Sonar reading...

[Baxter]

I am full of questions today.

having trouble dialing in my lowrance. See pic. Was out Friday and the bottom was certainly incorrect. Tried playing with settings and noting helped. Any idea what could be causing such an irrational bottom reading?

Transducer angle? Height? Or is this likely a setting on the unit?
At times the display was far spikier . Didn’t seem to matter the speed, the bottom was like this most of the time. No way the ground all the way around Denman island like this.

 

[YachtMech]

I am full of questions today.

having trouble dialing in my lowrance. See pic. Was out Friday and the bottom was certainly incorrect. Tried playing with settings and noting helped. Any idea what could be causing such an irrational bottom reading?

Transducer angle? Height? Or is this likely a setting on the unit?
At times the display was far spikier . Didn’t seem to matter the speed, the bottom was like this most of the time. No way the ground all the way around Denman lions like this.

whats your transducer setup?

and is this a new install or just started acting up?

 

[YachtMech]

I just noticed you were doing 29kph, it looks like its just aerating, when you are on plane you cant get high resolution sonar, too much movement and air passing over it (sonar does nothing in air, it cant get a signal back though air) . get off plane and you should have perfect images

 

[Baxter]

I just noticed you were doing 29kph, it looks like its just aerating, when you are on plane you cant get high resolution sonar, too much movement and air passing over it (sonar does nothing in air, it cant get a signal back though air) . get off plane and you should have perfect images

It was doing this at slower speeds also.

 

[Baxter]

whats your transducer setup?

and is this a new install or just started acting up?

Just started acting up. Thinking maybe it is just the angle. Tried adjusting while on the boat but pretty awkward.

 

[YachtMech]

Just started acting up. Thinking maybe it is just the angle. Tried adjusting while on the boat but pretty awkward.

its should be parallel to the water if its not you will have inaccurate readings, Ive seen this happen too when weeds or a stick get stuck around it causing and air bubble.

I looked through some of my saved links for customers when they are setting up and fiddling around, this guy does a good walkthrough on the last generation, I think your new one has the same menu setup, here is the sonar setup

 

[ericl]

No way the ground all the way around Denman lions like this.

??????????? Can you correct the above; makes no sense - lions?????

Bottom echo looks way too strong; too much gain/sensitivity.

What does it look like in 150ft of water?

 

[Baxter]

??????????? Can you correct the above; makes no sense - lions?????

Bottom echo looks way too strong; too much gain/sensitivity.

What does it look like in 150ft of water?

Sorry, Lions = Island. Damn autocorrect. Missed that one.

I'll try playing more with the sensitivity next time I am out!

Bottom looked like that are pretty much all depths - except when we were in around 6 feet of water.

 

[ericl]

Thanks - I HATE autocorrect too.

FYI I see you were using CHIRP. CHIRP uses a lot to software signal processing within your sounder unit to reject noise (the spikes). You are getting multiple bottom echoes which indicates a hard rocky bottom. Couldn't see any bottom composition symbols from the picture of your chart.
It may be a long shot, but I think it is worthwhile to look at the firmware/software version on your unit & update it if needed - it's free & doesn't require taking the boat out. If you have gain/sensitivity set to auto-correct I would expect your unit to self-adjust gain/sensitivity to suit current conditions such as water depth.

 

[Baxter]

Thanks - I HATE autocorrect too.

FYI I see you were using CHIRP. CHIRP uses a lot to software signal processing within your sounder unit to reject noise (the spikes). You are getting multiple bottom echoes which indicates a hard rocky bottom. Couldn't see any bottom composition symbols from the picture of your chart.
It may be a long shot, but I think it is worthwhile to look at the firmware/software version on your unit & update it if needed - it's free & doesn't require taking the boat out. If you have gain/sensitivity set to auto-correct I would expect your unit to self-adjust gain/sensitivity to suit current conditions such as water depth.

Thanks, will check for an update. Was last updated in November, so probably is current, but never know.

So much to learn about this tech. I am a tech savvy person, but this is so different than regular day to day stuff!

 

[Fisher_dude]

Turn off downscan overlay, go back to 76% color line and check your ping speed. If you’re maxed, drop it down to 16-17.