Topic: Why is the side imaging so dark on the outer areas???

[wdcon]

Using the 997 csi with the 4.750 upgrade in fresh water 2-30 feet deep. This is on the St. John river in Florida.   Why is the SI, both left and right sides SO DARK??

I have the settings pretty much set at default levels so I'm sure I need to adjust something.

Obviously I am a greenhorn at this but have gotten a lot of help from this forum.

[RGecy]

What freq are you using? 800khz or 455khz?  And what range setting are you using?

Post some picts so we can see a little more about what you are seeing.

Robert

[wdcon]

Set at 455khz and the range was 150ft.   I went back out and started to play with the SI depth.  As I decreased the max depth the side images became lighter. As I was in only 3-10ft water, when I got to range of 50ft the display was very good. Ihope there is a pic attatched.

RGecy; Thanks for the reply and help.  Got another question on high speed transducer... I installed a Quadrabeam and the switch box.  I have moved the transducer up / down, tilted it up/down but cannot get any depth reading once speed passes 15mph.   It is an aluminum hull transom mount.  Mounted in clear area between bottom ribs. 

Is this because the transducer is so large? do I need to a hi speed transducer? If so which model transducer would you rec.??

 

[Jolly Roger]

Nice picture wdcon,

from my experience and Robert's advice I get the best results if setting the max. SI range between half and 2 thirds of the actual water depth.

I had the similar problems with the high speed readings and found out that tilting the rear end of the transducer further up and down helps. it took some tests but finally I found a position where i can get decent depth reading both at low speed and on plane speed.

Can you post pictures of the rear end/transom of the boat and the transducer's position? Pictures from the side as well as seen from behind might give us a clue what might be wrong.

Regards / Harry

[wdcon]

Hope these pictures show what's wrong...

[Jolly Roger]

Hm, doesn't look bad.
I would try to get the rear end of the transducer a bit further down to avoid cavitation, but that's depending on how the boat lays in the water on higher speeds (nose heavy/nose light).

Is there anything in front of the transducer? A picture looking from right behind the boat would be helpfull.

Regards/Harry

[wdcon]

Thanks Harry!   Here are a couple more pics.  The boat sits nose light, but the boat lifts very well when on plane so maybe I should tilt the trailing end down more?  I used to have a Lowrance unit on and its transducer was small and torpedo shaped and was mounted in this same location, thats why I was thinking the Quadrabeam had too much surface area on the bottom allowing turbulance to interfere with sound waves ... oh, the Lowrance gave good high speed readings.  I was thinking of the HB XNT 9 20 T  ??

[RGecy]

Everything looks pretty good on the install.  Is the other transducer directly in line with the SI?  The only issue to me would be turbulence when you plane out a little.

The SI image you posted above looks great.  If you were in 800khz, the image would have definitely been darker on the outside.  The 455khz covers almost 180 deg and gives you the best distance side to side.  The 800khz has a smaller beam pattern and will cover only out to 2.5-3 times your depth, but the resolution is better.

You will find some other post here on the forum that talks about the optimum settings and beam patterns.

http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=333.0

Good Luck,

Robert

[soretoe]

You definately need to drop the back end of your transducer. I dropped mine as shown and get good sonar at speed.

[garyr]

soretoe,
Question? Do you have one si transducer? The transducer with the diagram? I sort of make out another transducer to the port side?
If that is another what is the reason.

[garyr]

wdcon,
Which transducer is the si vs the quad?

[wdcon]

Right now there are 3 Transducers mounted, all on the Starboard side. There is a pitot speed pickup on the port side.

The HDSI is mounted on the built in setback,it is out of water when on plane but works great at idle speed.

The pictures are; 009jpg is picture of the HDSI and the Quadrabeam

003jpg is picture of the Quadrabeam

005jpg is picture looking front to back at the Quadrabeam.

Scince these were taken I have installed a Dual beam XNT 9 20 T outside the starboard rib with the hope it would give me the depth at speed... did not work!


I have the TSW 2 switch.   XNT 9 20 T hooked to the dual beam lead of the AS SIDB Y cable and the HDSI hooked to the other AS SIDB Y cable lead. Then I have the QUADRABEAM hooked to the other TSW 2 switch lead .


None of this would allow a depth reading above 18 mph.

I ordered an Alumaducer to try to install IN THE HULL to replace the Dual beam HB transducer.


I don't understand as I had a Lowrance LCX15MT with a skimmer ducer that worked at 40mph.

[FuzzyGrub]

Did you try tilting the quad down some?  If that still didn't work, try lowering it a little more.

[soretoe]

soretoe,
Question? Do you have one si transducer? The transducer with the diagram? I sort of make out another transducer to the port side?
If that is another what is the reason.

I have 2 because of wanting to experiment to see if it could be done and also to keep from tilting my motor up to get SI on both sides. The HD ducer is much better over the 798 stock ducer. I will replace that one this summer with an HD ducer.

[lcookie]

Off topic but Soretoe is your boat a deep v tracker?  Looks identical to mine.