DepthTrax 2B Boat Mount in Dash Digital Depth Finder

I actually bought this depth sounder as a temporary fix so that I could go out on my boating holiday. I have a 43ft sailboat with an Airmar P19 200kHz in-hull threaded transducer connected to a Raymarine ST60 display. As the summer progressed my depth readings got flaky with a lot of hours of " - - - " displayed regardless of the actual water depth. My Raymarine system had been very reliable to 500ft soundings. Not knowing whether it was the in-hull transducer or the ST60 display causing the problem, I bought this DepthTrax 2B unit so that I could at least throw its transducer over the side and temporarily lash up the display near the steering pedestal. Testing it out, that worked fine, and then I decided to try placing the transducer inside the boat down in the bilge so that I wouldn't have to drag the transducer through the water. They give instructions of how find a location where the transducer can ping through the fiberglass hull. This only works on non-cored hulls, which is the case on my boat. I simply placed the transducer against a flat portion in the center of the bilge below the waterline and got perfect readings. I didn't epoxy the transducer to the hull; I just filled a plastic bag with 5lbs of beach sand and set it over the transducer to hold it in place. It worked great with reliable readings to at least 200ft and sometimes as much as 300ft when over good hard sea floor. Next, I wired up the DepthTrax transducer to my original Raymarine ST60 display...and it worked! So that answered my question as to which part of my original depth sounder system was faulty; obviously the in-hull transducer is fouled or defective. I'll fix it when the boat is hauled this winter. But I really like the idea of having a second transducer in the boat so I will permanently epoxy the DepthTrax transducer inside the bilge and will be able to quickly swap wires on the back of the ST60 display if my primary transducer ever goes bad again. And I also have a spare display unit; not as nice and integrated as my ST60 but any port in a storm, as they say.

I gave 5 stars for everything because this purchase turned out exactly as I wanted with no frustration, no problems getting it to work, no problems with installation. I was worried about installation because I'm not comfortable putting a hole through my hull or even screwing on a support bracket....what do I know about the watertight integrity of a boat and how stupid would I feel if I caused a leak??? So I followed the glue-in instructions, which included multiple step-by-step methods to test it first. No problems! Maybe the other installations would be more accurate with the sensor in the water instead of in the boat (not that I have evidence of that; on the contrary, it has been accurate in tests I've done), but I was very happy to have the much lower stress of not drilling or cutting the hull. The other part of the installation (besides the sensor) was the electronics. There is a separate guide for that, which I think is equally well done, so that it turned out pretty easy. Note: the documentation is online instead of being printed and included in the box, so that means it's up-to-date, has links to other sources and can be reviewed ahead of buying the product. As far as use, it's pretty straightforward: it displays the depth and has just four features you can set: feet vs. meters, offset so you can account for how deep the sensor is installed below the water line, sepatate alarms for shallow and deep water (where you set the distances that define when those alarms sound). When you enable the alarms, they are loud and persistent, but that's good/that's what you want an alarm to be! Of course I can only hope it will continue to operate well for a long time, but soundness of documentation/packaging/operation so far make me think it is a quality product and should be trusted for the long term.

The original Datamarine depth finder on my 1987 Catalina 27 sailboat finally crapped out. Although the company still exists and supposedly repairs old units, the price is prohibitive and would likely only prolong its life by a few more years. Its thru-hull transducer operates at 210 kHz which is non-standard for today's depth finders. I ordered this DT2B DepthTrax and for kicks, first tried connecting it to the existing thru-hull transducer but it was reading completely erroneous values about 10x too high. I was hoping to avoid a boat haul-out and kept reading about transducers that can shoot through the hull from the inside of the boat.I tried the in-hull/transom mount transducer that came with the unit. I used the plastic bag test to try to get a reading through the bottom of the boat but couldn't get any reading. I very briefly got a reading when testing an area under the V-berth but couldn't get it back despite another hour of attempts. Sailing forums showed many people having success with the Airmar P79 transducer. I ordered a used P79 from Ebay and spliced it onto the connector and it works like a champ. What's interesting is that the DepthTrax supplied transducer operates at 200 kHz yet the P79 I ordered happens to run at 235 kHz. Nevertheless, with a little blob of plumbers putty to hold it in place just to the left of the keel under the port bench seat, it gives a perfectly accurate depth reading. The DepthTrax installed easily with a 2" hole saw and some marine sealant under the lip of the bezel. The display is very easy to read. Since it doesn't have a on/off switch, I stole the power wire to the lighted compass and now I can turn it on/off using the Instruments breaker on the main panel.

Purchased Depth Trax 2B to replace Auto Helm Tri-Data ST50 depth finder for my 1995 Catalina 320 sailboat. Intended to glue to interior hull using 2 part epoxy. The display & transducer work. Tried various locations inside hull using vaseline & water bag with no luck. Hull apparently too thick. As last resort spliced Depth Trax transducer wires with my existing transducer & luckily it works. Set minimum alarm depth at 4'-0". Tested Depth Trax depth display several times by running bow up onto beach and measuring depth of water. Depth Trax depth verified. Next went sailing for over week in the Chesapeake Bay discovering the Depth Trax works! Excellent depth finding. If necessary I will install the 2B transducer. Overall I am very pleased with its performance!

Very easy installation and works like a charm. Does what it said it would do.

UPDATE 2... The replacement transducer also failed within several weeks of installing it in the same manner as the first one. Despite the fine customer service that I received for the first failure, I was not going to install a 3rd transducer from this company. I have since purchased the Hummingbird Depth Sounder and have had no issues now for 7 months.UPDATE... My depth finder became defective after about 4 weeks of use. I called the Norcross from my boat and amazingly, I got through to a human being right away. He helped me troubleshoot the problem and we indeed verified the transducer was defective. Immediately, he sent me a prepaid UPS shipping label via email for me to return the defective transducer. The new unit was shipped as soon as he received the defective unit. The company even notified me that they verified the transducer was defective in their test lab. Norcross provided me with OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE that you don't see very often these days. I will always highly recommend a company that stands behind their products with that kind of service and communication.I installed this on my 19 foot Chris Craft bowrider. The instructions were very clear and straight forward. As suggested in the instructions, I first tested the unit and the desired location by placing the transducer just in front of my inboard motor down in the bilge and just to the right of the centerline. I used petroleum jelly to temporarily mate the transducer to the hull as instructed. The petroleum jelly was gooey enough to hold the unit in place during slow turns and slow acceleration. I got good depth readings at both a standstill and then in motion. So I knew I had a good location. I then permanently mounted the transducer with Loctite's 2 part marine epoxy and continued to get good readings during and after the cure time. Please note the instructions emphasize using a slow cure epoxy. I measured the accuracy of the meter and found that it is off by maybe 1 foot but that is because it's mounted down in the bilge which is about 1 foot below the waterline. It also agreed precisely with the meter of a different manufacturer mounted in my friend's boat. After having the boat out all of the next day, I was quite surprised to see how shallow many of Florida's lakes and rivers truly are. There were many spots in lake Jessup that are only 3 feet deep. I'm sure this depth finder will pay for itself by minimizing the risk of damaging my boat in shallow water.

Much less expensive solution vs. name brands and works just as well. Only thing I don't like is that the audible alarm keeps sounding repeatedly when depth is less deep than your shallow setting. The beeping drives you crazy. I wind up turning it off to silence itm

While Hawkeye has great support and service, this depth sounder is weak and needs a very carful installation which can go wrong easily. I chose to mount it inside the hull and just finding the right spot was hard. I found a video on youtube by Hawkeye that gives detailed installation instructions and options to test areas. I found the best temporary test was with Vaseline as the epoxy replacement, and hold it down to the inside hull with duck tape, it worked well...so well I kept that way for a week. The problem is they say to use a clear "slow cure" epoxy...after calling them I learned 30 minute set time should be the fastest set time(better if more time) to use but all I could find was 1 and 5 min. set time epoxies at the big box and small hardware stores. Hawkeye sells it but it's expensive. Fast cure epoxies may get air bubbles while curing and you'll get the dreaded 3 dash lines instead of water depth. For me, I couldn't take the risk of this after permanent epoxy so decided to use a waterproof "clear" outdoor silicon( they say not to do this). Same install as with the test Vaseline...duck tape too. Now if it failed or if I have to move it, it can be done easily. Works and gives accurate readings as I tested the water depth with a ruler. Why temperamental ? the slightest turn or twist while pressing it down for the install would give the 3 dashes...it had to be in the perfect position and it was hard to do. after the install it does give a 3 dash reading that last a few seconds even while still. I know this must be an air bubble in the silicon but I know I could just peel it off, clean it and reinstall...but the 3 dash issue is so little and infrequent and last only seconds. I'm happy with it for now. I spent $12 more than this price too :)

Name brand, easy to install, several YouTube videos if you need help.My guess is it's an Amazon exclusive or outdated model but it doesn't seem to be missing anything other than water temperature which I personally don't need.I wouldn't hesitate buying another for my next boat.

Used in houseboat to check for water depths while travelling.Just what I needed not fitted yet but will be soon.

Excellent product as described

I did not believe that it could read speeds at more than 30mph but 65? I could not believe my eyes. This was installed on my Kawasaki 310 LX 2022 inside the Hull... the reason I think I get these reading is the transducer installation process.I used slow curing epoxy I had some old leftover West system 105 and 205 hardener on hand and sanded the hull and transducer, when you mix the epoxy you will see a lot of tiny bubbles... ( also you need to have some kind of molding countour around the transducer so the epoxy doesn't leak away) to get rid of the bubles...I used a cooking torch and made 3 passes at 10 min intervals it will eliminate all thoses tiny bubbles and the epoxy will look like glass and only then you gently press the transducer in the hull, that is the secret. Remember even tiny minuscle bubles will compromise the transducer effectiveness.Anyway this Haweye product is amazing.

I bought this ignoring the bad reviews thinking people either got a bad unit or improperly installed.I installed this unit and it worked great BUT after 2 months of use (8 weekends) it started reading ERRATIC 200-500 feet in 40 feet of water, parked.I contacted support who asked me to make recordings, I had to unglue it and conduct more testing to prove it doesn’t work. They agreed to send me a new kit at my cost of shipping ($30 USD) after 3 weeks of shipping I got the replacement. It was clearly an open box return or refurb.Testing with the new unit, I determined the actual display unit was the issue on the original. After reinstalling the new display everything worked. 2 weeks later same issue again.Absolute trash.I now need to buy a reputable brand like Faria to replace this over the winter. Steer clear this is GARBAGE.