Help with sounder.

[Dea121]

Just got a new lowrance lcx112c gps/sounder. Great unit but the problem is the installation of the transducer. Has been installed in a housing case and sends its impulses thru the hull. Its 2kw so def powerful enough the problem is
we get lots of interference on the screen and wen set on 60m for finding marks out at the canyon the finder some times flashes 0.9m and with 100 percent chart speed the page takes ages 2 pass thru the screen and refresh as we trolling. Thus the sensitivity has 2 be set very low almost making it impossible 2 pick up fish marks. We wanted to rather transom mount the transducer but were told by our boat manufacturer that it will effect the hull capabilities of the boat which i aint 2 sure of. Have been having some real problems trying 2 sought this out and that of previous finders and all we want 2 do is get something that works the way its meant 2. Any advice on this or on someone who could help would be great

thanks
Dean

 

[sardinella]

The mounting of your transducer is the most important part of your finder. Be sure to get real expert help here. Even tiny bubbles in the hull can cause interference when shooting through the hull.
Best bet is to find someone that knows his story in your area and have the installation done by a pro. It will be money well spend.
just my few hertz at 8 degrees

 

[Dea121]

thanks mate yeah most def. The mounting that the transducer is in needs anti freeze and thats full so not sure where else 2 look. Wanted 2 do a transom mount cause in my opinion will be alot simpler and work better but acording 2 our boat manufacturer it will effect the dynamics of the hull but i dont necsarily agree with it cause on other boats it seems 2 be fine. The problem with were the transducer is now is that we had 2 almost do guess work 2 help the bloke who installed it cause as u all know furuno is the main brand in the Cape and wen asking others who r furuno dealers they aint 2 keen in lending a helping hand.

 

[Fin-S]

Give Silan Naicker a call at Lowrance in Durbs. He should be able to help you out re the transducer. However one thing about the Lowrance is that the automatic settings sometimes struggle in deep water. I have found that it is best to leave the sensitivity and ping speed on auto but to cancel the depth range and once past the point manually adjust it to read 800m. You will still get a bit of clutter but can easily see marks.

 

[Dea121]

Thanks ya what im getting on the sounder is long vertical lines of disturbance which make it impossible to read any marks found it out wen we had a school of fish around the boat. Fin s what sought of transducer do u have did u transom mount yours?

 

[cpt chris]

you must have a two foot boat for a transom mout to affect the hull must be a shit hull never heard such horse sh£4 before you loose at least 15%of your finder with a through hull mount i would not consider anything but a transom mount not my 2cents worth its facts brother

 

[Dea121]

Thats exactly wat i said boet never heard of how a transom mounted transducer could effect the boat. Just got off the phone with Himal from Lowrance and gonna put the transom transducer in. On a mate of mines boat we installed the transom transducer for his boat same lowrance model, thing works like a dream.
This mounting that i got now is k#k had 2 buy a 2kw transducer just 2 work prop cause with our mounting u loose up 2 5o% thats just a waste of time.

 

[cpt chris]

you go boy fry them fish with that trancducer

 

[miles]

Hiya

Dean, whats your boats name? Just curious, is it perhaps "Mondean"?

Transducer problems. Firstly, the transducer is probably not 2kw's as these are very new on the market and costs more than R20 000.00 on the AMERICAN market!

Unfortunately, i know of one guy who also uses a lowrance in the deep and he also has the same problem. I then know of two commercial boats using top of the range garmin units and their fish-finders are also working very poorly in the deep. Works very well inshore, but its performance is drastically redusted in deeper waters. Both of them now run a seperate Furuno fish-finder.

There's a reason why 90% of the commercial boats use FURUNO. Its simple. They work!! VERY well!! Look at the picture below. Thats my old Furuno GP7000F, with a 600W through-hull transducer, showing YF marks.

My old garmin unit did exactly the same thing in the deep. Its almost as if the deep water 'confuses' the unit.

Best advice is to get the Lowrance guys out to your boat. Their back-up service is AWESOME, so they'd be able to help you out!! The through-hull transducer should work quite well, so it might probably be just your gain settings that needs to be adjusted. Play around with your unit next time you go to the deep. I've been on a few magnums, the 25', 32' and the 28' and the furuno units on them have worked very well, so the transducer placement is fine.

Be carefull of mounting your transducer on the transom, if your boat is going to be moored. Its cover with growth very quickly. When fighting fish, its also another part to snag your line.....

Just another view.....

 

Regards

miles

 

[miles]

pic

 

[Dea121]

Thanks Miles yeah i can relate with every word u said. Our unit is amazing up until the deeper water of the canyon then all hell breaks loose and the cavitation is horrible on the screen but come to about 30m of water and with a technician from Simrad on board and everything works fine. Yeah we have a furuno gp1650
and its amazing not a days trouble touch wood the only down side is that on our furuno u cant see marks only wen u have stopped and drifting will u see them. We bought the lowrance 2 get better screen definition and newer technology but all we got was better definition. With the thru hull transducer u got is that drilled into the hull cause wat we got is a transducer by the latch of the fish box that has to shoot beams thru the hull first.

Yip thats our boat Mondean parked by Seans boat Decadence and the cape craft Obelix at Hout Bay boat yard . Bought our boat from Nish in Gordons Bay wat a good oke hey the boat was in mint condition and the service we get from Mark at Two Oceans is top notch. Saw some of your picks fishing with Hammertime some great photos and great fish aboard your boat Dr Fish wat a boat

cheers
Dean

 

[miles]

Hiya

Thought that was your boat!! Nish is my cousin, i know your boat well!! Have fished off it quite a few times. Was called "MONISH" before. He certainly DOES look very well after his boats!!

On my old boat, my Furuno GP7000F also had a through hull. This transducer also had to "shoot" its beam through the hull. It would also just read fish up to about 10knts. On my new boat, i have a Furuno FCV580 also with a through hull transducer. This reads bottom and fish at speeds over 30knts. Its got to do with the hull design and transducer placement.

Most of the time you'll be looking for marks when trolling, so you'd be going at 5-6knts anyways. Your echo SHOULD be able to read at that speed. If not, then your transducer placement is incorrect.

I've installed quite a few transducer myself. VERY, VERY simple!! My transom mounts worked pretty much the same as my through-hull mounts.

Things to remember, when drifting or trolling, especially in a lumpy sea, my old butt-cat would roll a bit, causing the echo not to read properly. This was due to air coming between the hull and the water, disturbing the beam of the transducer. Incorrecly mounting your transducer on the transom will also do this. The fact that your transducer works well in shallower water indicates that its placement is correct........

Regards

miles  

 

[Dea121]

Small world hey hows Nish doing? How his new boat i think he bought a Magnum 32. Mark just checked it out for us and says he sees nothing wrong with the transducer placement so gonna take him out soon to the deep and see if we can sought things out. The thing with the transducer is it is very close to the bilge pumps and all maybe that the prob. I understand the interference but wen the echo shows 0.9m wen set on 60m something def wrong

cheers
Dean

 

[miles]

Yip, we fished last year on his boat i the GordonsBay Classic. My wife took second place in the womens division and lost first place by 1kg!!!

 

[miles]

'MONISH'

 

[Dea121]

now thats wat i call fishing filling the boat with tuna and enjoying it with the family. Hw the boat run compared 2 the 25 heard from Mark that the ride alot smoother and less stomping that new boat is a beauty!

 

[miles]

 

[miles]

Because the 32' is longer than the 25', it does ride alot better. Softer, simply becuase it is longer. BEAUTIFULLY finished boats!!

In a lump sea, with a 20knt+ NW'erly wind on it, the 32'er does bang and roll quite a bit. The 25'er would be alot worse in those conditions. Check the pic below for the sea conditions!! We had a few swells break inside the boat whilst fighting fish

Unfortunately, i'm a huge butt-cat fan!! My old 26' butt-cat would ride in those horrible conditions much better than the 32' magnum!! Pity the butt-cats finish is so pathetic......

 

[Dea121]

lol yeah the butt cat rides flipn nice went on the butt cat of two oceans sport fishing and wat a ride but the finishing of the magnums is top class. The boats i really like is the cape crafts like the blue water or commodore but in terms of feeling safe nothing compares 2 a magnum. Funny hey like your pic we were fighting fish in the same conditions wen u fighting fish u almost forget about the waves hey shows wat the effect of fighting the giants of the sea can cause

regards
Dean

 

[crafty]

Miles,

I see from your post that your cousin looks after his boats I am looking to buy a cat or something in that ranger does he have anything on offer