Basic electronic's question

Looking at a basic unit that's self powered and portable.
As I'm in a 10' sit inside.

 So my buddy has one of those scamazon all in one yellow ones, I've not looked at it yet so no idea about it, it's probably like the castable stuff...

What I'm going for is something 3-4" ish screen and doesn't want a separate battery,  with depth/fish/structure capabilities (gps would be nice) I'm going to be in freshwater 90% and mostly the delta for the rest of it.

So I realize these are Pay to play and bigger is better for the most part.
I've not looked at the offerings yet,  and really don't want to go to class to learn computer science for sub surface sciences.

Something I can just set on the bungie corded dash and take in different rigs (I know that's going to kill alot of suggestions, but I huck this on my shoulder and dump it over the bedrails so a rigid mount won't survive.

I know a $50 scamazon special is probably a joke.
I'm not going to be in the $5000 side, looking at the sub $500 market as this is a family gift deal (b day/xmas for gramps) .
So in a rising scale of crappy to "on everyone's wish list" what's your suggestions to look at?
Thanks in advance.
CB

You're gonna get a lot of recommendations for the Garmin Striker 4. I think that is probably the gold standard for smaller, sub $200 units.

They can be had in a few bundle packages too, one of those comes with a a bag that doubles as a mount and battery storage.

You'll need to sort out where to mount a transducer. I've mounted inside the hull using duct putty - probably the easiest method IMO.  Lots of folks use the transducer arm things too, which would make it easier to switch between kayaks.

Thanx
Good info

The standard FF/GPS is relatively inexpensive I started with the Laurance 4 Elite, it was probably about $130 on sale but like you I wanted to mount it on multiple vessels. All the standard models have a separate battery (~$40) and come with a transducer but an additional transducer runs about $100....so I just bought a whole nother unit (Hook 4 I think?) so now I have a back up, one of them is set up with better maps for fresh water and the other salt.

If you buy last year's models the price really comes down. One thing is for sure the menus on the Laurance are totally not intuitive and even after about ten years of using it I still often need to refer to the manual to use it fully. I believe the Garmin is much better in this regard.

I have the striker 4.   Would not recommend for the delta.   Reason, no maps.   You can create a map track, etc., but in the delta I want a map.   I would look at Humminbird.  Maybe the Helix5.   Maps, transducer, around $325+tax.   I think you need to consider separate battery.   I use a DeWalt 14v battery, as I had those from some tools.  But in a waterproof box I bought from Walmart for maybe $10 and drilled and added outside connectors.  Clips to the battery in the box.   You can buy Lifepo4 10ah battery for about $30.   Do need a charger.   When I ran an outback transducer glued inside hull and battery wires ran through a waterproof feed through.  I run a Hobie inflatable now and mount all to a plastic cutting board and have a Scotty kayak mount for the transducer.

Thanx gents

Looking at transducer mounting.
This gets tossed around a lot so a permanent mounting is out.
I'm looking at suction cup and in hull.

How much would I be giving up mounting the transducer inside the polyethylene yak?
I'm toying with a floating foam hull for the transducer, but I think it would appear unstable in considering paddle wakes.

How much would I be giving up mounting the transducer inside the polyethylene yak?

I had the same Garmin transducer/FF head unit mounted on two different kayaks, one inside the hull and one using the Hobie transducer pocket.  I haven't noticed any difference in quality of imaging from one to the other.  Your water temp reading will be a few degrees off until the hull matches the water temp, but actual sonar readings will be the same.

I used duct seal to stick the transducer to the inside of the hull - simple, cheap, stays in place well, gives the same readings as in the water, and is easily removable.  I think the big thing with this method is to make sure there are no air bubbles in the putty between the hull and the transducer.

What about something like this?
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Wx62N3jzwkc

I also found these float tube mounting kits when I went to YouTube and searched “floating transducer mount”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IwXHq6u6L9Y&pp=ygUZRmxvYXRpbmcgdHJhbnNkdWNlciBtb3VudA%3D%3D

When I read your replies, I started picturing something like the bait shark, a small floating “island” with your transducer inside or underneath. That could be a cool and original projec. Have fun with it, I love a good kayak problem solving project

Thanx guys.
I'm in a cheap 10'er so no track, but I could go that way except for the bulky aspectas I shoulder portage this some.
I love the strap mounting idea.
I'm going to post a float pic later...

This is a mockup/prototype...
Feel free to throw out ideas...
I need to get on the water to see where it's best suited location is.
If inside isn't an issue,  that's going to be the choice as I got 1 boat.

That's a pita.
So in hull is round 2..

I silicone glued my transducer inside the hull when I had an Outback.  Worked great.  Make the glue interface thin and no bubbles.

I dunno why my fone laid the pics over...
Thanks bud
I'm using the duct seal approach so I can remove it if it's not working properly.
There's no flat point in the space available so it's mounted level afloat, and as tight without touching the vee...

I dunno why my fone laid the pics over...
Thanks bud
I'm using the duct seal approach so I can remove it if it's not working properly.
There's no flat point in the space available so it's mounted level afloat, and as tight without touching the vee...

Yours looks very similar to what I've done a couple times. Don't really need a flat spot per se, just point it downward as flat as you can get, if that makes sense. Just make sure there are no air bubbles and it should work great.

Thanx


It looks purty squared away,  runnin lines now...