Bottom Machine

[TunaTeaser1]

I don't know what our transducer is but I am doubting the credibility of our bottom machine. It is a Furuno fcv 1100 so I know the unit is good.

I don't know if some of the settings aren't good or what but sometimes it marks fine, but other times I know we should be getting marks and were not. Can anyone give me some advice on this?
Thanks,
Alex

[Capt. Fred]

Are you using it in the manual mode? I generally don't trust anything in the auto mode. I set the gain till I am getting just a bit of "snow" on the screen. Will it do dual frequency? Sometimes things will show on one and not the other under some circumstances.

[Southshore Marine Service]

That 1100 is a fishing machine for sure. Make sure you have it in manual and set it like Capt Fred said. That is one of the best sounders Furuno has ever made in my book

[TunaTeaser1]

I'm assuming it's in manual mode? We run dual frequency all the time and just this past weekend a lot was showing up on 200 and almost nothing on 50. I adjust the gain as high as I can without getting distortion and continually check it with varying depth when I'm on the bridge. It seems like we always get marks at the same depth level and that alone strikes me as odd. Maybe a thermocline? Maybe fish are there but we are always marking crap at around 200 feet it seems like. It happens too much to be coincidence I think but maybe I'm wrong.
I guess I need to double check the manual setting?

[fishbard]

You have to put it in manaul mode, if you don't know it's in that mode, it ain't in it. I feel your pain, I hate reading the manual, too. However, it is very useful. Furuno sonar is great, you should be able to get it to do much better.

[Capt. Fred]

Yeah, double check your manual to be sure it is completely in manual mode. On my Raymarine unit there are about 5 steps to do that. I can put one function in manual and still have several functions working on auto. PITA in my opinion. Not sure how yours works but it may be similar.

Regarding the marks at 200 feet, I'm not sure what that could be. Does it matter what depth you are in? It may be a thermocline but they usually vary from day to day.

Another trick for setting your gain is to set the depth for a little over two times the depth you are actually in and turn up the gain till you get a slight second bottom echo down below the real bottom. Then you set it back to the proper depth and you are good to go. I had an old video unit that worked great when I took the time to set it up that way.

[TunaTeaser1]

Thanks for the help, I'm not sure if my dad has put it in manual mode previously but knowing him I doubt it. Thanks again.
-Alex

[offshore]

You also need to jump over board and check to make sure the ducer is clean and with no growth....Mark

[Capt. Fred]

Yup, good point Mark. It doesn't take much to get them acting funky.