Depthsounder only works in shallow water.

[Fishin Ambition]

I have installed a Vexilar Sonarphone wireless depthsounder. At the same time I installed a Garmin Echo 200 as a backup. Both of them work properly in the marina and in shallow water. I installed the transducers a few inches from each other and I know that I installed them too low on the hull so I need to move them. I ran the cables/wires through the hull and powered them through the house buss bar, not directly to the batteries. I have house batteries and starting batteries. I periodically get one of them to work when I disconnect the other to reduce interference. I have also tried shutting off all other accessories. The other day, the Echo worked perfectly fishing at the Freighters. Yesterday, neither of them would work at hole in the wall. I have troubleshooted everything I can think of. The displays are erratic and show a totally wrong bottom and digital read out. Does anyone have any ideas? I think I need a professional installer to help me out. BTW, I have a power cat so there is two hulls, and I ran the cables alongside the main power cables, so there could be interference, but that doesn't explain why the Echo worked perfectly one day and not the next.

 

[trophywife]

some models do not go over 200' !!!

 

[ericl]

On the vexilar it says depth ranges is 125 ft. That is probably in freshwater under ideal conditions.
You never want to run 2 depth sounders at the same time.

FYI the Garmin echo specs list saltwater depth range as 50% 0f freshwater range; meaning the vexilar is probably limited to 60 ft in the salt.

Sounds to me like your results are not out of line with REALISTIC expectations.

 

[agentaqua]

Really depends on your sounder/transducer combo. The higher the transducer frequencies - the better the definition - but the worse the depth ability and vice-versa. You need like 20-50 KHz for deep sounding. Saltwater is also denser than FW - so marine needs means lower frequencies verses FW, as well. What frequencies does your transducer put out? You can get another transducer and switch over - when needed - if you have an older model with limited frequency abilities. Check-out: https://www8.garmin.com/marine/PDF/transducer_selection_guide.pdf

 

[Rockfish]

When our sounder begins to lose bottom lock, especially at deeper depths on 200 Khz it usually means that the boat has not been used much lately and growth has occurred on the transducer. Pulling the boat and cleaning the transducer usually solves the problem.

 

[Fishin Ambition]

OK, thanks for all the repies. I actually thought I would get an alert when there was a reply, and since I didn't get one, I didn't know I had replies until now when I logged on. That is all info that makes sense. I am going to re-install my Lowrance Elite 5 as it worked really well on my old boat.

 

[Fishin Ambition]

Really depends on your sounder/transducer combo. The higher the transducer frequencies - the better the definition - but the worse the depth ability and vice-versa. You need like 20-50 KHz for deep sounding. Saltwater is also denser than FW - so marine needs means lower frequencies verses FW, as well. What frequencies does your transducer put out? You can get another transducer and switch over - when needed - if you have an older model with limited frequency abilities. Check-out: https://www8.garmin.com/marine/PDF/transducer_selection_guide.pdf

sorry for the late reply. I didn't see your reply until now. The unit does 70 and 200 I think. I will follow up your suggestions. Thanks.

 

[agentaqua]

On all models - you should be able to pick your transducer frequencies - limited only by what your transducer can do. Easy to rig up another transducer and switch over - if needed.

You might want to check your account settings for what you picked for notifications, as well. You can get notifications for posts - if you want to.

 

[Fishin Ambition]

On all models - you should be able to pick your transducer frequencies - limited only by what your transducer can do. Easy to rig up another transducer and switch over - if needed.

You might want to check your account settings for what you picked for notifications, as well. You can get notifications for posts - if you want to.

Thanks for the tip. I set the notifications to include all, but never seemed to get any. Then I realized you have to stay logged on..... which I am from now on.