[CA] [CA11] RV100 and RV200 install on stepped hull

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum Sund3638,

The A80479 Step Mount for RV-100 RealVision 3D Transom Mount Transducer was primarily introduced for bass boat applications where the hull features a step located directly forward of the engine. The Step Mount may also be mounted to a [censored] plate. In such applications, the RV-100 will be used while operating at trolling speeds. The RV-100 will either be out of the water or exposed to an aerated flow of water when the vessel is operating at speed approaching plane and while on plane. The speed at which such aeration will occur will differ for all hulls and cannot be predicted. As the RV-100 may be unable to maintain bottom lock under such conditions, an in-hull or low profile thru-hull 50kHz/200kHz fishfinder transducer will often additionally be installed to support tracking bottom at speeds higher than will be supported by the RV-100.

The Step Mount is designed to permit a RV-100 RealVision 3D Transom Mount Transducer to be mounted to the flat level surface located aft of the step located forward of the engine. Do do so, the RV-100 RealVision 3D Transom Mount Transducer unfastened from its mounting bracket and will instead be fastened to the Step Mount. The transducers's cable will then be routed aft and up the backside of the transom where the cable will either pass through the transom above the waterline or pass over the transom. Note that on bass boats that this is a relatively short distance to route the transducer cable beneath the hull. As the transducer will be rotated / oriented 180 degrees from the orientation that the RV transducer would typically be installed (i.e. normally transducer is installed with cable exiting forward ... with Step Mount, the transducer will be installed with the cable exiting aft), a configuration setting with the transducer settings of the Fishfinder application will need to be configured accordingly.

Unlike traditional transducers which would be mounted on such transducer platforms as you have identified, RealVision 3D 0 degree transducers are designed to shoot sideways. As such, should the transducer platform which you have identified position the transducer above the level of the keel, then a blind spot on the opposite side may be caused by the keel. If so, then you may want to consider a tilted element RV pair to be installed on either side of the keel and forward of the transducer platforms to permit them to potentially hold bottom a higher speeds than would be supported by a RV200 when mounted to one of the platforms.