Marine Electronics Forum - Garmin 546s With Airmar B117

Hey guys I just installed a Garmin 546S in my boat and I have an Airmar B117 bronze thru hull transducer at home. Would this be a good match up? I believe the B117 is not a tilted element. The boat is a 208 Grady White. Any advice would be appreciated.

The B117 has basically the same sonar element as the B60,P79, B45, B744 and the P66.

http://www.airmartechnology.com/uploads/brochures/B117.pdf

And correct... the B117 is not tilted and good for dead rise hulls up to about 8 degrees.

The B117 has basically the same sonar element as the B60,P79, B45, B744 and the P66.

http://www.airmartechnology.com/uploads/brochures/B117.pdf

And correct... the B117 is not tilted and good for dead rise hulls up to about 8 degrees.

Semper so I would not be able to use it due to the 20 degree transom deadrise the Grady has? The spec sheet you attached says the following for Hull Deadrise: "Up to 24°". is this a generalization that applies to all of the thru hulls and one would need to know to buy the tilted unit? I apologize if it sounds like a dumb question but I want to be 100% sure before I drill a 2" hole in the boat.

How do you feel about the P79 shoot thru hull? I keep the boat in the water year round by the way.

Searosis, I have a Garmin 546s in my Grady 209, same hull as yours I believe, and I tried all sorts of places for shoot-thru-hull mounting. On centerline just behind the freshwater tank, and in a well filled with water just forward of the transom on the stbd side. Neither place worked acceptably at cruise so I wound up putting it on the transom like intended. I think I had water flow turbulence that messed it up for inside mount. It would work fine at slow speed and then lose the bottom and never regain it until I came off plane. I was using the supplied transom mount ducer from Garmin.. Your Airmar should work OK since it's in direct contact with the water. If you're concerned about tilt you can buy fairings that you cut to whatever angle you need, they just stick below the hull an inch or so. And if you mounted it on centerline you wouldn't have deadrise problems.

If you look at the specs, the 50 kHz has a beamwidth of 45 deg and the 200 kHz has only a 12 deg beamwidth. So the 24 deg deadrise spec would work only for 50 kHz.

Colecaz,

Thanks for the reply. I cant go transom because i leave the boat in the water year round and down here in Sofla the barnacle buildup on the ducer would be a constant problem. i will see if a centerline mounting is possible.

Colecaz,

Thanks for the reply. I cant go transom because i leave the boat in the water year round and down here in Sofla the barnacle buildup on the ducer would be a constant problem.



All you need to do is paint the transducer with anti fouling paint...that will help.
If you are worried about barnacle build up on the transom mount..then you may the same problem with a thru the hull.

And the B60 comes in a 20 degree tilt and will work just fine on your hulls deadrise.

I have sold B60's & B164'sand SS264's for your exact boat.