Fish Hawk question

[steelfire]

So after reading up before I purchase a new Fish Hawk to replace my sub troll, I read that sonar units running the 50/200khz transducer may cause interference (mostly the 50khz) with the Fish Hawk.  I run a lowrance LCX112C and use my 50khz for deep water salmon trolling. Has anybody had any interference issues from their sonar with the Fish Hawk???

[Sk8man]

The Fish hawk runs at 70 khz and I think that frequency was selected specifically to provide separation from the other common depth finder frequencies used. I think that under most normal circumstances you shouldn't have any problems  in that regard. I'm not so sure about operating very close to another boat using the same Fish Hawk unit though whether some sort of  interference might occur with the signal as it would be operating at the same frequency.

[vetting]

I think if you got close enough to another boat to cause an issue, you'd probably be swearing too much at them that they are taking out your board lines to notice you fishhawk not reading right

 

I've never had a problem with mine with running at 50khz.  I put my my ducer for the fishhawk on the port side and my raymarine 50/200 ducer on the starboard side.  Never had a problem and both units already read just fine.  Once you get rid of coated cable, you will never go back.  Once I went to the fishhawk, it made me realize how much time I spent every year messing with the darn coated cable from my old speed/temp.  The added bonus is that get less blow black with uncoated cable. 

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

The Fish hawk runs at 70 khz and I think that frequency was selected specifically to provide separation from the other common depth finder frequencies used. I think that under most normal circumstances you shouldn't have any problems  in that regard. I'm not so sure about operating very close to another boat using the same Fish Hawk unit though whether some sort of  interference might occur with the signal as it would be operating at the same frequency.

 

This is correct. I have run Fish Hawk units for many years on many different boats. If we are talking transducer interference the only situation I have run into is the 'bird 83hz transom mount  transducer can interfere depending on placement. I have not had any issues with any 50/200 transducers whether thru hull or transom mount. There are some differences in transducer placement depending on whether the boat is an outboard, inboard, or I/O.

[fisherdude]

This is correct. I have run Fish Hawk units for many years on many different boats. If we are talking transducer interference the only situation I have run into is the 'bird 83hz transom mount  transducer can interfere depending on placement. I have not had any issues with any 50/200 transducers whether thru hull or transom mount. There are some differences in transducer placement depending on whether the boat is an outboard, inboard, or I/O.

I put a lowrance  elite 5 chirp sonar in last fall . I got interference on the fish hawk when on chirp work fine on 200/83 side of transducer  how can I stop the interference while the sonar is on chirp  the transducers  are on opposite side of each other

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

I don't have any experience with chirp but my guess is its operating closer to the 70 like the hawk does. You will not get any interference from 200. 

[AnglingAddict]

Most of the CHIRP frequency packets probably contain harmonics that interfere with your FH - probably not much you can do. Could also directly interfere depending on the frequency range of the chirp pulse. Can seperate them from each other as much as possible - might help - but likely wouldn't eliminate.

[Sk8man]

I think Angling Addict may be right...harmonics may be at fault.... as the CHIRP frequencies I believe would be in the upper ranges from the Fish Hawk and signals that occur at multiples of a given frequency can create "harmonics" and "mimic" that original frequency or parts of it in a receiving unit. So in this case it wouldn't be the placement of the transducer or units but the nature of the signal itself that is causing the problem.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Sk8man

[fisherdude]

sounds like stuck with the interference on chirp 83 khz and 200 khz works  just like my old x102 50/200 khz  . I do have the units on each side  of dash also . hope this helps any one wanting up date their sonar with a fish hawk . does going high tech really land more fish ?

[Sk8man]

In any case it sounds like its not the end of the world . The 83/200 transducer does a pretty good job revealing things down there most of the time and you can always shut off the Fish Hawk briefly if you want to scope out things in more detail using the CHIRP (e.g maybe separating questionable objects from bait). You still have the capabilities of both so I wouldn't lose sight of that.

 

The high tech/newest gizmo may help but it sure doesn't guarantee landing more fish. Learning to fully use your boat and equipment, paying close attention to detail, finding things that you can replicate, and sheer perseverance are far more important than the reliance on any device in the final analysis.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Sk8man

[steelfire]

Thanks for all the great info guys!!