Corpusfishing.com

4theReels · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 2:45 pm Post subject: Fish finder / GPS Help.....

Hey guys,
I took out the new boat for a test run on Sunday morning. It ran great. No problems with anything other then the fish finder / GPS that came with it.
It is a Garmin Echo Map 50s.
It turned on just fine....it was reading the depth at the dock. As soon as I left the dock..and was going about 2000-3000RPM's the depth reading started to blink and stay the same reading as when I was close to the dock...which was about 5 ft +.
I slowed down when I saw this and when I got to about 1000-2000 RPM's..it stopped blinking and gave me a new depth reading. But then as I started to go faster...it did the same thing. The screen was not looking good when I was going faster...but looked great when I stopped or was driving real slow. I was at Corpus Christi Bay doing this test run. I stopped at 2 oil rigs out there and it was reading lots of fish and stuff at the bottom..which was about 14 feet.

I do have the manual but it would not tell me anything about trouble shooting this so I do not know how to fix this. It is a great GPS / Fish finder...and I surely want to make it work.

So any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave ~
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Jetty Bandit · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 2:54 pm Post subject:

That's pretty natural man, but try angling your transdeucer down a little bit more so it will get out of the heavy, turbulent water while running.
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4theReels · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 3:58 pm Post subject:

I will take a lot at that. I think I remember seeing it angled a bit and not flat even with the bottom of the boat. Hmmmm..
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landlocked beachbum · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 4:49 pm Post subject:

Like he said, a common problem. Stil, if the transducer is set up correctly it should still give you a decent bottom reading even when running fast, just not much detail. You confuse me thouugh: you're speaking of depth readings and using "RPM"....... What's up with that? Senior moment maybe? Cool

Even if you're only 25, those happen to all of us from time to time!!! Laughing

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Dave

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits". Albert Einstein

4theReels · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:09 pm Post subject:

What I am trying to say with the RPM's is the speed of which I am traveling...since i don't have a speedometer on the boat.
It seems to work fine when I am going about 1000-2000 RPM's...which is not very fast at all. But when i go faster then that....it starts to blink and doesn't read the depth.
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KingKilla · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:57 am Post subject: Thats pretty normal...

Most boats do that. Actually I'm not sure if I have ever been on a boat with a planing style hull that has not lost signal at faster speeds with a transom mount transducer. I think its due to all the turbulent water like Jetty Bandit said. Too many bubbles scramble the transducer beam. You can try different angles but you may have to live with it or just start moving the transducer around on the transom and trying it to see if you can find an area with clean water.

justletmein · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:57 am Post subject:

Some boats are a nightmare and some hold bottom just fine. Typically this is caused by cavitation and air interrupting the "signal" due to the hull designs. You'll have to play with the transducer location and angles to get the best flow. Post up a pic of the transducer and transom of the boat so we can see what you're dealing with, maybe someone will have some suggestions.
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4theReels · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:27 pm Post subject:

Ok...here are a couple of pics.

Transducer 2 photo Transducer pic 2_zpsxedohpnd.jpg

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Txdboykin · Joined: 13 Jun 2013 Posts: 3

I've always used airmars guidelines for installing transducers on my boats and have never had a problem holding bottom at any speed maybe I'm just lucky but here's a link http://www.airmartechnology.com/uploads/installguide/17-247-03.pdf

justletmein · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 4:08 pm Post subject:

Really hard to tell from the pics, but I would think moving it away from the tunnel would be a good idea. Maybe over on the starboard side like where that livewell pickup is on the port side. Crawl under the hull and envision the water flowing past and take it out and run and look at the transom and try to find a location where it will have the least bubbles and turbulence.
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JJ

landlocked beachbum · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:17 pm Post subject:

Your transducer is actually aiming slightly backward in relation to the hull bottom. That is to say, the back of the transducer is higher than the front in relation to the hull bottom. That's GUARANTEED signal loss, as the front of the tranducer is throwing air bubbles the whole way back! Loosen the mounting screws and tilt the back of the transducer down a few degrees past level with the hull bottom. Use a level or an angle gauge if you can't see it, not everybody's good at seeing such things.

It took maybe 4-5 degrees on my boat, but I still held a bottom signal going 40 mph, albeit with no detail between the surface and the bottom. Even when you get it set correctly you have to monitor it after every trip, because grass matting up on it or hitting small patches at speed can cant it aft again.
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Dave

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits". Albert Einstein