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  1. #1
    Member Ralbertina's Avatar
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    Mounting of black box for livescope on a Phoenix 921 pro xp

    I purchased a Garmin 93sv and livescope during the Black Friday deals. I intend on mounting it on the bow with my Helix 12 DI unit using a dual mounting bracket. My question for those using livescope on a 921, where have you found the best place to mount the black box? I have not received the unit yet, so am unsure of the cable lengths, but I was hoping they were long enough to all for mounting the black box on the back wall of the starboard rod locker just under the console. This would place it right next to a power source so I could wire it into the box that is located there. If anyone has mounted it in this location, did it require purchasing a longer network cable? Also, since the garmin unit is compatible with the US2 transducer built into the ultrex112, I was thinking of hooking the unit up to this as well to have secondary sonar up front. Any thoughts on this location, or where you mounted your unit would be appreciated
    Last edited by Ralbertina; 11-29-2020 at 06:51 PM.

  2. Member
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    #2
    Mounted mine on inside front end of starboard rod locker. Had very little extra for transducercable & plenty of power cable to get to that fuse box. Running 21 PHX
    Richard Viehe
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    Livescope LVS34
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    #3
    I did the same mount (right in front of the console) on a 20PHX, had to get the next size up network cable to reach comfortably. I think it was the 6m cable (~19ft)
    Fish have fins, they swim

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    #4
    I just laid mine in the floor on console side.

  5. RIP Evinrude 1907-2020 JR19's Avatar
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    #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Ralbertina View Post
    I was hoping they were long enough to all for mounting the black box on the back wall of the starboard rod locker just under the console. This would place it right next to a power source so I could wire it into the box that is located there.

    It needs to be mounted somewhere so it can have air flow and dissipate heat. It will not give off a lot of heat but enough that it needs a have area to dissipate heat. Plus it also needs to be mounted in an area where you can visually see the lights in case you ever need to troubleshoot an issue in the future. It also needs to be wired so it does not share power with any other device. Per: install instructions (page 6) it will show how to wire the unit. The owners manual does don't give details as to why it needs to be wired this way but there is a specific reason...

    Your not installing a sonar unit that operates or processes information like an ol 2d sonar from 15 years ago. Your installing a high tech piece of equipment that has needs that resembles a computer rather than a sonar unit. This is not a Panoptics thing. The same can be said for side image, 360, Livesight and other high tech sonar devices. With that being said they are sensitive to low voltage or sharing voltage with other devices on the same grid. Yes you can wire them to a 12V supply thats already rigged in your boat and yes it will work but if you want maximum performance it needs a dedicated wiring harness. That harness should go straight from the unit to the battery with a disconnect to cut power. Nothing else needs to be on the circuit. Also people have learned if you upgrade the wire size to 10 AWG you experience better performance. Yes it will work on 12 AWG but there is people who experience screens that blink, or low voltage alarms when they crank the big motor. Plus you screen may be slow to start reading if you don't have good voltage. A lot of people can overcome this buy installing the most powerful group 31 battery they can find. This is a good idea but if you want to get max performance upgrade the wiring to the unit.

    So in my opinion your best case scenario is...a beast of a cranking battery. The black box mounted under the drivers console. Sonar Pro's wiring harness.

    Some will say you don't need to upgrade your wiring and I do respect their opinion. I am speaking about if you want max performance you need to upgrade your wiring. Even if you don't upgrade your wiring you still need to install it like it calls for on page 6 in the manual I am going to post a link to. You can clearly see it does not share power with anything and it goes directly from the unit to the battery and has a disconnect to cut off/on power. This is a Garmin recommendation.

    So if upgrading your wiring interest you there is three options I am aware of. Sea Clear Power harness, The Bass Tank makes a harness and my personal choice is Sonar Pro's harness. The Sea Clear and Bass Tank Harness will require a couple of simple connections. The same can be said for the Sonar Pro harness but you also have the option to mail them your current harness and they will solder the connection of your existing plugs to their harness and heat shrink the connections making it all weather resistant which makes it simply plug and play. Regardless of what harness you use it gives you the extra length needed to mount the black box just about anywhere in the boat. You can buy an extension cable from Garmin if staying with factory wiring but if you use any of the three harnesses I mentioned there is no need for a Garmin extension cable.

    here is some links that may interest you...

    https://static.garmin.com/pumac/Pano...Install_EN.pdf

    https://sonarproselectronics.com/dedicated-wire-harness

    https://seaclearpower.com/product/se...iring-harness/

    https://thebasstank.com/product/the-...tallation-kit/

    FYI...I notice the Bass Tank one is currently on sale

    Last edited by JR19; 11-30-2020 at 02:40 PM.

  6. Member Bonanza's Avatar
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    #6
    JR19, a few questions....
    1. For the “black box” power direct to battery, can the positive be connected to the + battery cutoff switch in bilge or does it need to connect directly to + battery post with additional cutoff switch installed somewhere on + wire?
    2. Does the graph power supply also need direct to battery wiring or can it be connected to blue sea fuse box?

    I discussed above with Tim at Phoenix, he said the blue sea side A has worked well for them. I ordered 25 ft of 10 g wire anyhow and am installing garmin livescope this weekend.

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    #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Bonanza View Post
    JR19, a few questions....
    1. For the “black box” power direct to battery, can the positive be connected to the + battery cutoff switch in bilge or does it need to connect directly to + battery post with additional cutoff switch installed somewhere on + wire?
    2. Does the graph power supply also need direct to battery wiring or can it be connected to blue sea fuse box?

    I discussed above with Tim at Phoenix, he said the blue sea side A has worked well for them. I ordered 25 ft of 10 g wire anyhow and am installing garmin livescope this weekend.
    What is a “Blue Sea side A”?

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    #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Cfrench085 View Post
    What is a “Blue Sea side A”?
    On the blue seas fuse boxes they use they have an A and B side, so you can hook a battery up to each side.
    https://shop.pkys.com/assets/images/...Fuse-Block.png
    Fish have fins, they swim

  9. Lowrance/Garmin/GPS Moderator fishin couillon's Avatar
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    #9
    If you put in the correct wiring and fuse box, you dont have to buy a $200 set of wires......just my opinon.

    Now i only run 2 units and Livescope.....installed 10ga from battery to Blue Sea on/off switch (in bilge) to Blue Sea fuse box and then connected everything to the box. I do turn off the graph at console if planning on staying in an area for a while. Fished with 12" unit and LS on for 5 hrs without turning on the big motor to run. Voltage on screen never got lower than 12.3v........this is on a 4 yr old 31AGM battery......


    With the fuse box located in rod locker at front of console, everything but the front bow graph had enough wire to connect direct to the fuse box. With the front bow graph i used 12 ga. wire. I have 2 Garmin units (9" & 12"), NMEA power, network hub and Livescope on the fuse box.




    Last edited by fishin couillon; 12-08-2020 at 12:30 PM.
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  10. RIP Evinrude 1907-2020 JR19's Avatar
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    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Bonanza View Post
    JR19, a few questions....
    1. For the “black box” power direct to battery, can the positive be connected to the + battery cutoff switch in bilge or does it need to connect directly to + battery post with additional cutoff switch installed somewhere on + wire?
    2. Does the graph power supply also need direct to battery wiring or can it be connected to blue sea fuse box?

    I discussed above with Tim at Phoenix, he said the blue sea side A has worked well for them. I ordered 25 ft of 10 g wire anyhow and am installing garmin livescope this weekend.

    1...If you already have a main disconnect you can wire the hot into it. If you truly want to isolate the wire and install a disconnect you can do this also...your choice.

    2...Another its your choice


    Some may say installing a 10 AWG wiring harness is overkill and using factory 12 AWG boat wiring is okay. Some may say its okay to share power with other sources. If people are doing it that way and have no issues then obviously it works for their particular situation. As for me I like to do it the way Garmin suggest...I could tell you what Garimn suggest but it would be easier to show you what they suggest... Page 5 top left corner for how to wire and bottom left corner for suggested AWG size.

    https://static.garmin.com/pumac/Pano...Install_EN.pdf

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    #11
    This is a mount I built back in August. I believe that part of the problem with the black box is lack of airflow and getting hot so this was my remedy. Its worked very well to date only complaint I have so far is getting in and out from the bow. A trick step will solve that problem though . This is on a 721 by the way. Cable management was no problem. Hopefully this might give you some ideas .

    Attachment 432424

    Attachment 432432

    Attachment 432433

  12. Lowrance/Garmin/GPS Moderator fishin couillon's Avatar
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    #12
    How the heck do you fish with that podium in front of you??
    YOU are not entitled to what I have earned!!!!!

    2014 Phoenix 619 Pro / 2014 Mercury 200 Pro XS

  13. Member
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    #13
    Quote Originally Posted by fishin couillon View Post
    How the heck do you fish with that podium in front of you??
    Haha, I think the angle makes it look taller than it actually is. I’m 6’3” and it comes to about mid thigh. Makes that 16” look real big when running livescope

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    #14
    I hooked mine to the fuse box similar to fishing collusion, but i mounted my box farther forward near the front of the compartment and didn't need any cable extensions. One screw went through into my center compartment, one didnt...

  15. Member Ralbertina's Avatar
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    #15
    PJ, I'm assuming at that location you wired it directly to the fuse box in the starboard locker, correct? I believe that fusebox is wired direct to the battery using 6 ga wire, and it has an A & B side, depending upon whether you want direct power or keyed power. I've wired all my electronics on the boat to that fusebox using 10 ga wire without issue (i.e., HB Helix 12 DI, HB Helix 12 SI, HB Helix 10 SI, HB 360, Hydrowave). I guessing wiring in the black box to the keyed side of this fuse box should provide sufficient clean power to run the black box

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    #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Ralbertina View Post
    PJ, I'm assuming at that location you wired it directly to the fuse box in the starboard locker, correct? I believe that fusebox is wired direct to the battery using 6 ga wire, and it has an A & B side, depending upon whether you want direct power or keyed power. I've wired all my electronics on the boat to that fusebox using 10 ga wire without issue (i.e., HB Helix 12 DI, HB Helix 12 SI, HB Helix 10 SI, HB 360, Hydrowave). I guessing wiring in the black box to the keyed side of this fuse box should provide sufficient clean power to run the black box
    The boat is currently in storage and I lost the pictures I took, they were in another thread on here but can't seem to find it. But yes it was "Keyed power" (through the panel power switch), I used the supplied power cable and cut out the inline fuse and went direct to fuse panel, head unit got 6' of 12ga wire added to it to reach

    http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread....562&highlight=

    Pics on the bottom of my install, guess I did put the black box on the B side. Not 100% sure but everything on that may be through the power switch. I know for sure power has to be on for the A side stuff to power up
    Last edited by PJ-Rohlf; 12-16-2020 at 02:39 PM. Reason: Found the thread with pictures
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