www.iFourWinns.com

I purchased a 1997 Horizon QX fish-n-ski. I was wondering where the factory mounted the through-the-hull transducer. I need to upgrade the fish finder and would like to mount it in the same location. Possibly mount it on the transom if it is easier.

The transom is definitely easier. replacing the old transducer can be easy or difficult, as it depends if the size if the new is the same as the old.

As to the position of the transducer in a transom mounted config depends on the bottom surface of the boat. You want the transducer in a location away from tubulance caused by the prop and mounted at a spot where any chines or strakes on the hull surface will not disturb the water flowing over the transducer. There are recommendations and guideline in the installation instructions of the transducer.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

mmcaleer, I don't know what you currently have connected to the factory mounted thru hull transducer, but my thru hull transducer is connected to an in dash digital depth guage, and then I added a transom mounted transducer to a Garmin fishfinder. Personally, I like having both transducers feeding me depth info. I have had a few times when the transom mounted transducer got fouled or knocked out of position by some floating debris and the like. The nice thing about the thru hull is that since it is flush with the bottom of the hull it is not susceptible to hitting anything like the transom mount.
Since I boat in a very shallow area, I am constantly keeping an eye on both to confirm my depth. There is a slight difference in readings since the thru hull is at the bottom, and the transom mount is a little higher up, but you can adjust these by setting the keel offset on the fishfinder. Maybe you can replace the old fishfinder with a compatible digital finder, and install the new fishfinder with the transom mounted transducer that it probably comes with.

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

Giaccamo makes a good point regarding a transom mount unit. They can get fouled or impacted by debris. The transom mount unit can also be coupled with an additional paddle wheel many times for speed info as well as temperature readings. The other option to the replacement is a "shoot thru" transducer. Most manufactures offer a transducer that is epoxied to the inside of the hull avoiding another hull penetration. The biggest trick to installing is getting it in a good spot which may require you to put the boat in the water and test the spot before epoxying it inplace. Other than that, once the spot is located it's a matter of securing it with the epoxy making sure there are no air bubbles in the epoxy.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

jvalich,

I meant to say "shoot through" transducer but I said through the hull. It does have a shoot through but I couldn't locate it. The boat came from the factory in 1997 with a low end Lowrance unit which doubles as the depth finder. If the connections are the same for all the Lowrance units it might be an option to replace it with a new Lowrance. That is if the transducers haven't changed in ten years.