Questions, Answers and/or FAQ’s About Fish Finders |
| This section will be devoted to providing answers to questions asked by viewers of the site. It could be a little disorganized for awhile so please bare with me. In order to get you started with your Sonar/GPS device, it is best to first read the manual, especially the installation section. This section will contain the mounting instructions for the unit and for the sonar section the transducer and optional accessories (e.g. speed sensor). |
| Improper installation will cause you nothing but problems and if the unit does work it will not work in such a way as to provide you with optimum results. Once you have read the installation instructions and have installed your unit and accessories, you must read the rest of the manual. |
| Let’s face the fact that the more you know about your sonar/gps device the better it will work for you. Also, it will help aid in resolving any issues you may have if your last resort is to contact the manufacturer. |
| How Does Sonar Work? SONAR (SOund NAvigation RAnging). Sound moves thru water at about 4920 feet/second (almost a mile). Your fish finder measures the amount of time it takes for the sound pulse it sends out to travel to the bottom and back. In simple terms your fish finder acts first like a speaker (sending the sound out) and then switches over to a microphone (picking the sound up). Now anything that gets in the path, sends back an echo which can be interpreted by your fish finders electronics as bottom, fish, rocks, logs. |
| Why are pixels so important? PIXEL (Picture Element). A coloured dot. The greater number of pixels per inch the greater resolution. Pixels are arranged in columns and rows and the more pixels in the column, the greater the detail. The greater the detail, then a small change in the bottom contour allows the structure to jump into your sight on your fish finder display, therefore giving you better information. |
| What do all those arches mean? Those boomerang shaped arches your watching are all related to the transducer cone. Let’s say your transducer is sending out a signal shaped in a 60 degree cone and a fish swims thru at 20 feet, your fish finder measures the distance and puts it out on your display. When the fish comes into the cone, its roughly 20′ away, when its directly under the transducer about 19′ and when it leaves the cone its roughly 20′ away again. This causes the arch effect. Lets say the fish gets startled, changes direction, changes depth then you won’t get a perfect arch. |
| Humminbird Fish Finders |
| What about Manitoba maps? Navionics seems to think we’re just part of Lake of the Woods. Yet we have 100,000 lakes. Who makes a chip for those? I contacted Humminbird and this is their reply. “Thank you for contacting Humminbird. We appreciate your interest in our products. I am very sorry our units will not accept custom built maps. Our units work with the Navionics.gold/premium cards. Navionics does allow for request for additional lakes from consumers. You may direct request for additional mapping charts for Manitoba at the below link: http://navionics.com/LakeCatalog_FavoriteLakes.asp If we can assist you further on this subject or any other Humminbird related questions please feel free email us again or contact our Customer Resource Center at 1-800-633-1468 to speak with a Customer Service Representative. Our hours are Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Here is a list of lakes included in the NVB products. for the Great Lakes |
| Lowrance FishFinders |
| Does the Lowrance M68C Deepwater 200 KHZ fish finder capture depth contours in such a way that I can plot them on a computer? It seems to me that as long as I am trolling mile after mile that capturing the information and plotting it would be helpful. |
| It appears that to be able to work with your Lowrance data you are going to need a product emulator. Now, the Lowrance Product Emulators are PC software apps that simulate the operation of an actual unit. These virtual sonar/GPS units perform just like the real ones! These emulators don’t actually navigate or show “live” sonar returns (no transducer or antenna connection) but all other features are fully functional. Emulators for recording/sonar/GPS units play back recorded sonar logs and display MapCreate™ custom maps. |
| M68C S/Map Emulator (30.1 MB) M68C Emulator |
| Eagle Fish Finders |
| I bought my Cuda 242 Portable recently but whenever I switch it on it comes on in simulator mode even when I switch to simulator off mode, actual depth display is not shown some irrevelant depth is shown. I’ve tried resetting it but it is still the same. In fact the manual display setting keeps suddenly changing. I’ve not used it once since I’ve bought it. |
| FAQ’s |
| Does my transducer read from the front or from the back? |
| I would like to know if sonar fish finder equipment can measure the temperature in the sea? |
| Fish Finder/ GPS General Trouble Shooting Tips |
I would stick with Lowrance. There are a lot more options for getnitg the unit repaired with Lowrance as opposed to Humminbird (There is no G in the name). If cost is the overriding factor, I would look at the Eagle brand, as it uses Lowrance cables and technology.