Topic: 998c hdsi and 360 bow mount eratic depth readings

[biggs aquaholic]

I have two 998c hdsi units and after I done the 6.740 download my unit that the 360 bow mount was on does those eratic readings pretty regularly. One minute it will read the correct depth like at 5 ft, then jump to 120 ft then 90 ft then right back to the correct depth of 5 ft again. Seems to always jump around more at shallow depths than at deeper depths. I am not trying to hijack anyones thread but does anyone else have this same problem? By the way I have done the 360 download also..

[Humminbird_Greg]

First thing I would do would be to swap the two 998 units around to see if the same thing happens to the second 998 unit or if the problem stays with the first 998 unit.
Does this happen only when the 360 Imaging is deployed?
Does this only happen when the second 998 unit is running?
Are these all Ethernet connected together?

[biggs aquaholic]

One  of my 998c hdsi does this when on the bow, could it be a bad 2d in the side scan transducer?  The picture will always show the correct depth, but the depth reading will jump around from time to time. The other one without the 360 download works fine when it is on either station.

[Humminbird_Greg]

It could be biggs but it could also be sonar cross-talk from the other 998 unit running.
Are the 998 units Ethernet connected?
What transducer(s) do you have connected to the console 998 unit?

[biggs aquaholic]

Greg, you and I have covered cross talk before and now I always just turn the other unit off. So I am sure it is not cross talk from my other unit. Could it get cross talk from someone else and their unit? But the last two times it was doing the eratic readings no one was around me for not even a half a mile or longer.


Thanks for any help!

[LocDown]

try shallow saltwater depth mode.

[Humminbird_Greg]

It could be sonar cross-talk from someone else’s unit but they would have to be close to you.  At a half-mile or so they would need some sort of focused sonar energy beam to interfere with your sonar.

Both units do it on the same transducer with only that unit running.  That points to the transducer as being the problem unless the same thing happens on the transom mounted HDSi transducer.  You never did say what transducer(s) you are running on the bow and console stations.

You can try adjusting the Surface Clutter menu to a lower setting (possibly down to “1”) and/or set the Water Type menu to the “Salt (deep)” setting.

[biggs aquaholic]

Only one unit does the eratic depth readings at the bow with the bow 360 not running, only with the factory xhs 9 hdsi 180 t transducer being used. Everything seems to be good when the 360 is working. The rear depth finder is always off when I go to the bow to bass fish so the cross talk should not be a problem. The steering helm unit has not had the 360 update while the bow unit that is having the problem has had the 360 update. Since the one having the problem is the bow with the 360 update, do you thunk maybe the 360 update could be causing the eratic depth readings? Also I checked my surface clutter settings and they were set to 2 already, and I have tried the salt water selection and it did not help any.

Thanks for any help!

[Humminbird_Greg]

biggs,
You just stated:
“Only one unit does the eratic depth readings at the bow with the bow 360 not running”
and
“Since the one having the problem is the bow with the 360 update”
But you stated in your second post: “Both of my 998c hdsi do the same thing when on the bow, could it be a bad 2d in the side scan transducer?”

Did something change or is the problem only in the unit with the 360 update (6.740) when using the trolling motor transducer?

Here are my thoughts: if it is both units having this problem and only on the trolling motor mounted transducer, than the problem is the trolling motor mounted transducer.  If the problem is only n the unit with the 6.740 software update and then only when connected to the trolling motor mounted transducer; then the problem may be two-fold: one in the 6.740 software – although we have not been hearing this from others – and the two there may be a problem with the 2D sonar that your console mounted unit is connected to because the same thing is not happening when the problem unit is connected to it.  If the HDSi transducer is the only transducer that you have connected to the console unit, the results should be the same.  You have never said what transducer(s) you have connected to the console unit.

[biggs aquaholic]

I was mistaken Greg, only the one unit that has the 360 download does the eratic depth readings when the 360 is off and only running on the hdsi transducer. It can be at either bow or steering helm, on front or back transducers and it does the eratic readings. So does this mean that the download is causing this? Or could it be in the unit itself?

Thanks

[Humminbird_Greg]

Oops, posted wrong answer here... let's try this:
It could be either one biggs.  You had best call the Humminbird Customer Resource folks about this.

[biggs aquaholic]

I have talked with multiple Humminbird  costumer service people and they could not help, but they did try very hard and I give them credit for trying. The supervisor at humminbird has went above and beyond trying to correct various problems that I have had, they even contacted you (Greg) about the 360 bow not being able to record. I have tried someone elses unit on my boat now and their unit did not do the eratic depth readings when placed on the bow of my boat( only difference in their unit and mine is that they did not have the 360 download.) Also like I said I have two 998c hdsi units and the one that I do not have the 360 download on is working fine also at the bow with no eratic readings. So I think I have figured out that either the one 998c hdsi is deffective or the 360 download is causing the eratic readings. But when the 360 is running I never get these eratic readings at all.  Is there a way to get the 360 download off the unit and try to reload it back on again to see if maybe that is the problem? Or do you think that it would be useless to try? Should I just send the unit in for repair?

Thanks

[Humminbird_Greg]

You can re-load the same software version but to do so you will have to load another (in this case older) software version onto the unit first and then re-download the 360 software and load it back onto the unit.  Just make sure you have only one software update file on the memory card at a time.

You could also re-download the 360 software and install it into your second unit and try it.  That would show if it was the unit or software download as the units should be identical at that point.

If it is the 360 software I would think that there would be others with the same problem but I am not seeing any posts from them.

[biggs aquaholic]

Are you talking about an older download than the 6.740, because with the 360 download I only see one download available on the humminbird web site ? Also I tried the second 998c hdsi that did not have the 360 download and that unit done fine without any problems, every 360 option was already showing up without the download. Do you have to do the 360 download? The second unit does have the 6.740 download on it though.

Thanks in advance

[Humminbird_Greg]

Yes, I am talking about an older software version than the 6.740 (“360 download”) version software.

Your “My Humminbird” account will only show the currently available software version.  You will have to get a copy of an older version of software from somewhere else.

For the 998 model units, support for the 360 Imaging transom mount accessory was first added in software version 6.570.  There have been several software updates since then, some of which have changes for the 360 Imaging.  The 6.740 added support for the 360 TM Imaging (trolling motor mount) accessory.  So if you are using the trolling motor mounted 360 Imaging accessory you do need to be running the 6.740 version software.

Please conform that the second 998 unit is or is not running the same 6.740 version software.  You have made contradictory statements about this.

[biggs aquaholic]

Both of my 998c hdsi units do have the 6.740 downloads on them, but only one unit has the 360 2.0 download. And that is the unit that is having the eratic depth readings when running on hdsi transducer and not running the bow 360. When I stated that the 360 download might be the problem I was talking about the 360 2.0 download on the 360 accesories menu when on my humminbird.com . And on one of the other replies you stated that no one else was complaining of these same problems, when I looked at a thread from N9Phill and he was complaining of about the same eratic depth readings. And he has the same 360 2.0 download. If their is any help, it would be greatly appreciated!

[Kevin Kromrey]

I think I experienced your problem.  Have 788HD DI  bow unit with 998 SI on console.  788 Bow giving incorrect depth readings  eg 65 feet in 3 feet of actual water.  Solved the problem by going to sonar  menu....scroll to near bottom to "Digital Depth source" and change from Auto to "2D element" and you may get correct reading.....worked for me anyway.  I think I was accessing my SI transducer at the time this occurred so seems similar to your problem.
 

[biggs aquaholic]

Kevin, on the units that have the 360 attached you have to set up your specific transducer selection of designated 2d on your hdsi transducer because 360 has no depth reader, and then you can choose either hdsi or 360 for the side and down images.Their is a selection also for which transducer you are using whether compact side scan or hdsi. The humminbird techs and costumer service manager has went over all of this with me while I was on the water multiple times.Thanks Kevin for trying to help! Anymore suggestions please help!

[Humminbird_Greg]

I think I experienced your problem.  Have 788HD DI  bow unit with 998 SI on console.  788 Bow giving incorrect depth readings  eg 65 feet in 3 feet of actual water.  Solved the problem by going to sonar  menu....scroll to near bottom to "Digital Depth source" and change from Auto to "2D element" and you may get correct reading.....worked for me anyway.  I think I was accessing my SI transducer at the time this occurred so seems similar to your problem.
 

Kevin,
That menu and setting change is specific to the DI model units only.

[Humminbird_Greg]

I understand what you have been saying now biggs.  When you loaded the 360 Imaging with the 2.000 version software, it did not load into the 998 unit itself; it just used the 998 unit as the delivery device to get the software update to the 360 Imaging accessory.  Once you take the memory card with the 2.000 update out of the unit it is no longer there (it is in the 360 Imaging but not the 988 unit).

So this leaves us with just a single 988 unit that for some reason will not read the correct water depth when used on the bow or transom transducers.  Something must be wrong with the unit itself, so you should contact the Humminbird Customer Resource folks about getting it in to be tested and fixed.

N9Phil has an 1198c Si unit which may or may have the same transmitter/receiver components as your 998c Si unit (depending on when each unit was made).  He is also complaining of the speed disappearing as well.  He could well have a problem with the internal sonar part of his unit but then that would mean he also has another problem with the GPS (speed) on his unit as well.  If this were only a problem with the 6.740 software update then you would be seeing more posts from both the 998c Si and 1198c Si owners who have done this software update.  Remember that even though the update number may be the same – each model has its own software update file.

[biggs aquaholic]

Sent the 998c hdsi in for service, I will update when I get it back. Sent it last week , they said two week turn around, so I hope to have it back this week. I will update the findings soon!

[biggs aquaholic]

I sent the unit in for diagnostic and they sent the unit back and it worked fine when I got it back, until I did the new 7.080 download. Then the depth readings went eratic again. The techs told me to load the newest download of 7.090 and retry the unit again? Why do you think they came out with two new downloads in one week (7.080 and then 7.090), do you think the first one was a bust and that they had to correct the problem?

I have not made it to the lake to test the 7.090 download yet, but hope to make it by Friday. If anyone else has a problem like this please post it, that is the only way we are going to get these problems resolved

[biggs aquaholic]

I done the 7.090 download and went to the lake. The 2d sonar was still eratic when on clear mode, but when on max mode it always maintained an accurate reading. I have tried 2d saltwater shallow, salt water deep, and fresh water and none of these helped. only thing that helped was using max mode at all times. What effect will this have in shallow water under 10 feet?

[Humminbird_Greg]

Max mode in shallow water may have the effect of filling up the water column area with weaker sonar returns (“stuff” or “trash” to some people).  Instead try setting the Surface Clutter menu to a lower numerical setting.  This will filter out some of the surface clutter that may have been causing the unit to not read the bottom correctly.

[biggs aquaholic]

I have tried the surface clutter as far as off and still eratic except on max mode, no matter what I adjust on clear mode the eratic readings still occur. This is after I have already sent it in for repair. We have also checked the unit on various boats in our fishing club and get the same results.  So I took a video to send with the unit this time.