Humminbird External GPS Heading Sensor Question

[Ozark Bob]

Originally Posted by bbheli

You make a great point. I was thinking about the centerline and wondered if I should mount it dead center on the stern however that would put it really close the the main motor and wondered about its magnetic signals from the alternator and so on. The other option is the bow but the close proximity to the trolling more was also problematic to my thinking so that brings me to what I have seen about mounting it under the deck surfaces of the panels on the back of the boat that come off. I saw some mount it this way upside down and that seems to throw me off as I wondered how that would work.

What are you mounting? The heading sensor does not need to be on a centerline, just parallel to it. It can't be upside down either. The gps needs to have a clear view of the entire sky, horizon to horizon. and the closer it is to the transducer the better.

[Ltrain]

bbheli- what you can do is temporarily run your wires in the middle of your boat leave enough length to reach front and back. Put a little double sided tape on the puck and try it front middle and back. Really just comes down to what you prefer. Real1 likes the front,Ozark Bob likes it in the rear, and I prefer it right by my console.
I can give you my reasoning for why i like it where i do. I mark waypoints from the bow and from the console so i split the difference. The amount of distance I can be off amounts to half a boat length plus or minus the units accuracy which for me is usually around 8ft so in reality less than a full boat length. If I'm marking a rockpile it wouldn't take me long to find it if I go to the waypoint and it's a boat length away, in fact I've never dropped a waypoint on structure then went back and couldn't find what i marked. Secondly if you use your graph now without a puck, guess where you're marking waypoints from,yep your console. The gps is built into your unit, so if you're already used to that, why change it.
It's all a matter of personal preference so try it in all three spots, pick the one you like best then make it a permanent install. Don't overthink it though, just make sure you are aligned with the keel so your bow representation is correct on your graph. That's probably most important.

[Ozark Bob]

I want my GPS as close as practical to the transducer hooked to the unit I am marking it with. Not relative to my position in the boat. I want the waypoint as close to where it actually is as possible. If you search around and find the spot in 10' of water do you suppose the fish that is on it will stay there with the boat over it? I want to stop a cast's length away and use my heading sensor to tell me exactly where to cast to my waypoint. Not within a circle of error. I think preference to how much error I am willing to put up with. Bob

[Ltrain]

Originally Posted by Ozark Bob

I want my GPS as close as practical to the transducer hooked to the unit I am marking it with. Not relative to my position in the boat. I want the waypoint as close to where it actually is as possible. If you search around and find the spot in 10' of water do you suppose the fish that is on it will stay there with the boat over it? I want to stop a cast's length away and use my heading sensor to tell me exactly where to cast to my waypoint. Not within a circle of error. I think preference to how much error I am willing to put up with. Bob

What's the distance of your console to the back of the boat? I don't think that's too far extra to cast
What if your marking waypoints from your bow? Now you're a
whole boat away right?
You know you still have a circle of error no matter where your gps is located,right?

[bbheli]

Originally Posted by Ozark Bob

What are you mounting? The heading sensor does not need to be on a centerline, just parallel to it. It can't be upside down either. The gps needs to have a clear view of the entire sky, horizon to horizon. and the closer it is to the transducer the better.

That is what I thought however I saw some video's where they did mount it upside down and under a cover. Made no sense to me.

[Ozark Bob]

Originally Posted by ltrain

What's the distance of your console to the back of the boat? I don't think that's too far extra to cast
What if your marking waypoints from your bow? Now you're a
whole boat away right?
You know you still have a circle of error no matter where your gps is located,right?

This is why I hesitated to jump in. Let say it is 10 feet. add in another 5 for GPS. That is 15 feet. When I go back to that log(for sake of a target) depending on the direction of the error (heading wise when the mark button was pushed) could be as much as doubled or 30'. I will tell you that if you cast a plastic worm 30 feet from a fish, they will not hit it. Like I said I want that circle of error as small as I can make it. I used to use my internal GPS on my bow unit but now use the GPS built into my ipilot link. Only 3' different but is is available so I cut off another 3' on my error. I use whatever advantage I can without spending a fortune. I use my HS/GPS on the corner of the stern, It is 2' from my transom transducer. could be closer but there is no good spot for it there. I prefer having it there and just accept the 2' error.
Its a game of better than without spending too much additional. Call me anal if you like, but I try to do the best I can with what I got. Bob

[Ozark Bob]

Originally Posted by bbheli

That is what I thought however I saw some video's where they did mount it upside down and under a cover. Made no sense to me.

The heading sensor upside down might not work at all, but even if it does it does not know which way is left or right. All these gizmos have installation documents. It is best to follow what they tell you to do. Bob

[bbheli]

Originally Posted by ltrain

bbheli- what you can do is temporarily run your wires in the middle of your boat leave enough length to reach front and back. Put a little double sided tape on the puck and try it front middle and back. Really just comes down to what you prefer. Real1 likes the front,Ozark Bob likes it in the rear, and I prefer it right by my console.
I can give you my reasoning for why i like it where i do. I mark waypoints from the bow and from the console so i split the difference. The amount of distance I can be off amounts to half a boat length plus or minus the units accuracy which for me is usually around 8ft so in reality less than a full boat length. If I'm marking a rockpile it wouldn't take me long to find it if I go to the waypoint and it's a boat length away, in fact I've never dropped a waypoint on structure then went back and couldn't find what i marked. Secondly if you use your graph now without a puck, guess where you're marking waypoints from,yep your console. The gps is built into your unit, so if you're already used to that, why change it.
It's all a matter of personal preference so try it in all three spots, pick the one you like best then make it a permanent install. Don't overthink it though, just make sure you are aligned with the keel so your bow representation is correct on your graph. That's probably most important.

I mark my points also from the bow or the console. I was thinking about mounting it right on the gunwale just forward of the windshield where my spot lock puck is. Bob makes a good point though about accuracy.

These are the video's I was talking about - He make a good point about above transducer and center line. Meanwhile Jason Halfen has a video that shows it installed just about where I was originally thinking of putting it however the point of the compass is most accurate as is the keel of the boat. Trying to measure 3x before I drill for best results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QrkiqF8xi8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tmdwR4orFc

[kswalleyer]

make sure wherever you mount it you test for magnetic intereference, stay atleast 3 ft from anthing that has magnetic field like motor. moving it around with dual sided tape will help you avoid this.

[Real1]

[QUOTE=bbheli;6519790]Are you mainly using a trolling motor transducer ? What happened when you tried it in other locations.[/QUOTE


Yes, for the trolling motor transducer.


At one time, I had two HS. One in the back ( transom mounted transducer) for the tournament partner so he could see a waypoint on the console unit and also the heading when drifting slowly and, one on the front for me.



There wasn't much of a difference front and back for the heading part. Maybe it just feels DIFFERENT casting form the back on spot lock to a waypoint using the pictogram of the boat to get the direction.



Now that I fish alone a lot, I use just one in front with the trolling motor down.