Depth Raider speed ajustment

[mdryer]

Hi guys

I was wondering if Depth Raiders ever need adjustments. I have a new one and was out yesterday running at 2.5. I felt like we were HAULING. Do they ever need to be adjusting or are they always right on? Thanks in advance

[Tim Bromund]

What was your GPS speed over ground? If you were trolling in a wicked subsurface current, you very well may have been hauling to get 2.5 downspeed. These units are pretty accurate.

IMO, the actual speed is less important than figuring out what displayed speed catches fish on your boat. Repeatability is the key. As long as it is repeatable, if you start slamming fish at 2.3 on the DR, does it really matter if that is actually 2.4 or 2.5? As long as you can duplicate what is working, you're golden.

Tim

[TrophySeeker]

This is the response I received when I asked Curtis Kell about the speed reading of the Depth Raider:

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. You’ll probably see this upgrade available next season from Depth Raider.

Curt

Kell Labs

[Mickey Finn]

Just finished installing my new Depth Raider and tested it out on Monday. The first thing I noticed was it was about .5 MPH slower than my GPS. I tested it only down a few feet so as not to be affected by any currents. I looked for a way to adjust it but didn't see any. Now that they may come out with a unit that is adjustable it kind of makes me wish I'd waited to purchase one. I wonder how much it will cost me to get that upgrade or if I'd just have to buy a new one???

[TrophySeeker]

Just to clarify, the message posted above from Kell Labs was from 2007. I don't believe there has been any progress on an adjustable Depth Raider. I've gotten used to mine now. One nice thing about NOT being adjustable (calibrated to GPS, etc.) is that you can compare your down speed to others with Depth Raiders. This is not true for FishHawk and Sub-Troll, as they both can be calibrated.