My Wife nearly threw me out of the house when I paid $3000 for a fish finder. But it wasn’t any old fish finder, it was a Humminbird 11197. This is the latest offering from Humminbird. It’s a side imaging unit that shows details out to 360 feet to each side. And let me tell you, it shows some amazing images! In fact, I’m always amazed at how great the detail is on these images. Not only that, but the unit has a down imaging view as well. This makes structure really show up and you can see how tall that brush pile really is!
But before you run out and plunk down 3 grand on a fish finder, there are a few things you’ll want to take heed before installing one of these units.
The very first thing you’re going to need is a good solid platform to mount the unit to. Hands down is the RAM-D-111U-C. This is a beafy mount that is designed to hold large, heavy fish finders like the Humminbird 1197.
I also use only stainless steel fasteners. They’re a little more expensive, but they’re worth it. I try and get the machine threaded fasteners and use nylok nuts. I also use some thread locker for extra insurance toward making sure those nuts stay tight! If you get a lot of bumpy rides or constant jarring, you’ll be thankful you used this hardware.
The RAM-D-111U-C is great at limiting vibration to your Humminbird unit. But to further dampen any vibration, I cut several piece of rubber from an old inner tube. The first piece goes between the flange of the RAM mount and the console where the unit will be mounted. Since my boat is aluminum, this thin piece of rubber helps absorb a lot of shaking!
Another place I’ll use this rubber is between the mounting bracket of the Humminbird 1197 and the mounting plate of the RAM mount. Once you get all these tightened down, you’ll have a solid, nearly vibration free mounting surface for your new, and very expensive, fish finder!
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