Wiring up 38bl-9hr

Hi snips . Ok so I'm not 100% happy with my r109 tranny. And still own my old 38bl 9hr. What I'm wanting to do is when out deep , have a look around with the r109, and then stop and wore in the 38 bl - 9hr. And hang the tranny over the side on a pole to suss out which is better to use.

So I guess I just need advice or pictures of how to disconnect the r109 and connect in the 38 bl 9hr?

Thanks you for your help

Good morning Chewbaca,

First power off the sounder. You will need to disconnect the R109 LF wires from the LF terminal on the back of the unit. The LF terminal is labeled J5. Take a photo of the terminal so you know what wires to put back when you replace the R109 LF terminal.

Next wire in the CA38BL-9R. The Red Wire will go to J5-1 and the black wire will go to J5-3.
Please keep in mind that polarity of the transducer wires is important on this machine.



Once the CA38BL-9HR is installed you can change the LF Tap setting to Tap-B.

Then power on the sounder while holding the [Menu] button down. That will get you into the transducer setup menu. On the LF setup choose "Connected," set the frequency to "38," choose the transducer CA38BL-9HR. Then power down the sounder by holding the power button down. Once the sounder is completely shut off, turn it back on.

You could also do the same thing but instead of removing the LF R109 channel you could remove the R109 HF channel and install the CA38BL-9HR in the high frequency port. Set it up using the info above but do it on the HF Channel. Then you can run the sounder in Dual frequency. So you would get an apples to apples comparison between the R109 LF and the CA38 LF.

Hey c bass. Thank u very much.

Just wondering..... how do I change the tap setting?

Also, if I was to do the apples for Apple's comparison..ie....wore the 38bl into the high frequency port , would the fact it is wired into the HF side, effect it's performance? Ie... would it be different to wiring it into the LF side? And on a side note. If running the r109 and 38bl at the same time for the apples comparison, wouldn't the two running at the same time under the boat cause alot if electrical interference to Each other??

Thanks again..Shane

Good afternoon Chewbucca,

I noticed I misspelled your forum name in the previous post, so I appologize for that. As you can tell by my mistake that I am a huge Star Wars fan, I saw your name and my brain instantly went to Chewbacca!

The FCV295 has two channels, as long as they are set right they will both perform at the optimum level. It does not matter if you plug a low frequency transducer to the HF terminal. As long as that channel is setup to run the operating frequency, output power, and impedance matching it will perform. On many commercial fishing boats, only LF transducer's are used, so often times the HF Channel has a LF transducer around 50kHz or lower. It just needs to be setup properly.

Please refer to the installation manual to learn how to adjust the Tap Settings.

Below is a picture comparing an Airmar 50kHz(LF Channel) transducer to a Furuno 50kHz transducer (HF Channel), I have the 295 running in dual frequency mode. The Furuno transducer on the right hand side or HF was mounted to a pole using a pipe clamp. Then we secured it to a lobster davit so it was not quite pointing directly at the bottom so the bottom "Redness" is not quite a dark but you notice that the picture looks fine with minimal interference. In the photo we were comparing the bottom tail between the two transducers, we find that with low "Q" transducer's they do not show as much of the bottom tail which is quite important for lobster fishing. This becomes extremely evident with the High Frequency testing of the two transducers. See photo below. Again the Airmar transducer running at 200kHz is in the LF Channel and the Furuno Transducer running at 200kHz is in the HF Channel or right side of the photo.

Thank You very much c bass. I will try this out when I'm next out fishing. :jump

Hi guys. I haven't been out for a while, but am planning on it soon. I had a look today at wiring up the 38bl, (the r109 is still currently wired in. My question is... therre appears to be a wire going into the no.2 socket on both the low and high frequency side on the r109.wiring..into the back of the fcv295, yet the 38bl only has 2 wires as u explained (1 black, 1 red). Just want to be sure... with wiring up the 38bl is there no need for any wire to be in the no.2 (middle socket)? Thanks for your help

Good morning Chewbucca,

Good observation. The installation manual shows J4-2 and J5-2 as no connection. Sometimes I have seen the transducer shield wire go into that location. But J4-2 and J5-2 does not have continuity with the case ground so it should not be used to case ground the shield wire for the transducer.

Hi C bass. Thanks a lot for the reply. Can I ask.. on the attached pic of the transducer setup, what do I select on the first line(transducer select)??

Good morning Chewbucca,

Please use the following:

XDCR Select: XDCR Type
HF Connection: Connected
Frequency: 38kHz
Transducer: 38BL-9HR



C-Bass

Thanks a lot C-bass ! How would u expect the 38bl 9hr to perform against the r109 in deep water? 350-400m?

Good afternoon Chewbucca,

I can't honestly give you answer about that, if i did it would only be theoretical. I have not had a chance to compare those two transducers against each other on the same fishing grounds at the same time. It would be best to test yourself if you can.

C-Bass

No worries thanks a lot for your help . !!