Fish finder issue

[reeladdiction2]

So I purchased a boat and a Raymarine C80 sonar and plotter came with it.  Having a few issues with it.  It may be me and can't dial the gain/sensitivity in on the 50hz sonar.  The 200hz seems to be working well.  Picks up the balls, bait, and also fish.   I have done some research and I think I should be able to see a better screen on the 50hz.  It does not pick up the ball or anything and when I turn the gain up the screen just goes fuzzy and picks up nothing.  Does this sound like a transducer problem? Or is it junk and should buy myself the HDS8 second generation.  From what I see that looks like a good one.  If there is a better one out there I would like to look at it.  Does anyone have a sonar at the helm and at the back of the boat too?  Can two different 200hz sonars be mounted on the same boat?  Any information or input would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

[Sk8man]

(Section deleted due to defective brain of the writer at the moment of writing- signed Sk8man)

 

You can have a unit at the helm and one at the stern if a) your hull design and motor placement permit it (locate transducers away from sources of turbulence) and b) if the frequencies of the units are different enough to prevent interference or hijaaking of the return signal by one of the units. Although it may be possible to have two units operating at the same frequency on a very large boat (i.e. if they are located far enough away from each other and wired on separate sides of the boat on a large boat (and well shielded electrically). In a normal boating situation with a sport fishing boat it would probably not be a great idea to have both units at the same frequency. I'd select a transducer with a different frequency for one of the units.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Sk8man

[Meals-On-Reels]

Mine acts the exact same way and is functioning properly. I have a dual frequency transducer (200KHz/50KHz). My 200 has a 12* beam angle and the 50 has a 35* angle.

The 50KHz can "see" my downrigger ball as well as bait and fish. At nearly 3x the beam angle it has much greater coverage.

The 200KHz with the narrower angle can "penetrate" the depths and maintain a lock on the bottom. With this narrow beam, it never sees my downrigger ball. Maybe if I were idle with the ball down, but factoring in blowback it sees nothing.

I'm able to run a combined "50/200" on one screen and do that all the time. Not the split screen 50/200 because I hate the limited view, but it has an option to run 50/200 combined (200 with the 50 overlaid on the same screen). It'll show marks in black for the 50KHz and red for the 200KHz. When you factor in the beam or cone angle, you know that the red marks are directly under the boat and the black are in the peripheral.

The "combining" of the two frequencies (if your unit supports it) is a function of the head unit software and not the transducer itself.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Meals-On-Reels

[Sk8man]

Note: Meals -on-Reels is correct....on the general functioning of the 50 vs. 200khz I had them reversed...that's what happens when you try to do something without a whole lot of sleep (and apparently not enough coffee).   However picking up the downrigger balls is also a function of boat speed, weight of ball, currents, on turns and depth that the ball is at etc. because they can go in and out of the cone angle. I have a dual beam and I can usually mark at least one of them all the time and most of the time both of them with the 83 and the 200 khz. Reportedly there is 120 degrees of wider sonar coverage with it but Lowrance doesn't give the cone angles for my unit. My old 50 khz picked up both downrigger weights but had trouble separating them if close to each other in depth.