Message 5 of 5
Posted by member mike insall on Thursday 31 December 2015

Hi again, I have a small screen just by the helm that I thought was a sort of basic standard log etc on Navi's! There is a small paddle wheel on the underside of the hull that gives you the speed etc. I also have a transducer that is fixed to the inside of the hull but I've disconnected everything now. My hull number is 777 and the helm is on the port side! There are some much more learned ex Hardy people on here if you need better help! Cheers, Mike

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Message 3 of 5
Posted by member mike insall on Wednesday 30 December 2015

Hi Peter, My model is the Elite-4HDI! Cost about £199ish but there are cheaper ones. It's a fish and depth finder. My previous one was fitted in the wrong place, ie close to the prop on the Port side! It's now in the correct place away from the prop on the S/Bd side! I actually used a galvanised strip that I think is a roofing tie, from B&Q for about £4.50 plus a few nuts and bolts etc from F4. I've fitted it under the bathing ladder to help hold it in place, but I may move it to allow me to be able to lift it out of the water! In any event it works perfectly even at high speed! It seems crazy to me that you have to fit the thing at or under the waterline when an extension would be easy to produce! The only problem is that in the process of connecting the cable the guy has managed to disconnect the GPS!! I assume that a log would have a paddle wheel! As you may know Hardy Navi's have a paddle wheel built in! Mine does and it did sort of work, but now it's disconnected! As mentioned I have a basic GPS that gives me all I really need (ie speed and distance plus MOB and way point plotting) for about £80! I never managed a Christmas cruise - twas blowing a gale and I didn't see one leisure craft out at all! Managed a trip yesterday but it was still blowing so went back in up th Hamble River where it was very nice when the sun came out! All the best for 2106. Cheers, Mike Photo is a chap who has just come of his flying cat yesterday!

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Message 1 of 5
Posted by member Mike Insall on Sunday 27 December 2015

My Fish finder / depth finder went US recently, and although it was out of warranty I decided to take it back to Force 4 in Burlesdon to see it it could perhaps be fixed. They said they would send it off the Lowrance in Romsey (not far away) and see what they thought! I said that if it would cost more than about £50 it would be better to buy a new one! Anyway, after about ten days I had a phone call to say that they had received a new instrument and it was FREE! It was also a bit of an upgrade! A nice gesture by Lowrance, and very good service by Force 4! I also note the following that may be of interest. When I fitted the first fishfinder, it seemed a bit daft that the bracket had to be fitted below the waterline. For obvious reasons this is a bit of a pain, so I contacted Lowrance to see if they perhaps made an extension, but they didn't! So, I thought I would try to make one myself, which I did quite quickly. However, with the coming of the new one I though I would try to improve the extension for two reasons. Firstly I wanted to avoid having the bracket anywhere near the waterline, and I also wanted to make fittine easier and to allow me to bring the transponder out of the water! I've made one that may look a bit heavy duty, but it's only cost me about £6 using items from B&Q! and it's pretty strong. I attach a photo of the beast just in case anyone is of the same mind! I can only attache one photo, but it's about 800mm long allowing for it to be some 100mm in the water but still easy to fix without having to lean over too far! The bolts are not the actual ones I'll use, which will be shorter and of course stainless steelfrom Force 4! I note it would be possible to make a neater job of it, but I ain't no high class fabricator!! Happy New Year everyone. Mike

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