Optimal Transmit Rate and Power Settings

[Quitsa]

How do I determine the optimal settings for transmit rate and power output with my DFF1 (displayed on MFD12s)?. I have the Airmar paired SS264W 200Hz and 50Hz tilted element transducers and the performance has been disappointing to me compared to my old boat's system, which was a BBFF1 with an M260 in-hull. I don't get "arches" and there don't seem to be as many fish or bait balls on the display.

I have tried playing with the settings but don't get much of a visible change. Thanks.

 

[Snips]

Quitsa,
Thanks for using the Furuno Forum. In testing the BBFF1 vs. the DFF1 we found little difference in their over all sensitivity, but because of the filtering the DFF1 will give you a much cleaner picture. When running these sounder I prefer using a 1/1 screen advance, TX rate at 20 and power at 10. I think the bigger difference may be in the transducers. In my humble opinion the M-260 has a pretty good edge over the SS264. You went from a seven elements on 50Khz down to three. True you also went from a in-hull to a thur-hull which helps but I still think the M-260 has a higher efficiency than the SS264.

One other thing you can try to adjust on the DFF1 is the TVG setting. You will find this in the system menu under the DFF1 tab of the MFD12.

Snips

 

[Quitsa]

I am not sure you are making the correct comparison. The S264 50Hz has the same number elements (7) as the M260 but has a much lower "Q" so it should be more sensitive, not less even ignoring the advantage of being through-hull. I think you are confusing it with the B164 which does have three elements and is a much lower performance unit than either an M260 or SS264. All the 200Hz are single crystal but the SS264W has a wider beam (but higher Q). If cost is any indication, an SS26$ pair is more than twice as much as an M260 and Airmar usually does price their products to reflect performance.

That's why I am disappointed!

 

[Snips]

Quitsa,
You were correct I was thinking of the B-164. My mistake, I got to quit drinking decaf. The SS264 elements are pretty close to the B-260 which we use for testing. The picture below was a DFF1/B-260 combination. Do you have a screen shot you can post?

Snips