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“The single biggest mistake made by fishfinder 
owners, is a lack of confidence.”
– John ‘Fishton’ Easton

Firstly  I  would  like  to  thank  you  for  purchasing  this  book,  and  to  
all  of  you  who  bought  my  first  book  and  then  inspired  me  to  do 
another.   There is a lot of truth in the saying - 

“Everybody has a 

book in them, but very few have a second.”

The first Fisherman’s Guide to Sonar was primarily an extension to 
the user manual and installation guide.   A common mistake made 
by many in this high tech fishing industry.  There is no replacement 
for  the  user  manual,  please  read  it  at  least  once  if  you  are 
unfamiliar  with  the  Lowrance  range  that  you  have  bought.    This 
book  is  very  different  as  it  deals  more  with  Sonar  Performance, 
getting the very best out of your investment.

The single biggest mistake made by fishfinder owners, is a lack of 
confidence.  Sure, in some cases it is justified, like the extreme case 
of the chap who recently posted a picture on social media of his LSS 
transducer  mounted  upside  down  with  a  caption  - 

“Can  anybody 

help  as  I  am  getting  no  readings  on  my  DownScan?”

    In  most 

cases though, it is simply a small tweak, or a lack of confidence not 
only in the equipment but in ones self.   I recently experienced this 
frustration myself as I just couldn’t get the results another user was 

getting using the same equipment.  I simply had to accept that our 
conditions  and  targets  are  vastly  different  for  the  specific 
application  at  the  time,  and  there  was  nothing  wrong  with  my 
installation  or  setup.    This  is  why  a  mental  reference  is  so 
important when it comes to sonar, and it’s not just dirty fresh water 
that can give poor sonar results but crystal clear ocean water with 
an  abundance  of  micro  organisms  will  offer  the  same  challenges.  
In  these  cases  we  simply  need  to  learn  how  to  make  the  best  of  a 
bad  situation,  and  not  get  disheartened  when  we  don’t  get  those 
picture perfect returns.

Having  said  that,  one  needs  to  make  sure  that  your  equipment  is 
installed correctly, and you know how to test if it is in fact installed 
perfectly  or  not.    In  most  cases  where  I  have  come  across  a  poor 
installation  /  setup,  it  has  been  on  the  ‘good  advice’  of  a  fellow 
angler who has, in his own words - “Been using 
sonar  all  my  life.”    Unfortunately,  he  has 
obviously  been  doing  it  wrong  all  this  time, 
and  how  many  other  people  has  he  led  into 
the dark? 

I  trust  you  will  enjoy  this  second  edition  of 
Fisherman’s Guide to Sonar and look forward to 
getting some feedback from you, good or bad.

The Author - John ‘Fishton’ Easton

  ii  

• Foreword •

Summary of Contents for HDS Touch Gen3

Page 1: ......

Page 2: ...n the equipment but in ones self I recently experienced this frustration myself as I just couldn t get the results another user was getting using the same equipment I simply had to accept that our con...

Page 3: ...6 Google Earth Windows Mac Android...

Page 4: ...8 SketchUp Mobile Viewer...

Page 5: ...he distance from the transducer so a wide beam is not that essential in fact you want it to be quite small in order to get detail and target separation at great depths 3 Whereas the 200kHz for shallow...

Page 6: ...27 The Transducer HDI 83 200kHz HDI v s TM150 CHIRP Several frequency options were used but the basic settings remained the same The TM150 came out on top in all cases Airmar TM150...

Page 7: ...off the Florida Keys 2 The Lowrance HDI Airmar P66 and TM150M transducers are certainly the most popular transom mount transducers 3 Taking the transducer properties into consideration it is easy to...

Page 8: ...sources 1 Display 1 for charts and narrow beam 50kHz High CHIRP to track the bottom using a TM260 transducer 19 50kHz for example 2 Display 2 for 83kHz Medium CHIRP and StructureScan DownScan and Sid...

Page 9: ...ANT 4 Secure both ends of the hose to a table with clamps with the dotted line facing up Clamping two lengths of timber to either side of the tubing will help stop it from rolling when you cut 5 Split...

Page 10: ...6ft above the weight might have to replace with larger weight of your H marker buoy and drop into 20 30ft of water 2 Make a very slow pass right next to the marker buoy first on 200kHz and then on 83...

Page 11: ...wnScan sonar An interesting observation is that the Elite4 has the same VP as the HDS9 Touch 3 Horizontal Pixels Width SideScan resolution is dependent on horizontal resolution Horizontal resolution a...

Page 12: ...lite7m 3 1 x Elite7 CHIRP 4 1 x N2k Starter Kit 5 1 x N2k T piece and 2ft cable see grey 6 LSS 2 Transducer StructureScanHD 7 Airmar TM150 CHIRP transducer 8 Trolling motor adaptor for HDI transducer...

Page 13: ...1 Slow Cruise 20kph 960ft 292m 2 Fast Troll 10kph 480ft 146m 3 Idle Speed 5kph 240ft 73m 4 Trolling Motor 2 5kph 120ft 37m 2D Sonar in Perspective Tip These distances will be greatly reduced when usi...

Page 14: ...re comfortable fishing go looking for standing timber where the tips stick through the thermocline 2 Even if the actual water depth is 2 3 times what you would normally fish just look for bigger trees...

Page 15: ...SideScan Sonar The Water Column 1 The water column does not simply consist of what s directly beneath the boat but left to right as well 2 The deeper the water the greater this area 010 sidescan colu...

Page 16: ...mounted transducer which is level parallel to keel and with a clear view to the left and right 3 A good quality SD card no more than 8GB with a fast transfer rate 4 An external GPS receiver such as t...

Page 17: ...st swim bladder solid skull construction and large scales 2 Tilapia Next strongest echo due to a medium swim bladder large skeleton and medium scales 3 Largemouth Bass The weakest echo due to a medium...

Page 18: ...CHAPTER 4 SONAR DOCTOR...

Page 19: ...and the plug itself secure 2 Make sure transducer and fishfinder power cables are NOT neatly strapped to trolling motor power cable in bow well 3 Make sure Fishfinder and Trolling Motor supply cables...

Page 20: ...7Ah battery and N2k Starter kit if you have a Point 1 Check power supply problems RF Interference and N2k issues if you have a Point 1 or other external receiver 3 There are a number of Apps available...

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