work.

Will need some adjustment and fine tuning but onto the mount tomorrow.

Princeton_Man · February 22, 2024, 06:18:28 AM

Wow

Joe, I remember a time when I would tackle that kind of task with all kinds of enthusiasm along with a friend a six pack working through the night and into the next day and not stopping until everything was finished. If I lived a lot closer, I would have been there to help. Though if it were my boat today, I'd be paying someone else to do it and I'd be getting my rest.

Really well done brother!

caddyjoe77 · February 22, 2024, 09:46:09 AM

Quote from: Princeton_Man on February 22, 2024, 06:18:28 AM Wow

Joe, I remember a time when I would tackle that kind of task with all kinds of enthusiasm along with a friend a six pack working through the night and into the next day and not stopping until everything was finished. If I lived a lot closer, I would have been there to help. Though if it were my boat today, I'd be paying someone else to do it and I'd be getting my rest.

Really well done brother!

if I had a trusted marine person that i knew would take the extra time to do the connections with crimping and shrinkwrapping etc i would gladly pay. But, being that I couldnt find that I decided to do it myself. My knees and back pay for it but Friday I will smile when it all works, even if i need to make adjustments (which I know I will as i know some signals/frequencies will/may run into each other)

J.W. · February 22, 2024, 12:30:52 PM

Quote from: caddyjoe77 on February 22, 2024, 09:46:09 AMif I had a trusted marine person that i knew would take the extra time to do the connections with crimping and shrinkwrapping etc i would gladly pay. But, being that I couldnt find that I decided to do it myself.

Same. My humminbird stuff came rigged from the dealership and I will probably re-do it at some point because even though it works, it's a mess. Maybe this summer I'll re-rig it. My Garmin unit and LiveScope I did myself and it's a much cleaner installation.

caddyjoe77 · February 22, 2024, 03:08:53 PM

Quote from: J.W. on February 22, 2024, 12:30:52 PM
Quote from: caddyjoe77 on February 22, 2024, 09:46:09 AMif I had a trusted marine person that i knew would take the extra time to do the connections with crimping and shrinkwrapping etc i would gladly pay. But, being that I couldnt find that I decided to do it myself.

Same. My humminbird stuff came rigged from the dealership and I will probably re-do it at some point because even though it works, it's a mess. Maybe this summer I'll re-rig it. My Garmin unit and LiveScope I did myself and it's a much cleaner installation.

yes the f'd up part is i am probably going to re-do this again with a 12 pole block and really make it as clean as possible. It works now, but like you i want it to look perfect. OCD thing i guess

anyway so all units up front will go to 10 or 12 block power w/16 ga wiring on both sides. then mount the block in the right compartment next to the AT2 and LS . will be able to make perfect then.

caddyjoe77 · February 24, 2024, 04:55:08 PM

all done. overall I am very happy. Took longer than I wanted but it looks pretty good.

Ready for service tomorrow

Donald Garner · February 25, 2024, 10:56:53 AM

Alrighty, job well done it looks great

J.W. · February 25, 2024, 11:00:09 AM

Hey, that looks awesome.

Quote from: caddyjoe77 on February 22, 2024, 03:08:53 PMyes the f'd up part is i am probably going to re-do this again with a 12 pole block and really make it as clean as possible. It works now, but like you i want it to look perfect. OCD thing i guess

I understand completely. I installed a power block in my front storage area where I mounted my Livescope black box, and now I want to put another one in my console (just to be closer to anything in the rear of the boat that I might install later or need to re-rig). It's nice having everything run to one place and not having a billion terminals hanging off a battery, which is how the rear of my boat looks right now.

caddyjoe77 · February 26, 2024, 08:37:32 PM

Quote from: J.W. on February 25, 2024, 11:00:09 AMHey, that looks awesome.

Quote from: caddyjoe77 on February 22, 2024, 03:08:53 PMyes the f'd up part is i am probably going to re-do this again with a 12 pole block and really make it as clean as possible. It works now, but like you i want it to look perfect. OCD thing i guess

I understand completely. I installed a power block in my front storage area where I mounted my Livescope black box, and now I want to put another one in my console (just to be closer to anything in the rear of the boat that I might install later or need to re-rig). It's nice having everything run to one place and not having a billion terminals hanging off a battery, which is how the rear of my boat looks right now.

buss makes a pretty cool bar which attaches to the post. helps make everything relatively neat. These days especially you may run out of room on a post and that sucks.