Eagle FishMark 320

[CrappieAttitude]

I am looking at getting a new fishfinder, and really liked the features of this particular model. I am not lookning at spending a boatload on one, but this one seems to be very reasonable in price, and has all of the features that I am looking for. Any of you guys out there own one af these and have anything to say about them. I would appreciate any feedback on the unit. Both pros and cons would be ok.

Thanks,

CA

[Surface Tension]

I never use the fish ID. One main reason is you limit yourself to 3 sizes of fish symbols. What if your in a thermocline, or schools of minnows, you'd mark those as fish. How about weeds and stumps, those will show up as fish symbols as well.

If you turn the fish ID off you will get more out of your sounder. More then a piece of softwear can do using 3 fish symbols.

[sparcebag]

Surface When you speak of gain,is that sensitivity

[sparcebag]

Eric do you have an instruction booklet? that explains the difference fairly good.It recomends after you learn your unit you'll not use the fish ID because the arches are more senaitive and dont show much clutter where the fish ID could mark turtles as fish branchs etc.

[Surface Tension]

Gain/Sensitivity are the same thing.

Not to be confused with Suppression. Some old sounders used the suppression and still do. Vexilar's still utilize it.

You can download an emulator from Eagle's site.

[CrappieAttitude]

So I purchased the 320. I mounted it and used it for the first time last weekend on Mille Lacs. I was pretty happy with what I was seeing with it. One thing I noticed is that at higher speeds it clutters up pretty quick. Is this due to the sensitivity setting, or due to the fact that it is 1500 watts of peak-to-peak power compared to the 2400's and up?

For those of you that own them, do you keep your sensitivity settings at the same spot when traveling at higher speeds? Would this clutter be reduced by adjusting my sensitivity? What have you experienced?

CA

[Questor]

I have one too, and was one of your early posters on this thread. It's probably a combination of both wattage and sensitivity. I have found that it is best to adjust the sensitivity to the body of water I am on. Some lakes, for instance, have quite a lot of clutter and others don't. I just adjust the sensitivity until I get the best picture. Of all of the controls on the unit, I use the sensitivity adjustment the most. Once I get it set to the body of water, I don't need to adjust it again that day (typically).

As for speed, try adjusting the angle of the transducer until you get the best picture. My boat goes maybe 20mph and at that speed I get depth readings but no clear picture of the bottom. Another possibility is that, on mine, I had to get some epoxy putty to smooth out an area where the hull meets the bracket that my transducer is on. I think the bubbles were interfering with it at speed. The epoxy putty I'm referring to was purchased at Walmart automotive department for a couple of bucks. It is a stick with the resin and the hardener separated in such a way that you pinch a section off, then knead it and mold it to the thing you are epoxying. Very simple and very slick.

[Kyle Sandberg]

If I kinda understand it, are you saying the structure is getting piled up? If it is, just increase the scrowl pace before you speed up.

[CrappieAttitude]

Is the scroll pace the same as the ping speed?

[sparcebag]

Crappie search for Eagle sonar get their site they have all your questions answered.They also have a download of the 320 for using on your computer to learn the functions.

[Surface Tension]

Your going to have some amount of surface clutter. Increase the speed and you'll get more. Thats normal.

What you need to do is make sure the transducer is mounted correctly and in a good location.

You can reduce the clutter by lowering your gain. You can also go into you menu and use Advanced Signal Processing/Noise Rejection. Just remember you should be finding out where the noise/interference is coming from and get ride of it if you can then use Noise Rejection.

In your case like I said check the transducer location and installation.

Lastly, noise while going at high speed wouldn't be a big concern to me. I'd much rather have the sounder tweaked for fishing.

Read the manual and download the emulator to get a feel for your new toy. In time you'll get used to it but you really should learn as much as you can about its functions to get its full benefits.

[Ranckenstuff]

Quote:

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Is the scroll pace the same as the ping speed?

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There is a scroll speed and ping speed in the menu

Increase ping speed when traveling at a higher speed. I believe the 320 has 0-100% ping speed, but only two "notches" it can bet set at. (40 % regular fishing speed) and 100 % fast moving.

Also the zoom/split screen function is VERY nice. If I am fishing 30 feet I will zoom in 4x on the left screen. This shows the bottom zoomed in to roughly 10 feet, while on the right side you see the full water column and can distinguish hard and soft bottom.

Also when using the split screen go the the menu and bring up the column that changes depths. This helps when you are fishing various depths, and instead of going to the menu, all you do is press the arrow up or down while the depth changes...