Lowrance electronic X125, X135 manual Shoot-thru-hull vs. Transom Mounting, Assembling the bracket

quently lose bottom signal lock while running at high speed, the trans- ducer may be coming out of the water as you cross waves or wakes. Move the transducer a little lower to help prevent this.

If you cruise or fish around lots of structure and cover, your transducer may be frequently kicking up from object strikes. If you wish, you may move the transducer a little higher for more protection.

There are two extremes you should avoid. Never let the edge of the mounting bracket extend below the bottom of the hull. Never let the bottom – the face – of the transducer rise above the bottom of the hull.

Shoot-thru-hull vs. Transom Mounting

Typically, shoot-thru-hull installations give excellent high speed opera- tion and good to excellent depth capability. There is no possibility of damage from floating objects. It can't be knocked off when docking or loading on the trailer.

However, the shoot-thru-hull installation does have its drawbacks. First, some loss of sensitivity does occur, even on the best hulls. This varies from hull to hull, even from different installations on the same hull. This is caused by differences in hull lay-up and construction.

Second, the transducer angle cannot be adjusted for the best fish arches. This can be a problem on some hulls that sit with the bow high when at rest or at slow trolling speeds. Follow the procedure listed in the shoot-thru-hull installation section at the end of this lesson to de- termine if you can satisfactorily shoot through the hull.

TRANSOM TRANSDUCER ASSEMBLY AND MOUNTING

The best way to install these transducers is to loosely assemble all of the parts first, place the transducer's bracket against the transom and see if you can move the transducer so that it's parallel with the ground.

The following instructions sometimes vary depending on the mounting bracket that came with your transducer. Single-frequency Skimmers come with a one-piece stainless steel bracket, while dual-frequency Skimmers come with a two-piece plastic mounting bracket. Use the set of instructions that fits your model.

1.Assembling the bracket.

A. One-piece bracket: Press the two small plastic ratchets into the sides of the metal bracket as shown in the following illustration. Notice there are letters molded into each ratchet. Place each ratchet into the bracket with the letter "A" aligned with the dot stamped into the metal

bracket. This position sets the transducer's coarse angle adjustment for a 14° transom. Most outboard and stern-drive transoms have a 14° angle.

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