ST40 echosounder

[Sniper]

I've just bought a sounder with the long stem bronze transducer. Has anyone any experience with installing the transducer, specifically where in relation to the keel (long keel wooden 'Twister') and what sort of fairing block used? I'd be grateful for any comments.

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[Peterduck]

A mate and I installed one in his cutter. A rectangular section block of hardwood was drilled for the transducer stem and head, and then sawn on the diagonal longitudinally to the angle of deadrise of the hull at the point where he wanted to install the transducer. This gave a block for the outside and one for the inside to bed the nut on. The inner block was epoxied to the planking, and the planking drilled through after curing of the epoxy. The outer block was then buttered with epoxy on the fairing face, the transducer was inserted [with bedding compound applied around it] and then up through the hole in the planking. The nut was applied and tightened enough to ensure good contact of the outer block to the planking, and there we were! Done! What's the next job?
Peter.

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[Sniper]

Peter - thanks for that response. Whereabouts did you locate the sounder? The guidance from Raymarine suggests that offcentre just forward of the keel is the preferred position. On a Twister, the section is very fine here, so I want to make sure the transducer is long enough to go through a sufficently strong block (which will be cut at a fairly acute angle) as well as the planking while remaining vertical. I've seen other boats with transducers mounted alongside the keel where the section is much flatter; I don't know how much this would affect performance of the sounder. Any views?

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[tillergirl]

I have a bronze Raymarine transducer for log/depth. It was made by an American Company (Airmar I think) who also did a fairing block. It took a while to get through Greenham Regis but was worth witing for as cutting to the shape of the hull gave me the inside fairing block as well. Might be worth giving Greenham Regis a ring.

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