Airmar P66 not Performing ??

[the fog ducker]

very disapointed in the performance yesterday , bought last week , tested yesterday in a few different areas
here in the inlet , selected a few different transducer selections on my LCX 27c , was not very solid or clear ,
tried sensitivity gain , chrome line adjust etc.. my stock transducer that someone broke in storage was way better , sharper , solid marks ,
the airmar is fuzzy almost , dont get it...
, Airmar told me this unit was around 600 watts , vrs the factory LCX transducer only around 200 watts ??
nothing to do with where its mounted either , i was at a standstill , shes over a foot in the water , facing straight down ?? wtf ??
if this is the best , im fricken choked , took alot of work for 2 of us to fish through ,

should it perhaps be switched to High Power 1000 watt transducer ?? when i entered this option , a warning appeared ,
stating that if i dont have the 1000 watt transducer installed , i could damage it ??

any suggestions ?? i bought this P66, as im upgrading to the HD series in a month or 2 ??

thx in advance


fd

 

[Sharphooks]

That Airmar P66 is one of the best 600W transducers on the market. I had a 1Kw transducer that was giving me trouble last summer (bad placement in the hull) and my trusty P66 (which I never removed from the boat) saved the trip

If you have chosen the correct settings to make it shake hands properly with your sounder it might be the connections. No corrosion or crap in the plug connectors?

If you're confident the placement is correct (no thru-hull fittings upstream of the transducer causing "dirty water", no prop wash from a kicker etc) then you should be looking at the plug connections

The P66 is tried and true--- as good as you'll get for a 600 W ducer.

Post screen shots of what you're seeing if you still can't get it right

 

[the fog ducker]

i did take some shots ,

connections are solid and dry , again , i was at a standstill , motors off , clear shot straight down ,
tried the p 79 the p60 and the Generic transducers , zero difference ,
this pic is in shallow water , when i was in 250 ft , it barely picked up bottom , my stock was WAY BETTER ,
must be somthing wrong here , will call airmar in the am ,

thx

hooks ,


fd

 

[mcgyver]

Let me know how you make out because i'm looking at putting this transducer with my HDS.....

 

[reelfast]

p66 is a pretty standard bullet proof transducer. sounds to me like you have a configuration problem with your units software.

 

[Captain Kidd]

Maybe you need a Good Electrician to install it ??

 

[CrabbyChris]

Ohhhh,I see the problem here,it says LOWRANCE!!!

 

[NootkaSounder]

I got the transducer that came with my has touch unit works good was Goin to upgrade to that as you get more readouts I'm told. If you ditch yours I'll buy it.

 

[Sharphooks]

p66 is a pretty standard bullet proof transducer. Sounds to me like you have a configuration problem with your units software.

^
this

 

[Slabby20]

Felix, I upgraded a few years ago to the Airmar P66 on my LCX 112c. It gave my a far, far better resolution, bottom tracking, seperation of targets. The stock Lowrance skimmer transducer isn't even close in performance. There has to be something wrong somewhere. You should seeing a nice clean picture with great resolution and seperation of targets. What transducer have you picked in your menu setup? I know on my LCX there wasn't a P66 choice and it required picking a different Airmar. I can't remember what that was right now but I can go down to the boat and check the setting is you want me to. Just let me know.

 

[Slabby20]

Felix, I upgraded a few years ago to the Airmar P66 on my LCX 112c. It gave my a far, far better resolution, bottom tracking, seperation of targets. The stock Lowrance skimmer transducer isn't even close in performance. There has to be something wrong somewhere. You should seeing a nice clean picture with great resolution and seperation of targets. What transducer have you picked in your menu setup? I know on my LCX there wasn't a P66 choice and it required picking a different Airmar. I can't remember what that was right now but I can go down to the boat and check the setting is you want me to. Just let me know.

I'm pretty sure the transducer setting you should look for is the P79 or P60. I haven't checked the boat yet but poking around on some old forum posts when I 1st installed my P66 I found both of those mentioned. It's one of those and I'll let you know what I'm set to once I can get to the boat.

 

[spring fever]

I think Slabby is onto something- when I changed over my transducers to Airmar p66's I had a problem similar to yours-I couldn't find the specific airmar p-66 to click on in the installation of my Lowrances-talked to Mike at HC. When you went through the installation process with your Lowrance did you click on airmar p-66-specifically!! if not -there is your problem-the P-66 is listed in your computer software by name-it is hard to find and if you just click on 50/200hz you will be disappointed. Hope that helps.

 

[the fog ducker]

Slabby , ya if ya could have a peek , i will call lowrance and airmar this morning , i tried a few different transducer selections , no difference...
the definition is just not there , pretty sure there is somthing wrong here ,
Crabby , if i had your money I'd burn mine ,
and Captain Skid , maybe pass me on the electricians name that wired the grow-op in the cellar

thx for the info boys , let ya know my findings soon

off ta play on the West side if any of ya are abouts , thursday on...

fd

 

[the fog ducker]

so ,

so far , speaking ta lowrance and airmar , ive done everything right ,
i have the most recent software update , Version 2.5.0
i did notice a high power option on the transducer pop up menu , states that only to be used
with 1000 watt transducers , or you may damage the transducer ? havent went there lol , anyone ever try this ??
was told to use the generic 50/200 hz option...?? by lowrance ..

will keep poking around , see what else i may find ,
has ta be somthing in my settings ???



fd

 

[tykkyt e blue]

From the pic you posted, it looks like you colorline is very low. I run mine at 78 - 88%

What is your ping speed at? faster the better for me.
Also - some of the 'preset' fishing modes suck! maybe you have one of them enabled?

 

[the fog ducker]

i tried adjusting colorline to different levels , the pic was around 70 ,
spoke to a guy at lowrance , i told him there was around 25 feet of cable ,
i tie rapped ( zip tied ) or bundled the access 15 feet of cable amount together ,
he said to not do that , so i will un strap it and lay it in the cubby hole area in a looser fashion ,
also sopke to a guy at Harbor Chandler , he said ta check my power connection
, maybe run a new dedicated line back to the auxiliary batteries , i run 2 x 6 volt golf
cart batteries in series for all my toys , and 2 outboards have there own isolated batteries
never had any power issues in the past , im an electrician , most of my wiring is all over sized , done properly ,
but , at this point i will try anything ,
im convinced from the people ive spoke to that the airmar p66 is superior to the factory 50/200 hz skimmer .
just somthing wrong in my case , will keep ya posted when we figure it out,

here is a shot of the detail i use ta get ,the last pic was pathetic lol,,

i run my ping and chart speed at %100 !!

note *** if ur transducer is not rated a min 1kw , DO NOT use high power ,
even if 600 watt , this from the tec at Lowrance this mornin ****

fd

 

[Sculpin]

I heard about the dedicated power source to the units or network. Probably was Mike at the HC that you talked to? My whole electronics system has it's own power from the batteries and is totally separate from "the dash" so to speak. Mike did my install. I'm sure you will get it worked out . Mike is a great guy for going over stuff even on the phone.

Albernifisher uses the same transducer and is very happy with it. Try talking to him as well.

 

[Bod]

Stop at HC on your way over and pick up the new HDS unit now, instead of later. Problem solved!!

 

[the fog ducker]

Stop at HC on your way over and pick up the new HDS unit now, instead of later. Problem solved!!

not all of us make pro guide wages lol , already maxed out on this years upgrades... I need 2 ...next spring for sure..
think I'll stick to finding out whether my transducer is hooped first ,
only took 2 of us 4 hours to install , and have half the boat ripped apart ta get er fished through ,pain in da azzz
im leaning towards the Transducer being faulty , really gonna suck replacing it again if so ,
gonna bring my other head unit home and try that in a week ,
and yes , it was Mike from HC that helped me out ,
went out as far as giving me his cell # ta call him from the water to help trouble shoot with ,
pretty cool for doin that !! thank you !!
and tykkyt got ur message , appreciate that , i will call ya when i run her again next week with my 2nd unit ,
process of elimination i think is best..

thx ta all !! for ur input..

fd

 

[Slabby20]

FD - I checked my LCX 112c this morning. I'm set to the Airmar P79 transducer. Colorline is set at 72%. The ping and chart speed are at 100% and I'm set to slow trolling.

I went back and checked my old post on a forum down here when I was considering the Airmar P66. I was told to use the Airmar P79 transducer setting since there was no P66. From what you posted above you've probably already tried the P79 setting. If not, I hope this helps or you get it figured out. It should be a big upgrade over the stock ducer.