Trouble with sounder

[Richardt01]

I just had all my Furuno electronics updated on my 2006 Southport center console. I went from a Vx2 to the new TZT2 and from a 600 wt transom transducer to a Airmar B260 thru hull. My old system worked great but I want to deep drop and it was marginal out past 250'.
My sounder will now only read in very shallow water at very low speeds. I have checked all the settings. Its set for manual 1kw 50/200hz , auto range off, gain 50-60 picture advance 1:1
transmission power 10, bottom level high between -25 and -35 bottom level low between -25 to -35 and still wont read in anything over 10 feet and nothing at any kind of speed in any depth. Even did a hard reset on the unit with no change. Anything else to try? I updated this unit so I could deep drop with it and now I'm dead in the water.
Thank you,
Richard

 

[Snips]

Richard01,
Your settings seem to be in the ballpark, the only one you didn't mention was the TX Rate, which should be at a Manual 20. If you still have the 600 watt transducer on board you could try that to see if you see any difference. If the old works better than the new I would expect a transducer placement issue. Other than that I will need to see a couple of screen shots using both frequencies to help you further.

Snips

 

[Richardt01]

I think that I have TX on auto. I will check it tomorrow and see what I've got and let you know. I was worried about putting a thru hull in my boat because the transom mount worked so well but the transom mount for the new machine was on back order and I had a trip already planned to the Bahamas. Well.... I Ended up fishing blind so I should have kept my old stuff until I got back. But I kind of figured that going in! This has been a two week fiasco and my installer is no help what so ever. Thanks for the reply. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Snips]

Richardt01,
When you have the sounder in the Auto TX mode is adjusts the TX Rate based on the vessels speed. So if you are barely moving so is the TZT2 sounder screen advance.

Snips

 

[Richardt01]

Snips,

I did have the TX on auto so I changed that to 20 and everything works pretty well. I do believe that the installer did not put the transducer in the best spot as the LF band loses bottom for a few beats when the boat is rocking in a sea in 30 feet of water. Its also very spotty at cruising speed of anything over 20 kts and my $69.00 transom mount was clear as a bell on auto fish/cruise. Darn it!

If I was to put a transom mount back on the boat, what transducer would you recommend to use to take full advantage of the TZT2 features? I want to use it foe deep dropping in 1200 feet and also fish inshore 120' for grouper on ledges and hard bottom. It looks like I will have a worthless $1200 hole in my boat!

 

[Snips]

Richardt01,
Good to hear that the sounder is now working better but sorry to hear that the transom ducer is out performing the B-260. Do you know the model number of the transom transducer? If not, you can try setting it for a 525T-PWD or 525-5PWD to see how it works. I don't know how well any of the 600 watt transducers will work for deep dropping as the 50Khz side has only a single element and a very wide beam width (40-42 degrees). So you will probably be able to see the bottom but it will be lacking for fish detection.

Snips