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I recently made the upgrade from a fishing buddy to a better fish finder with sonar and down scan imaging. I've been looking at you tube and googling info on how to read the signals and interpret what you see. Most of what I have found is very basic. Are there any good references that help shorten the learning curve and explain items in detail?
Also, when in water less than 10 ft the screen whites out completely. I've been changing the settings trying to get the screen to show detail but haven't had luck so far. Is this typical in more powerful fish finders? Is there a way to get shallow water detail (less than 10') to show?
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What finder did you buy?
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Lowrance Elite 5x hdi
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Make sure you have your finder set to automatically detect the depth. I had the same problem but once I set my finder correctly that cleared up the problem.
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The learning curve on mine was severe. I had to just sit and fuss with it for an hour every day for about ten or even fifteen trips before I could really understand it.
I asked a couple guys about it and they had different finders than mine and they might as well have been speaking a different language.
It will come to you soon enough but what will help is if you go with a friend that has a finder so you can compare what you're reading to what his is. That way you'll know if your's is acting up or if you're not readin it correctly.
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I've learned a lot from this site. They are trying to sell DVDs, but there is some good free info if you browse around. I also follow them on Facebook and enjoy their tips.
[url "http://doctorsonar.com/"]http://doctorsonar.com/[/url]
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You may try you tubing setting up a lowrance elite 5. There are settings on the unit such as matching your transducer to the unit. Also ping speed, sensitivity, etc. if the unit is set up correctly it will be easier to use. Fishfinders work better in deeper water, 10 feet or less is tough on any unit. I have an HDS 7 and I am still learning !
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Reading the manual and experimenting in sim mode and in the field may be the best way to learn.
I've spent many hours just messing with settings and seeing the results as I've gone over the same area. You soon learn what works best for the location and type of fishing you're doing. I even write down settings that work best for my favs such as Strawberry, Fish Lake, Henry's Lake, etc. All very different waters, depths, and bottom terrain.
Also, most finders only cover a diameter equal to the depth, so if you're in 10' of water, you're only seeing a 10' diameter area under your boat. You don't see many fish that way because the sonar cone is small and your boat has likely scared the fish right under it. I usually don't start seeing fish on the finder until I'm in 20' or deeper water.
Fish Lake is fun because much of it is 100' deep and the various trout species are so big that you see a lot of classic fish arches. Even if you're not catching, it's fun to know those monsters are down there.
Fish finders find fish but they are perhaps more useful at showing depth and bottom terrain and identifying structure, drop offs, old river channels, etc. where fish are more likely to be.
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[inline fish.JPG]Here's a image from Fish Lake in around 40' of water.
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