04-23-2003, 11:09 AM
[cool]Glad you guys liked the review. I'll attempt to answer the last three posts in one reply.
AARON: I was able to attach my diagram for making and installing a rod rack. The key to installing is to either run straps all the way around the tube, or to snap the top and bottom to D rings. I prefer to attach to D rings because the rack stays in place and will not slide around if your tube shrinks in cold water...or from a leak. If you use straps alone, be sure to make them slightly smaller than the circumference of the fully aired up tube, and then fasten them before topping off the air in your craft, so they will hold snug. On the battery, I used to have a little plastic box on top of my tube that the battery fit in. I had plastic cords over it to hold the battery in. I used that when I was still using the acid filled motorcycle batteries. With the sealed lead acid batteries (gel inside...no leaks) you can just tuck the battery back inside a pocket and it will be okay. No problem with spillage. If it falls over the side in deep water...you lose. In shallow water, you can retrieve it and hook it back up.
CHECK THE ATTACHMENT AT THE BOTTOM FOR THE DIAGRAM.
JAPANRON: What would we do without PVC? On the "black out", I have never had a problem with seeing the screen except because of glare. The quick adjustability mounting bracket allows a quick change of angle, or you can just make a couple of positional kicks with the fins. The backlighting feature is better than on previous "price" models for Eagle. On all my former units, the backlight was either ON or OFF. On the Cude, you can "uparrow" or "downarrow" to adjust the amount of backlighting you need for your eyes...and current light conditions. Battery Drain? I have never run a battery dry during a full day of fishing with the low wattage Eagle units. In basic physics terms, the units draw about 1/2 amp oer hour. In a 6 amp/hour battery, you theoretically get 12 hours of operation. I usually just turn my sonar on when I launch and then "watch TV" all day...keeping track of bottom contours, structure, depth, fish concentrations and depths, etc. I believe it probably requires less juice to leave it on than to keep turning it on and off.
FISHBOY2: Price is one of the things that help make the Cuda a good buy for flotation fishing. You can get a decent unit for less than some of the other stuff on the market that is far less effective. My Cuda 168 was $99 through Cabelas. They have the smaller (but essentially same) Cuda 128 for only about $80. I'd save another week or two and get the unit with more pixels...the 168. Cabelas also has a battery and trickle charger combo for under $30 in their latest Master Catalog. Theirs was the first SLA battery I had tried...going back about three years now. I went through a more costly motorcycle battery in about a year. I am still using one of the original SLA batteries I got from Cabelas 3 years ago. The battery pictured in the writeup is one of two I bought at a gold prospector's show. They use them for powering their little water pumps for cleaning gold concentrates out in the field. I have been using that one for about two years...with a lot of chargings. The total cast of sonar, battery and a short rod to attach the transducer shouldn't run you more than $150...including shipping. But, a sonar unit adds so much more to your subsurface fishing experience that you will never want to do without one again. It won't help you to match the hatch with your fly rod though.
Hope I answered the questions. Come on back if you need me to fill in any blanks.
[signature]
AARON: I was able to attach my diagram for making and installing a rod rack. The key to installing is to either run straps all the way around the tube, or to snap the top and bottom to D rings. I prefer to attach to D rings because the rack stays in place and will not slide around if your tube shrinks in cold water...or from a leak. If you use straps alone, be sure to make them slightly smaller than the circumference of the fully aired up tube, and then fasten them before topping off the air in your craft, so they will hold snug. On the battery, I used to have a little plastic box on top of my tube that the battery fit in. I had plastic cords over it to hold the battery in. I used that when I was still using the acid filled motorcycle batteries. With the sealed lead acid batteries (gel inside...no leaks) you can just tuck the battery back inside a pocket and it will be okay. No problem with spillage. If it falls over the side in deep water...you lose. In shallow water, you can retrieve it and hook it back up.
CHECK THE ATTACHMENT AT THE BOTTOM FOR THE DIAGRAM.
JAPANRON: What would we do without PVC? On the "black out", I have never had a problem with seeing the screen except because of glare. The quick adjustability mounting bracket allows a quick change of angle, or you can just make a couple of positional kicks with the fins. The backlighting feature is better than on previous "price" models for Eagle. On all my former units, the backlight was either ON or OFF. On the Cude, you can "uparrow" or "downarrow" to adjust the amount of backlighting you need for your eyes...and current light conditions. Battery Drain? I have never run a battery dry during a full day of fishing with the low wattage Eagle units. In basic physics terms, the units draw about 1/2 amp oer hour. In a 6 amp/hour battery, you theoretically get 12 hours of operation. I usually just turn my sonar on when I launch and then "watch TV" all day...keeping track of bottom contours, structure, depth, fish concentrations and depths, etc. I believe it probably requires less juice to leave it on than to keep turning it on and off.
FISHBOY2: Price is one of the things that help make the Cuda a good buy for flotation fishing. You can get a decent unit for less than some of the other stuff on the market that is far less effective. My Cuda 168 was $99 through Cabelas. They have the smaller (but essentially same) Cuda 128 for only about $80. I'd save another week or two and get the unit with more pixels...the 168. Cabelas also has a battery and trickle charger combo for under $30 in their latest Master Catalog. Theirs was the first SLA battery I had tried...going back about three years now. I went through a more costly motorcycle battery in about a year. I am still using one of the original SLA batteries I got from Cabelas 3 years ago. The battery pictured in the writeup is one of two I bought at a gold prospector's show. They use them for powering their little water pumps for cleaning gold concentrates out in the field. I have been using that one for about two years...with a lot of chargings. The total cast of sonar, battery and a short rod to attach the transducer shouldn't run you more than $150...including shipping. But, a sonar unit adds so much more to your subsurface fishing experience that you will never want to do without one again. It won't help you to match the hatch with your fly rod though.
Hope I answered the questions. Come on back if you need me to fill in any blanks.
[signature]