Carver Owners Forum

hello fellas. I am trying to install a brand new GPS unit to my 3227. I thought striker vivid 9sv was a great deal for about $500 on black Friday. I am not a fisherman. Just need to see where I'm going and the depth since I am mostly in Gulf ICW by freeport, TX, and the channels are very shallow at the edges.

My dilemma is that I have two helms. I am sure I can purchase an extra power/data cable and additional mount for the 9SV online. Is there a correct way of installing these cables or do I just daisy chain the cables and move the unit up/down from flybridge to interior helm depending on where I am driving from?

Second question. There appears to be a "Standard communications corporation - DS30 depth sounder" installed and working in the lower helm. On the upper helm, I have a mount for a legacy hummingbird fishfinder without the unit - just the mount. Can I use the transducer already installed with my Garmin - Any knowledgable GPS fellas feel free to answer. I cannot seem to locate the actual transducer yet but I have only had the boat for a week or so.

You can't easily "daisy chain" the cables when there's a signal line in the mix. It is doable, but it gets complicated because it creates reflections in the cabling that can be confused with reflections underwater (which is how the sonar/depthfinder works). At best you could get an extension cable, and run that from the lower station to the bridge. When the unit would be in the lower station, you just plug right into the cable going to the transducer. When moving to the bridge, you plug the extension into the cable going to the transducer, then plug the unit into the extension on the bridge. Power is not an issue, as you could put a power connection at both locations.

Hard to say on the old transducer, but I'd bet not. You'd need to know the specs on that transducer and those of the unit. You'd need to know the frequency that the transducer is tuned to, and the power it can handle. Most newer units use multiple frequencies and most old transducers are only capable of one.

I had a boat with dual stations and rarely ever used the lower station. I still had a second radio there and installed a second gps/plotter in case I ever needed to navigate from there, but the better units were up on the bridge, where I spent most of my time.

km1125 wrote:Source of the post You can't easily "daisy chain" the cables when there's a signal line in the mix.

I am not using two units - Just moving the same unit up or down with me. The "other" cable will not be attached to anything.