Let's see your DIY Helix Shuttle!!!

Glad this has been useful for everyone! Hope to see some more shuttles this year!!

I’m going on 7 years with my open water transducer looped like that, never had a problem.

I might build a new shuttle this year, haven’t decided yet

I know I will be building a new shuttle this year. I am looking to cut weight but still have everything I had on my old one.

Great tip Mat on the tie up for the transducer. I will keep this in mind if I ever cut my cable again.

Double Post sorry

We have a local guy here in Manitoba who makes generic shuttles. Lots of guys with helix units buy them, I’m a lowrance guy but these fit any sonar. It’s the same footprint as a marcum shuttle. He makes the aluminum arms too.

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This is what my G3 mega transducer looks like. Looks like it will sit in the hole horizontally no problem.

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Couple other questions……
1. In ice mode, is there an option for a flasher like screen?

2. Will the mega DI refresh and show fish as they move? I just think it would be neat to set up on structure and watch the fish as they move in and around.

those di transducers aren’t that great for 2d – i have one, thats why i use a 200/455khz open water skimmer looped for ice fishing (because I had one of those too)

1, yes there is an option for a flasher type screen
2. di will not show you much of anything on the ice, it requires that you’re moving at least at a slow trolling pace.

when you setup on cover your screen will look like this

two fish came out of the brush pile to look at my jig

Perfect! I kind of figured you had to be moving. That’s why the live scope is the craze these days. That looks pretty sweet Mat….thanks!

you might find this useful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PJM4-cwXoU

Bringing this thread back to life to share my homemade mod.

Last year I had my Garmin 73sv Plus mounted in a Pelican case. It was very protected by not great for hole hopping.

This year I made a shuttle that fits in a 5 gallon pail for protection.

Paired it with a 12 amp hour Amped Outdoors lithium battery and a Vexilar Glo-Ring.

It’s extremely LIGHT and much more gooder for hole hopping than the case and SLA battery I previously had.

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Looks good Bman!

I did some modifications to my shuttle and put her on a diet. Lost 6 lbs. I will have to get some new pictures to post.

I am trying something new this year. I used to have both my 5 and 18 on separate Genz boxes. I saved weight and mounted them both to one with an AC plug and ram mount for the helix. This allows me to plug in to my sled, truck, or Genz box with ease. I also wired a light on to the front which I am a huge fan of. So far, after using the whole setup several times this year I have no complaints. Time will tell.

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B-man wrote:

Bringing this thread back to life to share my homemade mod.

Last year I had my Garmin 73sv Plus mounted in a Pelican case. It was very protected by not great for hole hopping.

This year I made a shuttle that fits in a 5 gallon pail for protection.

Paired it with a 12 amp hour Amped Outdoors lithium battery and a Vexilar Glo-Ring.

It’s extremely LIGHT and much more gooder for hole hopping than the case and SLA battery I previously had.

BMAN, do you have panoptix? Or do you use the Garmin unit with the standard ice ducer? I’m looking at getting the Garmin without Panoptix at this point. Wondering how you like the unit? Thanks.

AnotherFisherman, no Panoptix just a GT10 ice transducer.

I absolutely love it and love the touchscreen. I’ve given some reviews of it in a couple recent threads about graphs. Hands down a better unit than a Helix (which are good too).

Hey guys, here’s another addition I made to my shuttle.

It’s a little plastic kayak cleat for the transducer cable. Got to try it out last night, works slick

Infinitely adjustable like an arm, without having to deal with an arm.

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Finally complete……Almost

Learning how to embedd photos and it looks like it worked! Anyway been thinking how I want to customize the shuttle to my needs for months and decided on the Vex pro pack for $35. Turning the brightness down on the screen, I get 6 or so hours of run time off a regular 12v battery so until it becomes a problem, I will stick with it. I am not a brand guy so I wrapped the glow ring and the shuttle with camo vinyl which I can get better pics of but its me and I don’t want Vexilar stamped all over the shuttle but I do want the Vex design which is better than the Marcum shuttle. The Helix 7 fits perfectly inside the two arms of the pro pack, however I had to add 2 washers to keep the head from drooping.
Will be adding a gooseneck led but need to figure out how to retro fit it to the shuttle, other than that……its go time!

B-man wrote:

Bringing this thread back to life to share my homemade mod.

Last year I had my Garmin 73sv Plus mounted in a Pelican case. It was very protected by not great for hole hopping.

This year I made a shuttle that fits in a 5 gallon pail for protection.

Paired it with a 12 amp hour Amped Outdoors lithium battery and a Vexilar Glo-Ring.

It’s extremely LIGHT and much more gooder for hole hopping than the case and SLA battery I previously had.

What do you get for run-time with that setup?

I haven’t killed it yet, but I charge it every other outing.

I tested the draw with a digital meter, the highest draw was something like .47 amps with 100% brightness, transducer on, blue palette.

In theory it would be around 24 hours at full brightness, but I haven’t pushed it that far. Very impressed

Thanks for the response B-man

Here’s my helix 5 paired with a marcum vs485c. I made a shuttle out of scrap plywood I had, and then ordered a vexilar case for a double vision vexilar. I’m pretty happy with it. I haven’t tried it out on the lake yet but it should work pretty well. I’m running both units off the same lithium 15ah battery, so I’m interested to see how that goes too.

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Because this forum inspired me I thought I would share my results.

I don’t bring my backer anymore since I have a sled that’s why fitment to the bracket was not a primary requirement for me.
I used fascia pvc board to make it water resistant and little lighter than wood.
It is a second season im using it. Im pretty happy with it except I wish it was little lither (5lbs empty)
I added a light on the button. it worked great while walleye fishing at dark but broke off at the end of the season last year.
I used a peace of noodle for ducer storage.
Glued some magnets initially for the skimmer but use it to hang jigs sometimes.

my next version will be 3d printed.

Thank you for inspiration and great ideas!

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Ivan wrote:

Thank you for inspiration and great ideas!

Nice shuttle! Glad this was a helpful thread for you. Looks like a nice efficient layout you got there!

Your shuttle is nice man! 2 ideas: a led light for night time hole hopping, and a hook/jig keeper like a long piece of cork, or one of those red hook keeper pads. I’ve gone the magnet route before, and flat ones let the jigs get brushed off.

Ivan wrote:

Because this forum inspired me I thought I would share my results.

I don’t bring my backer anymore since I have a sled that’s why fitment to the bracket was not a primary requirement for me.
I used fascia pvc board to make it water resistant and little lighter than wood.
It is a second season im using it. Im pretty happy with it except I wish it was little lither (5lbs empty)
I added a light on the button. it worked great while walleye fishing at dark but broke off at the end of the season last year.
I used a peace of noodle for ducer storage.
Glued some magnets initially for the skimmer but use it to hang jigs sometimes.

my next version will be 3d printed.

Thank you for inspiration and great ideas!

BTW, here’s my “beauty.”

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Here’s mine , 100% self harvested cherry wood . Just finished last coat of spar urethane. I had to boil and use clamps to bend the back wall piece.

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Love it!!

Just got to come up with a better transducer holder. Fits in a pail. Kids excited to use it . It’s for her!

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