Versa Electronics
www.marcumtech.com
water line to get a good reading. When the ice thickness is over two feet, it
may be necessary to have your transducer set somewhat farther down.
Remember--the less transducer cable you have out, the easier it is to pull it
out of the water when bringing in a fish, or to move to a new location. Under
no circumstances should you ever have the ducer below the ice—this can lead
to the ducer becoming damaged.
It is also important that you keep the cable near the center of the ice hole. We
frequently hear from anglers who allowed their cable to freeze into the side of
the ice hole. If this should happen to you, make sure the unit is turned off
before attempting to chisel it out. If you accidentally cut the ducer cable, do
not try to use that ducer again.
MOVING THE DUCER TO A NEW LOCATION
Being mobile is one of the keys to being successful on the ice. Whenever you
move from one spot to another, it is tempting to leave your transducer hanging
on the transducer arm. This is likely to lead to failure of the transducer arm, and
can cause damage to the transducer itself. Always stow the transducer inside
the pack when you are moving. Keeping the amount of transducer cord you
have out at a minimum will make transporting your Digital Sonar easier.
Similarly, you may need to quickly remove your transducer from the hole when
about to land a fish. We have actually seen anglers in a panic actually grab the
shuttle itself and toss the entire unit to the side. This is no way to treat any
piece of electronics; a much better approach is to simply lift the transducer out
of your way by the cord, and the shuttle itself can be gently pushed aside.
Whenever you are moving via sled or vehicle, always fold up your transducer
arm, stow the transducer inside, and close the protective soft pack.
FISHING IN SHALLOW WATER
The Marcum Digital Sonar is designed to be an effective fishing tool in a wide
variety of environments. Most of the time, simply turning on the unit at factory
default settings is all that is necessary. Shallow water [10 feet or less] can be
problematic without making a few adjustments. If you are having trouble getting
optimal performance out of your Digital Sonar in shallow water, here are some
adjustments to experiment with. Depending on the actual circumstances, one
or more of these adjustments may be necessary. First thing, when in shallow
water, keep your transducer near the surface of the water [at the TOP of the
ice, almost in the air] no matter how thick the ice is. This gives the ducer a little
more room to “work”. Be sure that you manually select the 10 foot range. Next,
press the MENU button, select SONAR SETTINGS, and then scroll to SONAR
MODE. Highlight it and select OPEN WATER MODE. We realize it does not
seem natural to use “OPEN WATER MODE” when you are on the ice, but
making this change will “back off” the gain curve, allowing better performance
in certain ice fishing conditions. Re-enter the SONAR SETTINGS sub-menu
and select MAX PING RATE. Lowering this to "1" can help performance.
Finally, you should also consider changing the color palette from the default
“SIX- COLOR” to one of the three-color palettes.
READING THROUGH ICE
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The Marcum Digital Sonar will provide accurate information reading through
ice providing the ice is reasonably clear. Wet the ice with at least a cup of
water to improve the coupling of the transducer to the ice. Place the face of
the transducer firmly on the wetted ice, and you will now be able to see the
depth displayed digitally, and a signal showing the bottom (and fish) on
whichever sonar windows you have open. Drilling into the ice 1-2” before
taking a reading may be necessary if the surface of the ice is very rough, or
if the ice is filled with air bubbles.
