10
11
GAIN CONTROL
The knob located at the top of the control panel is the gain control.
This controls the amount of signal that you see on the display. A gain
setting of zero will display a minimum amount of signal while a gain
setting of ten will show the maximum amount. Different conditions will
require different gain settings. Deeper water will require higher gain
than shallow water. A weedy bottom will demand a lower gain setting
than a clean bottom. Keep the gain level low. Too much gain can "wash
out" the targets that you want to see. Generally, it is a good idea to set
the gain at an appropriate level and leave it there. Only change the gain
level if the water depth or conditions change.
INTERFERENCE REJECTION*
The orange button in the middle of the panel controls the Interference
Rejection feature. The red LED to the upper left of the I.R. button tells
you if the rejection circuitry is on. The I.R. feature has ten steps of
rejection to let you eliminate unwanted interference from another
nearby depth finder. When you turn on the FL-8SE on, the I.R.
automatically comes on to the first step. If necessary, press the I.R.
button repeatedly until the interference is eliminated. You can press the
button nine times before you get back to the first step again. Turning the
unit off and then on again will also reset the I.R. back to the first step. To
turn the I.R. feature off press the Gain control knob. The red LED will
also go off.
TIP
- If running two units with the Vexilar Interference Rejection
feature, it is best to turn the I.R. off on one unit and then eliminate the
interference using the other unit.
* Patent #5,515,339
TYPICAL INDICATIONS
The three-color display on the FL-8SE can give you a lot of
information if you know how to read it. A color represents the strength
of a signal. A red color indicates a strong signal, an orange color
indicated a medium strength signal, and green represents a weak signal.
The colors will combine to indicate objects, such as bottom echoes,
structure, fish, and plankton. The way in which they combine, and the
speed in which they do so, tells you what is what.
The following examples illustrate some of the different conditions
that you may encounter and what the display on the FL-8SE may look
like.
HARD BOTTOM
Under these conditions the bottom will be almost all red, although
you will always see some orange and green at the trailing edge, as in
figure J. A sharp red leading edge tells you that the bottom is very clean.
If you were to move from a hard bottom to a softer -bottom you would
see a change in color to more orange and green. Try not to change the
Gain setting as you move around.
WEEDY BOTTOM
In weedy conditions the bottom can be harder to determine. Figure
K gives you an idea of what it may look like. To find the bottom in weeds
it is important to keep the gain control low. If the gain is too high the
bottom and the weeds will "run together" making it difficult to determine
the actual depth. Some weed beds can be so dense that they will display
as solid red, even at medium gain. If you fish in these conditions often
you may want to add an S-Cable to your system (see page 27).