Recent content by longjohn119

The basic computer $400 (A modified $270 netbook), with the additions in the boat $500. About another $150 in software, mainly Win7. I bought a bunch of GPS programs from a pro walleye tournament fisherman after his sponsor bought him a $3000 chartplotter/depthfinder and he retired his laptop...

In case anyone is interested I updated my blog on the Netbook to Chartplotter project detailing the final results .... More updates coming soon including some of the finished boat https://netbook2chartplotter.blogspot.com/

You also have to remember that if you see structure (Or a fish) on your sonar screen, you are already past it and have to back up to get back on it. With my style of fishing I've learned to use that to my advantage. Since I mainly anchor in current which means my nose is pointed upstream and I...

It doesn't matter, your transducer has absolutely nothing to do with GPS position, your position is determined by the placement of the antenna and nothing else. The only error from the transducer would be the depth not position. 90+% of GPSes don't even have a transducer nor have any need for one.

The transducer has nothing to do with the accuracy of the GPS, your GPS antenna is in the exact same place in the boat both times. Only if you are making a depth map does the relationship between the GPS and transducer needs to be taken into account. Programs like Dr Depth allow you to...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the antenna/front end of the Lowrance/Eagle GPS receivers, even the build quality on the entry level 240S/GPS is outstanding, that's exactly why I took the antenna from it and will eventually hack out the postage stamp sized antenna preamp/quartz filter...

Bad connection, too small wire size or more likely both ... The difference in max amps between my motorguide #43 (50 amps) and my old #30 Minnkota (30 Amps) is 20 amps which is a couple of wire sizes if you are going any length

Everything you need to know about the Bournes "90" series pot line https://www.bourns.com/data/global/pdfs/90sers.pdf You can hardwire a 1K linear taper pot from Radio Shack to get you by until you find a suitable replacement, it's functionally the same just not sealed and a much lower quality...

It depends on the receiver. Most external antennas I see need 3.3 to 5V from the antenna socket because they have to have an amplifier to overcome the high losses in the cheap coax they use and/or too small of an antenna element. If there isn't any voltage from the antenna jack then none of the...

When checking for a fully charged battery you mus let the battery rest overnight or use a tail lamp for a few minutes to draw off the surface charge. A fully charged battery that has been properly rested will read 12.7 Volts. Most charge profiles will take them up to about 14 -15 volts...

The solution to that problem is use a DPDT center off switch (You could use a SPDT center off but they are harder to find and cost about the same, with the DPDT you can switch poles after the first pole wears out). Hot goes to center, transom light goes to the first throw and jumps over to the...

The solution is simple, you need a bigger breaker and I doubt 50 amp is going to cut it for long. Breakers are real simple low tech devices that work on the basic principle that different metals expand at different rates when heated. They are also designed to intentionally need a lower and...

What doesn't make sense is trying to fish with more than 2 people in a little 14 footer. Well at least some serious fishing. Even a 16 footer is uncomfortable with more than 2 people trying to fish out of it. Batteries on the other hand don't take up as much room per pound and never stick a...

I got a color Garmin (300C) last year and I'll never go back to greyscale. It't the first fish finder I could turn off the Fish ID and read the arches the way a fish finder is really meant to be read. I was a little worried about the small screen size (Resolution is decent with quarter VGA 240 x...

It's nice but it really needs some sort of visual interface or computer interface to work with GPS enabled maps and such. Then you could do things like pre-plot a course or take a successful course and put it on a GPS map so you can actually see and analyze your path. Think about it, you could...