lets see your homemade portable sonar/fishfinder/flasher units

[puddlefisher]

lets see who has the coolest homemade sonar box i also need some ideas too!!

[Eddie Spaghetti]

Puddle, Here is a "box" I made for my X67C. There is a thread somewhere on this topic.

The battery is under this compartment.

[Catfish78]

Nice set up Eddie. Question for you. With the transducer arm coming out the back, does it make it more difficult to see the screen while fishing the hole?

[surflizard]

This is the Rube Goldberg set up I built for my Lowrance X86, after launching my old fishfinder out of my ottersled coming off the ice !

[Doubles Shooter]

This is what I did with my Humminbird Super Sixty.








I hot glued a small bubble level to the  transducer to ensure it is aiming straight down.

[Jim F]

I went as light and cheap as possible, 8 bucks from Kmart

[Ed D]

doubles shooter,that is cool as hell.I bet you're the only pilot to fly it.Had an old zercom for years,never second guest it.Ed

[Doubles Shooter]

doubles shooter,that is cool as hell.I bet you're the only pilot to fly it.Had an old zercom for years,never second guest it.Ed

I still take it out once in a while. I have a Marcum VX-1 that gets the most time now, but I do use the old Super out in the canoe in the summer. It is fun to use.

[BIGJim223]

Humminbird 560. Copied Genz Box, 18 amp/hour motorcycle battery out of my big twin, Humminbird Iceducer/float. Works great, battery lasts all season, will also run my Strikemaster Electro Auger if needed! It is a little heavy, but it is what I owned for my soft water fishing!



BIGJim223

[Coach]

This one work great for me. Good luck in your search

[KingCat]

Wow, that's some pretty awesome handiwork folks - nice job!

[puddlefisher]

thanks guys i got a couple good ideas. keep-em coming its cool to see whats out there. i took an old wooden box that i used to keep my RC car controller. it fit the batt perfect ill post some pics once i get it done hopefully i will have it done for sunday to take it out to try it 

[nocod]

looking for more ideas,reviving an oldie but a goodie.

[Lrains]

Kewl

[rgfixit]

RG

[Chuckles]

Now that's COOL  rg.....and ammo box ?

[Whopper Stopper]

Now that's COOL  rg.....and ammo box ?

               X 2

               WS

[IOWAICE21]

some sweet cases!

[fishinnut]

Not homemade but works great. Seat/flasher combo.



Inside bucket.



Transducer protection when packing up and moving is a piece of pool noodle cut out to fit transducer.



Another view

[mdrobny]

put this back together just for the pic.keep it for a loaner.



used it for about 3yrs.upgraded to a vex. not as fast as the vex but it was very useful.
folded down for tranport and I mounted rod holders in side bucket.used a small jump-pack for power that also fit inside bucket.

[stripernut]

[Swampstud]

I was thinking of building a rig like these but id like to include my underwater cam to it also. Anyone have a setup with both a finder and camera??
I love the setup with the float for tansducer stripernut, much better than my  "S" shaped bracket that to be placed just right. Awesome!!
 Also can I use bigger 12v batteries with my electronics. If so what do you recommend?  Weights not an issue but it be great if I wasnt towing a truck battery lol, just need my charge to last more than a day!!

[stripernut]

With my sounder I am using  a 9 amp battery, I have used it for 2 days of fishing (about 15 hours) and think I could have gone another day... Unless you are running a bunch of other stuff, I would not worry about it...

[panfishman13]

i use a genz box for my sonar, but this summer i'm gonna need to make some kind of rig so i can set it up on the boat alongside the fishfinder.
trick is, i need to be able to shift the whole thing between jon boat, canoe, and pontoon boat.

[MT_mulies]

So I was just got done making my own portable ice fishing unit for a lowrance 510c. I used a metal ammo box and it looks pretty slick and I think it will work well. Then I thought....how come everyone else has plastic or wood portable fish finders. So I started thinking more. Do you guys think metal is a bad idea because it could freeze to the ice, or the frost could freeze the lid to the box? Any ideas? I'm thinking about remaking a different setup out of wood or a plastic box. Or do you think that a metal ammo can will be fine? I also thought about having electricity inside the box with the battery and problems that could create. I will probably get Styrofoam or carpet padding and glue to the inside of the box so that there isn't as good of a conductor if something happens inside the box while I'm fishing. I do have a fuse set up to prevent it from shorting out. At first I just thought maybe a portable metal fish finder would be good for durability, but now I'm second guessing myself.

[stripernut]

For me, weight would keep me from using steel...

[El Matador]

Since this thread is now back from the dead I'll post some pics of my Helix 5 setup.  Its not quite as slick as the ICE Helix 5 but I wanted something with down imaging that I could also use on my pontoon boat.  This worked out very well for me.

I looked all over for some kind of case to use and when I found this Husky cooler at Home Depot I knew I had a winner:


I built a shuttle out of 3/4" pine that houses the battery.  The top piece can pivot so the display moves up and out of the case if a different viewing angle is needed.  For ice fishing I just leave it in the down position and its perfect.


I connected wiring for my Battery Tender Jr, and passed it (along with transducer cable) through a hole into the front pocket.  Access to the charging cord and transducer is super easy.


Here you can see the different screen positions with the unit installed inside the case:



For the transducer mount I used pieces of 1/2" PEX tubing with a tee.  The bottom of the tee has lead weights inside (bullets) to help sink the transducer, and there's a 1/4" threaded fitting on the end so I can disconnect easily.  On the transducer itself I have a 1/4" fitting that I soldered to an old key and bolted together.  I have a different mount that screws into this 1/4" fitting so I can attach it to my pontoon boat.



Here's what she looks like with a pile of crappie on the screen:


This build only cost me $20 for the cooler since I had the other stuff laying around.  The case is sturdy, good quality, and waterproof.  It also has a little padding to protect whats inside!  If I had it to do over again I'd do it the same way.

[kc_]

I used a piece of 4x4 post cover to hold the battery. An old cat litter bucket holds the whole unit.

[jethro]

Not exactly homemade, just cobbled from parts, some I bought and some I had around. I use my Helix 5 on the boat, so I had a RAM mount for that, I take it off in the winter and use a shorter arm and mounted it in the case that I have for my portable 160. Works great.

[filetandrelease]

This was my first Vex ,  sold it to a bud and its still chugging along