Cannonballs interfering with new sounder

[Sea Ranger]

Purchased a new Humminbird 788ci and its a whole lot better then my old sounder however, When we were out fishing the sounder would pick up our cannonballs and think it was a fish.... ok thats not too bad.... turn down the sensitivity ... well I tried that and it was better but then the sounder kept thinking that the cannonballs were actually the bottom and that is the real problem cause now its not showing the real bottom. The sounder is a dualbeam, one narrow beam and one wide beam. The cannonballs seem to interfer with both ecohes and I can only turn down the sensitivity on the one beam and not the other. Has anyone else had this problem and if so what did you have to do to correct it..... any help would be appreciated...... thanks..... Steve.

And remember....Keep your tip up!!!

 

[Kisinana]

Your cannonballs should be far enough behind the boat that they should not interfere. So I think I would look at adjusting the angle of your sensor. Find a underwater structure you are sure of the location and the depth and check it out. When I bought my boat I had a similar problem, I would approach the beach and my sounder would show 4-5 ft even though the water was less than 3 and I always had what I thought was noise right at the surface (I now figure it was the bottom of my engine leg). Adjusted the angle of the sensor slightly and it now reads directly below the boat.

 

[Sea Ranger]

Thanks Kisinana,
I do believe that could be the problem, It does seem weird to me that when on the water a boat is never level or at least never level for long due to the waves and swells and yet sounders can keep a signal and continue to work even in rough water .... but if you don't get the transducer mounted just right when your installing them then you will have problems. I think I just answered my own question.....lol. The transducer is always on different angles as it sends and receive its signals it must be mounted just right or it won't work in a bouncy sea. ... Steve.

And remember....Keep your tip up!!!

 

[Lipripper]

I always tilt the transducer back a tiny bit for that exact reason.... you will also see if fish are coming to look at your gear or not interested at all.... it will change the accuracy of the sounder a tad but will still show your gear in relation to bottom [8D]

 

[profisher]

The transducer should be angled about 2 degrees down at the rear most part...shooting slightly towards the bow. This will prevent cavitation/turbulance (air bubbles) especially at high speed. I can see my cannonballs on my wide beam, but it doesn't interfere with the signal. I use a Furuno.

 

[highlights]

I do hate this when fishing new and unfamiliar water. Can sure get your nerves going when you think you've come onto a reef only to find out that it is in fact over 100' deep. Profisher has some great ideas for the transducer. I also have found that extending the downrigger booms to the maximum helps get the balls out of the sonar cone.

 

[Sea Ranger]

Now I'm more confused then ever. First time I used the sounder it was reading everything too good. When we got back to the wharf we found that the release on the transducer mount had popped open which made the transducer tipped up too far to the back of the boat. We popped it back into place and went out again.... this time it would barely pick up the bottom even with the sensitivity turned up to the max and even with fish ID on and maxed out the best the sounder could do was show me a small line which was bottom. I reached under the water and released the transducer like it was before but that only made it worse. I will try and move the transducer to point a bit more to the bow and see if that makes a difference. I don't know what else I can try ... and now I have to wait till the weekend to try something new.... hope its not going to be too long of a week...lol.

And remember....Keep your tip up!!!

 

[scott craven]

Try putting it in your bilge, as long as there's a little water in
the bilge it will send through the hull no problem.
Don't use silicone or glue on it.
there is no turbulence issues, and you should get good readings.

 

[Sea Ranger]

Thanks RS,

quote:Try putting it in your bilge, as long as there's a little water in
the bilge it will send through the hull no problem.

That is without a doubt a real good think outside the box idea and if all else fails I will give it a try. The directions were very exact as where to mount the transducer. The directions asked for the boat to be level then hang a plumb bob off the transom and measure the distance from the plumb bob to the back of the transom at exactly one foot down from the top of the transom....Of course this is only where they want me to measure from, not where they want the transducer mounted. now this is where it says... if the distance is 3.25 inches then set the transducer angle to a preset setting of one but then if the distance is 3.5 inches then set it to the preset setting of four. My transom distance is 3 3/8 inches. You would think that the preset settings would be a setting of one for three inches and a setting of 2 for 3.25 inches and a setting of 3 for 3.5 inches but its not....lol. I'm sure that given enough trial and error I will get it right. On a good note.... I have played with the new sounder so much that I actually understand all the directions and the manual is over 100 pages long. When I first opened the box and tried to read the manual I didn't understand much at all. Always a silver lining... if you look hard enough..... Steve.

And remember....Keep your tip up!!!

 

[scott craven]

A buddy of mine has his transducer in the bilge and it works
great. might be the solution !

 

[bananas]

i've got one of the new lowrance hd units and i can see my cannonballs and my flashers i watch fish swim up to them all day long gets a bit old watching all those fish but the odd one bites.Whats wrong with seeing your balls on th escreen.

 

[Sea Ranger]

Hi Bananas,
I didn't mind seeing the balls on the screen but it would go so far as to see the balls and it would think that the balls were the bottom. So if I was fishing in 140 feet of water and my balls are at 70 feet..... the sounder would think it was only 70 feet deep and I would lose the real bottom.... now you can see why I need to change that..... Steve.

And remember....Keep your tip up!!!

 

[Sea Ranger]

I read somewhere on here about a differant transducer that is suppose to work much better then what the sounder comes with. Are these universial transducers? Does anyone remember these and remember the name of them.... Who on here has replaced their transducers..... thanks.... Steve.

And remember....Keep your tip up!!!