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Rank: Commander
Joined: 4/30/2007
Posts: 576
Location: Graham
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For helping my neighbor with his computer he got me an older Eagle Magna 2 fish finder.
My question is how to make it portable?
This is my first fish finder.
Quote:go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you'll find a coin.
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Rank: Commander
Joined: 3/30/2008
Posts: 457
Location: Whatcom County
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Congrats on the new FF Toni!! You will be surprised how much it can help. I don't know that exact finder personally, and I'm not sure what kinda "gear" you got with it. Does it have all power cables and transducer?? What exactly do you mean by "portable"? Do you want it to be a true portable, where you can carry everything in a small case (say for ice fishing), or just portable to be able to put it on different boats??
Well, in general, this is my take. If it is a complete setup, you should just be able to hook the power up to your trolling motor battery. If you don't have a trolling motor battery, you could always buy one (a little spendy and heavy, but decent). Or, like my finder, I sometimes hook it up to a smaller 12 volt battery, say like a motorcycle battery or riding lawn mower battery. A little cheaper, and MUCH lighter. My finder will run approx. 25-30 hours on a fully charged 12 volt motorcycle battery. So, the battery is pretty straight forward.
Now, the transducer. If you don't want to permanently install (or semi-permanent I guess) your transducer to your boat, you more than likely need a suction cup mount. I also have one of these, and they do work pretty slick for smaller boats at lower speed. They may be kinda hard to find for an older model ff, but I know Lowrance (same as Eagle) does have them. Cabela's online I'm sure has them, but again, with most everything about finders might be a little spendy. If the transducer doesn't match exactly to the suction cup mount, you may have to do a little "rigging" to make a bracket or whatnot. Either way, it can be done. I think the cheapest way to go would be to drill two holes in your transom, mount the transducer, and buy a $8 tube of good caulk and seal up the screws.
Hope it helps, Good Luck!!
I have caught many fish in my life. The most exciting? The next one.....
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Rank: Commander
Joined: 4/30/2007
Posts: 576
Location: Graham
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It came with everything but the bracket for the transducer that attaches to the boat.
I need to make it portable because I have a 12 foot row boat and I don't want it stolen and also to keep it out of the weather. It almost looks like it has never been used.
Toni attached the following image(s):
Quote:go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you'll find a coin.
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Rank: Commander
Joined: 3/30/2008
Posts: 457
Location: Whatcom County
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well in that case...
Usually most FF units (screens) simply unplug from the power/transducer cable. That is what i do, because i am also worried about theft. I pull my unit off the boat when not in use, but leave the transducer. Usually (and let me say again, USUALLY) you don't have to worry about the transducer being stolen. That's because the unit is where the money is at, I'd say out of the total cost of a FF, probably only 10-20% (depending on model) is in the transducer. Yeah, it would suck to have the transducer stolen and have to pay $80 for a new one. If you get a permanent mounting bracket, most of them just have a simple bolt to hold the transducer in place, so theoretically you just undo that bolt, pull the transducer off, disconnect the battery cable, and WHAM-O, put your whole FF in the basement!! (just don't "bury" any of the wires)
I have caught many fish in my life. The most exciting? The next one.....
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Rank: Commander
Joined: 4/30/2007
Posts: 576
Location: Graham
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Marc it said "page not available". What was it about?
Quote:go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you'll find a coin.
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Rank: Admiral
Joined: 4/8/2007
Posts: 1,612
Location: Spokane
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Cabela's links are horrible  They have a suction cup mount for your transducer for around $10.00 and a rechargeable 12 volt battery Go to Cabela's and search for: Lowrance/Eagle® Suction Cup Kit http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0014025013194a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=fish+finder+transducer+suction+cup&Ntk=Products_liberal&sort=all&Go.y=0&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&Go.x=0&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1 Search also for: rechargeable 12 volt batteryhttp://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0036388018049a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=rechargeable+12+volt+battery&Ntk=Products_liberal&sort=all&Go.y=9&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&Go.x=28&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1 The cabela's links are a mile long and don't always post well. Search in the site.
Forum Moderator
East Side Lake Video Producer
Staff Writer/"Feathers To Fins"www.kandbremodeling.comWhen It Comes Down To It....
It Is Really Up To The Fish
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Rank: Commander
Joined: 4/30/2007
Posts: 576
Location: Graham
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I have an electric motor and battery (both new this year) which I forgot to mention. Sorry.
That suction cup looks interesting.
This will work out. Just need to get it hooked up and put it in the water and see what it sees.
Oh yes the inline fuse holder was broken but I went to Radio Shack and got one to replace it.
Thanks everyone.
Quote:go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you'll find a coin.
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Rank: Admiral
Joined: 4/8/2007
Posts: 1,612
Location: Spokane
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Let us know how it works out. 
Forum Moderator
East Side Lake Video Producer
Staff Writer/"Feathers To Fins"www.kandbremodeling.comWhen It Comes Down To It....
It Is Really Up To The Fish
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Rank: Lieutenant
Joined: 7/5/2008
Posts: 268
Location: vancouver wa
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congrats, toni i got the portable 130 fishing buddy for my pontoon, and it fun to see what down there. good luck have fun. 
Stan. Enjoy Your Days & Love Your Life' Because Life is a journey to be savored !!!! GO FISHINGAs Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria. Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health. Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of poop There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it as a public service.
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Rank: Commander
Joined: 4/30/2007
Posts: 576
Location: Graham
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IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yahoooooo! It is so cool to see the bumps on the bottom and then a fish right behind it. Sorry to say that the fish were only on the screen and didn't get into the boat. I forgot the worms.
We will have to figure out at what feet the fish are at.
Quote:go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you'll find a coin.
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Rank: Commander
Joined: 4/30/2007
Posts: 576
Location: Graham
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IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yahoooooo! It is so cool to see the bumps on the bottom and then a fish right behind it. Sorry to say that the fish were only on the screen and didn't get into the boat. I forgot the worms.
We will have to figure out at what feet the fish are at.
Maybe at a later date I will put pictures on of how my son made it portable.
Quote:go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you'll find a coin.
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Rank: Admiral
Joined: 4/8/2007
Posts: 1,612
Location: Spokane
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Great Toni  Happy to hear you got it running. If you have the manual, be sure to read through it. Understanding the gray line is very important. If you don't have a manual for the unit, you can download it at: http://www.eaglenav.com/en/Downloads/Manuals/
Forum Moderator
East Side Lake Video Producer
Staff Writer/"Feathers To Fins"www.kandbremodeling.comWhen It Comes Down To It....
It Is Really Up To The Fish
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Rank: Commander
Joined: 5/15/2007
Posts: 406
Location: Island County
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Congrats Toni, I don't know how I ever lived without a fish finder. It is so nice to know water temp, depth, and see bottom structure. It sounds like you are all set up but I wanted to share with you the transducer mount I bought from Cabela's which is great. It is pictured and is the "Standard" mount/ It extends to what ever length you need and the transducer mounts to the bottom piece. The best part is it takes about 20 seconds to loosen it and take it off the boat. I also found a finder bracket just in case you were interested. I'm sure you have already looked at these on the Cabela's site but in case you haven’t, here they are. Again congrats. Dave
Dave attached the following image(s):
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