side imaging sonar issue - NJFishing.com Your Best Online Source for Fishing Information in New Jersey

Chrisper4694 · #1 07-13-2016, 05:08 PM

maybe someone here has experienced this and has an easy solution...

my side imaging and down imaging are really blurry and pixelated. if i switch from regular sonar to side imaging the view it shows prior to me switching it looks fine, but immediately starts the crappy scanning and you can clearly see the difference. I took a picture of it to post. the red arrows i drew on there show the point when i switched the screen from regular sonar to side imaging.

I talked to humminbird already and they weren't much help but i'd like to avoid sending it in if possible. I'm going to try resetting to factory settings to see if that fixes it. The guy kept telling me maybe it was how i had it mounted but i've always had it the same way and i've only started experiencing this the last couple of trips.

ScowardNJ · #2 07-14-2016, 09:27 AM

Voltage issue? Maybe try connecting to an independent fully charged battery and see what happens? I sometimes get interference from other electric systems on the boat.

Mikey topaz · #3 07-14-2016, 11:46 AM

Thats a question for the greek, best bet send him a pm hes about to become a dad anyday now and super busy but he will def kno for sure

acabtp · #4 07-14-2016, 12:51 PM

settings might be called different in the bird, but ping speed is maxed out and scroll speed is set to normal?

Chrisper4694 · #5 07-14-2016, 01:36 PM

scroll speed is set higher than normal to match my speed (that's what i'm supposed to do as i understand it but idk) ping i'm not sure i'll have to check it.

It is hooked up to its' own personal battery not shared with anything else.

acabtp · #6 07-14-2016, 03:38 PM

yeah i'd try setting the scroll speed back to normal. it looks to me like it's just scrolling too fast and scrolling at 1x when you aren't viewing that screen.

Chrisper4694 · #7 07-14-2016, 09:41 PM

Ok I'll see if that helps

jimmythegreek · #8 07-15-2016, 03:19 PM

looks like interference to me at quick glance. if you have it on its own battery try your trolling motor at full speed and see what it looks like. then shut motor off after gaining momentum and see what it looks like with motor on. Trolling motors have pulse width modulation to save battery and you can get interference from just being near it, and it can happen randomly too. If you determine its got nothing to do w the trolling motor at all set the display to show you battery voltage and make sure you are close to 12v or higher (11.7 and lower starts problem with humminbirds) and if thats OK too its a transducer issue most likely, its rarely a unit issue. If you registered the unit go and download the latest update and update the unit, if you didnt do it now and update it w latest software. It is wierd that its clear until you actually change the view to SI then starts to do that. not sure how the helix frequency is I run the big units but you may be able to switch 455 for 800mhz see if that does anything. sending unit in isnt worth it you can reload software yourself from SD card. your transducer will still be under warranty, the helix has the compact SI transducer not the HD one so you will never get pics like you see on the net but even those are hard to come by. let us know how you make out Chris

Ken Lyons · #9 07-15-2016, 04:12 PM

I get what is obviously TM interference because it shows up when I switch the TM on. It often goes away after that but not always. ThE FF is on a separate batterY too. I' m wondering if the wire tompoweR the FF' being parrallel to the wires that power the TM could be the problem.

jimmythegreek · #10 07-15-2016, 07:20 PM

Ken you can get interference from the TM just being in the boat with other electronics, all depends on your setup. If you have universal sonar in the TM you almost always get interference. I use the ferrite ring trick on all units I wire up regardless of the setup to avoid it, cheap insurance. Ive gone as far as to open up the TM and add a seperate ground wire to the hull if aluminum and that is a guaranteed fix but some ppl worry about warranty on new stuff. Hbirds are worst than lowrance, lowrance is pretty good with their shielding on the transducer wires. You can always turn up the noise filter and you will eliminate any interference, but I like many wanna see every blip and baitfish possible, I run my sonar raw with no filters, after a while you can tell what everything is just takes some time to play with it and learn it.