garmin portable ice fishing kits

I have a 43dv and 73sv in my boat so I was looking at getting an ice kit for one or both of them.

How do you actually mount the unit in the bag? Do you buy another quick release mount or does the bag come with something? It’s not really clear from their website but I’m guessing you need to buy a mount.

Second how practical is it to use two of them next to each other? Will you get a lot of interference with two in the same shack? I only have a Showdown right now and am not sure if it would be better to use garmin/showdown or garmin/garmin.

Good morning Reef Whooligan. Take a look at the Garmin website again and scroll down and click on manuals. It shows you how the unit mounts to a plastic base in the bag. I do not have the kit, but I ordered a transducer for my 93SV from Hodges Marine (good prices). I already had an extra power cord that I use at home. I also have a lithium battery in a power box that I am attaching a RAM mount to for the actual unit to sit on and get power from.
Sorry I can’t help regarding having two Garmin units next to each other.
When you look at transducers there are at least a couple choices. If you fish mostly shallow water you want a wider angle and if you fish deeper you would do better with a smaller angle to get more definition. Good luck on what you decide.

I have the EchoMap Plus 73SV and I purchased the small Garmin Ice kit. The kit expects you to use the cradle that comes with the unit to mount it in the bag. I didn’t want to take all that stuff out of the boat so I purchased another cradle from the Garmin website. The transducer cable also didn’t work with my unit. My unit has I think a 12 pin connector and the transducer cable that comes with the unit is an 8 pin. So, I had to buy the cable adapter too. Now that I have it all together, I do really like the setup. Haven’t tried it on the ice yet but can’t wait. Don’t know about interference, my other unit is a Vexilar so I’m hoping there is no issue with that. I think the gps mapping is going to be a great asset. Like I said, can’t wait to fish it!

ryvpete wrote:

I have the EchoMap Plus 73SV and I purchased the small Garmin Ice kit.

I actually just ordered the small kit today and another mount for my 43dv. I have a feeling I’m going to need a converter cable too but we’ll see when I get it. I have the older “chirp” models instead of the “plus” models so I’m not sure if their compatibility lists are incomplete on the cables or what. It also says I need a large kit for the chirp 73sv but it’s a small for the plus 73sv, I noticed that comparing the compatibility lists I’m not paying $400 for the large which is why I went with the 43dv mount for now.

> echoMAP CHIRP require a separate 4-pin transducer to 8-pin sounder adapter cable.

That cable lists “echoMAP CHIRP 43cv” but I have “echoMAP CHIRP 43dv” and it doesn’t list that. They are probably the same though and I’ll have to order the cable

I also have Showdown and Garmin 73SV with the ice kit. I used to have problems with 2 Showdowns close together, but have not seen anything so far using Garmin/Showdown. It may matter what sonar settings you use for the Garmin- I use “chirp”
As was stated above, you have to pull the cradle off the boat and install that in the ice kit for winter. I did not need to buy anything else.
I also removed the SLA battery and use a power tool battery instead. Makes a big difference in weight, and charges faster too!