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Question
BobT
I have a Hummingbird 596c HD DI on my console. Transducer is mounted on the stern to the right of my outboard. Has been in this location since I installed the unit a few years ago. Until this spring it has worked great, although I may sometimes lose bottom at high speed.
I have two different problems and based on my testing, I do not believe they are related but it sure is a coincidence that they both appeared simultaneously.
Problem 1 : Erratic depth readings.
I have not had this problem until this spring. It seems to be having difficulty determining the depth. The image displayed on screen is definitely showing a bottom but if I watch the digital readout I’ll see it jump to high numbers repeatedly. For example, I can see the sonar graphic showing that bottom is only 3’ down but watching the digital readout I can see numbers flash as high as 60’, 70’, 80’ or just about anything. As a result the automatic depth scaling is bouncing around causing my graphic image to bounce from top to bottom on my screen as the scale changes. This is not only a problem in shallow water but at all depths. Sometimes it settles down and works for a while and then starts up again.
I had not changed any of my settings prior to this beginning to happen. Since experiencing the problem I have been trying everything I can think of. Adjusting sensitivity, surface clutter, electronic filters, and so forth. I can work around this to some degree by setting the depth scale manually but that is a bit of a pain.
This problem exists even before turning on my electric trolling motor, other sonar units, livewell pumps, bilge pumps, etc., but it also continues to persist even after turning these things on.
Problem 2 : Interference.
This spring I replaced my bow mount trolling motor with a MotorGuide Xi3 with Pinpoint GPS. Immediately when I plug in the power cord to the trolling motor, I begin to see interference on my Hummingbird 596c HD DI that appear as evenly spaced thin vertical lines and it is worse when the motor is actually running. Some of the things I’ve done to help are as follows.
While writing this, it occurs to me that there is another thing I can try. There is a four conductor cable that is wired to the bow of my boat. Two of those leads are routed back to my trolling motor battery for supplying the trolling motor and the other two leads are connected to my starter battery for supplying my bow mounted sonar unit. What this means is that for at least part of their runs, they are connected parallel to each other and I suppose it is possible they are inducing signals on each other. I can try disconnecting the part that is connected to my starter battery, since I haven’t been using my front sonar and see if this does anything.
I’m running out of ideas. Any suggestions short of replacing components?
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