# Please help, I made a mistake (bought older FF w/ separate GPS receiver)



## 7.62 (Apr 15, 2011)

I bought a used Humminbird Matrix 65 for $75 (guy on Craigslist was asking $150). I thought it wasn't a bad deal and was looking forward to having a FF w/ GPS on the cheap. We made the deal over the phone, and he drove over to my office today to bring the unit. That is when I discovered that the GPS receiver was _not internal._ BIG bummer. It's one of these suckers:










I didn't want to snake out of the deal, so I bought the thing. I definitely do *NOT *want to mount this to the exterior of my hull, but the manual says, "To optimize performance of the GPS receiver, mount it in an area that has full exposure to the sky. The effective area of reception is 10° above the horizon." 

OK, does anyone have any experience with these things? If I mount it inside the hull with velcro or whatever, will it not function well? I don't want to mount it exteriorly because it cannot be easily removed for transportation or when storing kayak outdoors, and it will leave very unfunctional holes in the yak once the FF eventually needs to be replaced.


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## 7.62 (Apr 15, 2011)

If I cannot mount it inside the hull w/o negative impact to the GPS, I may just use Velcro in an area near the sonar shield to place the receiver when in use, and some velcro inside the sonar shield to store the receiver when the yak is not in use. Any other suggestions are welcome.


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## brandonmc (May 24, 2007)

I know exactly nothing about kayaks but it sounds like you answered your question.


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## O Shin Rin (Aug 31, 2009)

Do you have straps over your front hatch like the Big Game , if so you could rig a clip on for the strap or you could run the cable back to your crate and mount the reciever to a piece of PVC and attach it to the crate . If you really think about it you could mount it several ways that is removable. You could mount it on a Scotty mount or the Mighty mount from YakAttacks or thier slide rail , or maybe a Ram mount, sucktion mount cup .............
just an idea


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## jasonr (Mar 23, 2009)

Wear a helmet and stick it on top


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## 7.62 (Apr 15, 2011)

Jason - I only need to add a magnet to put it on top of my head. 

The biggest problem with the thing is that it is like a transducer that goes on top of your boat (you cannot disconnect the wire from the receiver, and it is a looooong wire), so you want to keep the excess wire inside the hull (I want everything to be neat and tidy!). That said, you don't want a lot of extra "slack" wire (i.e. enough to run it to the rear...on top of milk crate, etc) because that will become messy, and it will always need to returned to the hull interior (or sonar shield) when not in use (it's something you don't want to get banged around during transport, etc, etc). I'm sure I'll figure out the best place to put it once I get to work on it. I was just taken aback a bit when I found out the GPS unit was external. If you could disconnect the wire from the receiver, it would be a non-issue. And if it picks up the GPS while inside the hull, well, that's where it's gonna be mounted! Fingers crossed!


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## Orest (Jul 28, 2003)

You could always just sell it and get what you really want.


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## FishyFingers (Oct 30, 2010)

I have to agree, just resell it


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## MdCrappie (Mar 26, 2010)

Here is what I would do, if you're going to keep it.
Get a piece of sheet aluminum. Maybe 6" x 18". Doesn't need to be real thick. You can get this at most hardware stores.
Bend it like a "[". Put the bottom part under the depthfinder mount so the top part hangs over the top of depthfinder. Mount your antenna on top part. Make sense? I made a drawing, but there appears to be no way to put a pic in post other then via link.

Kinda like if you had a box on the kayak with the opening on the side as opposed to the top. Put the depthfinder in the box and then the antenna on top.


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## 7.62 (Apr 15, 2011)

I fastened a piece of plastic to the bottom to give it a flat surface, then put a velcro strip on. I then placed a velcro strip on the underside of the front hatch to stow it, and another just behind the sonar shield to put it during use. Should work out ok, but haven't been out on the water yet with it. 

Sorry I was sounding like a little beotch when I posted this thread. I was just kinda thrown off and had buyer's remorse. I think it will work out OK. 

I'm in the process of rigging my yak up now. It came with the rod pod, but that's the only "fishing" thing it had. I recommend to anyone about to rig their yak that they become proficient in YOGA before doing so. Rigging it up is fun. Contorting yourself to reach various areas within the hull for extended amounts of time...not so fun.


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

I used to have the Matrix 47 3D, which as far as the bottom sounder part went, I really liked it. I had the GPS system for it and it flat out sucked. A serious waste of 100 bucks. Other than being able to mark waypoints, you didn't get much. And it didn't take land into account on the screen, so you really had to pay attention to where the path was taking you. Something you should do anyway, but being able to see a map is so much nicer than a grid on the screen with a direct line from A to B. This one looks like you at least get some type of map to go off of.


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