fishfinder interferance

[jimmy]

I use a humminbird 597 ci fishfinder .I also use downriggers. Does anyone know if the downriggers cable interferes with the fishifnder? I was thinking that i might change to braided line if that's the issue.I  lose the depth reading from time to time. I may bne in 200 fow then all of the sudden the finder reads 2'. other than that the finder works fine.

Edited May 19, 2013 by jimmy

[Sk8man]

Are you talking about the normal  stainless steel stranded wire downrigger cable or something with a probe attached and coated  cable etc.?

 

To my knowledge you shouldn't be experiencing any problem either way if everything is shielded properly (e.g. no cracks or breaks in the shielding materials) and you have located your depth finder power cord and transducer wires as far away from other electrical sources as possible (i.e. not taped and run together for example). If you are referring to stuff that looks like interference on the depth finder towards the top or surface it could be normal "clutter" or possibly you have the gain (sensitivity) set too high or the position of your transducer may need to be changed (e.g. picking up prop turbulance).

Edited May 19, 2013 by Sk8man

[Yankee Troller]

Sounds like a bad transducer. There was a bad batch out there from Humminbird, and your troubles sound like the ones a few people were having. You should not have to go to braid because of interference with your FF. Call customer service and see if they can get you a new ducer.

[Sk8man]

After looking at other posts about that unit. It looks as though the 2 ft. depth thing is a firmware/software issue or (hopefully not ) possibly a design flaw in the chip or circuit board. Several people have mentioned the same problem.....I'd contact the Humminbird tech folks to see if they have a "fix" for it. YT's comment is well taken though...might want to switch to an Airmar transducer if they don't solve the problem as a last resort to try (better transducer anyway from the comments I've seen)

Edited May 20, 2013 by Sk8man

[Broadhorizons]

Do you run the ff on "auto" depth or set the bottom limit? Manually set the depth range and see if that helps. I had a similar situation on my 958. I have only used the Airmar 60 thruhull transducer so it wasn't the factory ducer.

[John E Powell]

Do you run the ff on "auto" depth or set the bottom limit? Manually set the depth range and see if that helps. I had a similar situation on my 958. I have only used the Airmar 60 thruhull transducer so it wasn't the factory ducer.

It's unlikely it's a transducer problem; transducers tend to either work all the time, or they don't work at any time. Confirm the connections to the unit are clean and tight, and try moving the cable both near the transducer and the connector to confirm that your wiring doesn't have an intermittent break in the circuit. If this checks out, turn off auto ranging and set your depth range manually. If the symptoms continue you likely have a firmware/software/circuit board problem. If you find your transducer is bad, I recommend you replace it with the best Airmar transducer your budget allows.

Edited May 21, 2013 by John E Powell

[Silver Fox]

It's unlikely it's a transducer problem; transducers tend to either work all the time, or they don't work at any time. Confirm the connections to the unit are clean and tight, and try moving the cable both near the transducer and the connector to confirm that your wiring doesn't have an intermittent break in the circuit. If this checks out, turn off auto ranging and set your depth range manually. If the symptoms continue you likely have a firmware/software/circuit board problem. If you find your transducer is bad, I recommend you replace it with the best Airmar transducer your budget allows.

 

Not true on the Lowrance. Ours was partially working and we put a new ducer on and it works so good I thought It was on simulater.

[John E Powell]

Glad to hear your Lowrance was fixed with a transducer change. But, the conditions you describe do not eliminate the possibility of what I suggested to the original poster. Moreover, I stated that as a last resort, change the transducer which is just what you did.😇

[Silver Fox]

Not looking for a freaking argument, just telling you that "either they work all the time  or don't work at all" is wrong.

[John E Powell]

Not looking for a freaking argument, just telling you that "either they work all the time or don't work at all" is wrong.

My objection is to being misquoted. I did not write what you infer I wrote in your hand typed quote. You make it sound like I wrote an either/or absolute when the words I actually used were "tend to". If you reread my actual post above, you will see this in my post.

[Sk8man]

Hey John is that the Revenge model Whaler? Can't quite from the angle of the pic.

[Missdemeanor]

It's unlikely it's a transducer problem; transducers tend to either work all the time, or they don't work at any time.

 

 

Cut and pasted from your quote .........LMFAO.........

[John E Powell]

Hey John is that the Revenge model Whaler? Can't quite from the angle of the pic.

That's a "Whaler 27". The Revenges were made up to 25'. There were a couple models with similar names during those years. The whaler 27 has a smaller cabin in favor of a larger deck. Mine has the optional "Whaler Drive"

[Sk8man]

Oh ok you got the right model for fishing that's for sure. I was going to get the Outrage but I made the mistake of having my wife and daughter go with me when I went shopping. ...We settled for a compromise.....but actually I'm glad we did because this Ventura does everything I wanted and more and still pleases the girls in the summer....I'd never own anything else but a Whaler...had my last one for 22 years and sold it for $300 more than I paid for it

Edited May 22, 2013 by Sk8man

[genEus]

I use a humminbird 597 ci fishfinder .I also use downriggers. Does anyone know if the downriggers cable interferes with the fishifnder? I was thinking that i might change to braided line if that's the issue.I  lose the depth reading from time to time. I may bne in 200 fow then all of the sudden the finder reads 2'. other than that the finder works fine.

 

Jimmy,

 

I'm having the same issue with my 385ci. Read here: http://www.lakeontariounited.com/fishing-hunting/index.php/topic/36355-humminbird-385ci-loses-bottom-randomly-then-recovers/

 

I haven't been bothered by it enough to do anything about it. Last 4 hour trip, I only lost bottom two or 3 times for about 20-30 seconds each. It's annoying but not enough to do anything about it at this moment. If you get to the bottom of it (no pun intended), please let me know what you found.

 

I posted the question on another forum and a Humminbird rep said that it's an electrical interference problem. However, nothing I try to do seems to make it happen. It doesn't happen when I turn the radio on or off, when the bilge pump goes on or off, etc. It seems to be random. 

Edited May 23, 2013 by genEus