Hi All,

I have been asking a few questions on here in the public forum and via private messages so I thought I would post an update on my Sounder/Plotter upgrade project.

Some quick background, I purchased a 2003 model Cruisecraft 625 outsider last year that had recently been repowered with a 2017 Merc 150hp 4 stroke. The boat came with what I expect was original equipment being a JRC FF50 analog fish finder, and a Raymarine A77 multifunction device.

The JRC fishfinder lasted two trips then was gumtree’d along with the p58 transducer. The Raymarine then received a p66 upgrade and as a 600w digital fishfinder (not chirp) unit it actually did ok.   The photo below shows the detail I picked up as a school of salmon swam under the boat.

The raymarine is a 7 inch screen and was a little small for my eyes, but overall the combination of GPS/Chartplotter and Sonar had me sold.  I also liked the common sense operating system of the Raymarine and for a small unit could do cool things like use WIFI to mirror the screen on my phone.

So I started my search for a new unit.  The raymarine axiom pro was top of my list due to the inbuild 3D scanning capability and my familiarity with its operating systems.  I spoke to everyone I could about the practical application of the 3D, side scan, down scan technology vs chirp sonar.  While I never had the opportunity to see the raymarine 3D in action other than in the store, my conversations left me doubting it was going to be that helpful for dropping cray pots or fishing for demersals.

Then two things happened :

·         Two friends purchased SIMRAD NSS EVO3 / SIMRAD units; and

·         I got quoted a reasonable price for a SIMRAD NSS EVO3S 12.

Once that happened and I had a chance to scour the internet for all things SIMRAD, it was happening.  SIMRAD was ordered and matched to a Airmar TM185M.  Yeah, Yeah there are other transducers, should have got a Low/High/Wide.. I am the first to admit I am no expert on transducers but it’s a match for my needs on paper and if it’s not I’ll change it out.

<Insert Youtube DIY music>  It’s time to work out how to make the install look half reasonable. The cruisecraft doesn’t have much space so it was template time…

I transitioned from cardboard to fibreboard, to 6mm fibreboard so it would match the Acrylic I planned on using. Lots of templates later I cut into the black acrylic panel and started working on it to make a neat fit. I glued a few small pieces of acrylic together and drilled/tapped them and glued them to the back of the acrylic panel. This avoided having fasteners showing on the front.  Note : lots of very expensive Acrylic glue on the market, but my testing showed that normal super glue in small quantities bonds very well.

I also asked the hive on what to do with the instruments, my boat came with smartcraft gauges, I could replace these or add a mercury module that would cost in the $600-$1200 range. Ultimately I decided to try and mount the gauges.  My reasoning was I had the room on the acrylic panel, I was unlikely to get any resale value for the gauges and I would rather not have to split the screen on the SIMRAD to look at instruments/fuel etc if I didn’t have to.  The downside is I have to convince myself I am not missing out on valuable engine management data, fault finding etc.  I guess I can retro fit one at another stage if I need to.

The other downside was the viewing angle of the acrylic panel would make it hard to see the LCD gauges properly.  Off to the teenagers room to appropriate his 3D printer to make some mounts. I had to buy some other filament (ASA for the nerds out there) and crank up the heat but print number 12 and 13 came out with a perfect 14 degree angle. The mounts are black so you can't see them in the photo. 

And that was it, I assembled everything and cut out some big holes in the dash and it all fits quite nicely.  I still need to find a spot for the USB charger, but that shouldn’t be too difficult.

I have started to fill the holes in the transom from the paddle wheel (which wasn’t working) and the old transducer. I went with Epifill as the boat guys had it readily available and I wasn’t going to Bunnings otherwise it would have been araldite.  The transom is looking ok, but I haven’t had a crack with flow coat or sanding yet so still time to make a mess of it.

Thanks for reading, I’ll post up some demersal success when it happens… 

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