Depth Raider Probe ?

[Jack]

Hi !

Friday I went out for the first time this year and tried out my new toy (Depth Raider speed and temp at the ball ).

Just to get the hang of things I ran the probe down a foot or two from the surface. I noticed that the temp and speed were different from what my FF and GPS were reading. If I was trolling at 3mp on my GPS the DR was reading 2.5mp and if the FF surface temp was read 50 degrees the DR was reading 45 degrees . Didn't matter which direction we went , with or against the wind.

Was just wondering how normal these readings are compared to everyone else's ?

We did catch 6 Browns , 1 Laker and a small King out of Sandy . Was a GREAT 1st trip !

Thanks for any info on the Raider !!

JT

[TrophySeeker]

I asked that same question to Curtis Kell, and this was his response:

"The original intent was to design the Depth Raider to match existing speed & temp units such as the Sub Troll and the Cannon SNT – which it does nicely. However, all three brands track about .4-.5mph slower than GPS. Also, there is a general feeling in the electronics industry that GPS at slow speeds is not very accurate. Say below 3 mph. One indicator is that even on a calm day GPS will bounce around by .5mph and it really shouldn’t on a calm day. Yet another variable is the Fish Hawk. This unit displays speed lower than GPS but higher than Depth Raider, Sub Troll, and Cannon SNT.

The big picture is that there is no calibrated instrument manufacturers can purchase and use to calibrate to water speed. We also now believe that even if we could provide a product with a guaranteed highly accurate speed, if it didn’t match other speed indicators on the boat some folks would still question the accuracy. The only real solution is to provide a means for users to calibrate speed to whatever other speed source on their boat they would like."

[Tim Bromund]

Yeah, the reading on the display is relative and in reality is just a number, no matter what speed and temp unit you own. They key is the repeatability it provides. If you are catching fish when the Depth Raider says 2.3 for instance, you can always get back to 2.3 and continue to catch fish, regardless of what the actual speed may be. FWIW, my experience has been that the speed and temp on most fishfinders is wildly inaccurate.

Tim

[Don Supon]

I use a Moor sub-trol and find the speed .4 slower than on my gps.

Like Tim says, repeatability is the big factor. Down speed is important to me because of the sub-surface current variations on lure speed. Knowing the lure speed eliminates the "dead time" of trolling when the lure is going too fast or too slow because of current changes on lure action. Duplication of successful speed creates more hits, and down speed is more important than surface speed.

[Jack]

Sound like it's working as designed .

Thanks for the info !!

JT