Topic: 596c HD DI Ice Fishing depth bouncing issue

[PA85]

I recently purchased the ice fishing conversion kit and XI 9 20 ice ducer for my HB 596c HD DI fish finder.  I've been using the unit in the front of my boat and it has worked flawlessly.  Last Friday I decided to take this unit ice fishing for the first time to catch some perch.  I headed out to about 15 fow and drilled a couple holes.  I powered up the unit and gave me a reading of 15ft.  But almost instantly it began bouncing around different depths on my display.   One moment it would be at 250ft and then 90ft etc...  It would then come back to the proper depth reading for 1sec to a few minutes and repeat jumping around.   I've gone through the settings numerous times and all assembly seems correct.  It was still useful and was detecting fish.  I'm guessing it's an issue with the unit itself or the other issue that I feel could have caused the depth jumping is interference.  My buddy was nearby using a Marcum Showdown but I didn't think about it causing the depth jumping at that time.  I'm going to try it out again on Friday without other devices around.  Any suggestions if I find out interference wasn't the issue?  Thanks, helpful input is appreciated!

[Humminbird_Greg]

Welcome to the Humminbird Side imaging Forums PA85.

If you can, try comparing the depth readings to what you get while on the front of your boat.  This may not be possible for you yet as you may still be iced in.  That will show where the problem is: unit or transducer.   Be sure to use a good battery or better yet; if you can test using your boat try it on both transducers with your portable battery.  Low power can cause depth reading issues as well.

[PA85]

I used this unit last at the end of December and it worked fine.  My boat is still in storage and prob won't hit the water for another month.   The battery was fully charged and was the one included in the kit.   I'll try it out Friday and see what happens.  Thanks for the help!

[rnvinc]

Ok I'm confused ...

The 596ci HD DI transmits 200kHz/455kHz 2d ... But you have purchased and installed the XI 9 20 which vibrates at 83kHz/200kHz 2d ... ??

Greg ... What am I missing here ... ??

Rickie

[Humminbird_Greg]

I sure am glad that you asked that Rickie as I assumed that he knew to set the Digital Depth Source menu to the “2D Element” setting.  This will tell the unit to use the 200kHz sonar for the bottom depth reading – which may be the problem that PA85 is having… so be sure to make that menu change PA85! 
He won't have DI sonar nor the 455kHz 2D sonar.

[PA85]

In my sonar options I have the "beam select" at 200kHz.  Should I have purchased a different transducer?  When I powered up the unit to check I can hear the ducer randomly firing off and it causes little jumps on the chart, doesn't seem right.   I'm new to all of this so I apologize.  Thanks for the help!

[Humminbird_Greg]

PA85,
Check under the Sonar menu tab for one called Digital Depth Source and set it to the “2D Element” setting.  If the menu is not there, make sure that you are using the “Advanced” setting for the User Mode menu (found under the Setup menu tab).  If it is still not there, check to see what software version you have in your 596c HD DI model unit.  It needs to be 6.250 or higher to have this menu so if you are below that you need to register and update the software in your 596c HD DI unit.