Sonar Troubles

[Bassmaster-ND]

[cool]Hey everyone, its been a while for me. I'm back


I've had an eagle cuda 168 on my fish cat 4 for quite some time now and have really been dissapointed with it. It looks nothing like it does on simulation. Tubedude does yours look like it does on simulation??

Also whenever i am in the 0-20ft or 0-40ft range it the bottom of the lake always goes up to the 3rd notch on the right side. Does this happen to anyone else??

[inline P8090321.jpg]


Moving the transducer around does nothin at all to change it.

anyhelp is appreciated
thanks guys[cool]
[signature]

[cat_man]

I also have the Eagle Cuda 168 and a FC4. You should be able to change the depth range manually using the settings. If you leave it on auto, it usually figures out the best depth range to display, but if not you can manually select the range. See the following link to download the manual for the Eagle Cuda 168:

http://www.eaglesonar.com/Downloads/Manuals/default.asp

Or the direct link to the file itself is:

http://www.eaglesonar.com/Downloads/Manu...111902.pdf

The manual says (on page 35) that you can push the menu button until it reads "Range Zoom", then push the down arrow to "Manual", then press "Menu Up" to display the Range size menu. From there you can select 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, or 640 feet.

If you're in 15 feet of water, selecting 0-20 feet will make the bottom 1/4 of the screen dark (because it's below the bottom of the lake). If you select 0-10 feet range, then you'll only see the top 10 feet of the water column. Of course if you're in the 0-20 feet range and the water you're in is only 10 feet deep, half of the screen will be black.

I haven't seen any problem with mine (although the only water I've taken it into so far has a max depth of only 10 feet).
[signature]

[Bassmaster-ND]

the sensitivity and range mode are on auto[unsure]
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]From what I can see of the screen pic you posted, it looks like some surface clutter in the display too. The problem may well be in the "default" (auto) settings. If the sensitivity is too high, you will get more blotches and streaks in the readout. If it is set too low, you will not see fish "targets", unless they are bigguns. Try manually reducing the sensitivity and maybe changing the fish icon display back and forth a couple of times.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have never paid attention to where the bottom line shows up on my display, but I am going to be out again in the next few days and will pay more attention. I do recall that it generally reflects the percentage of the depth in relation to the range your unit is in. In your attached picture, it looks like the range is up to 40 (lower left corner) and the depth is about 18 ft. That puts the percentage at just less than half...which is about where the bottom line shows. Try zooming or manually changing the ranges and see what happens.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Didn't you have some problems with the first unit you bought and have to return it? I am wondering if you have another defective system.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[Bassmaster-ND]

I was just wondering because if you put it in simulation mode your in what 100+ft of water right? and your definetly higher than the 40ft range and the bottom of the water(waterline) is right on the bottom of the screen and even shows dips in the bottom of the lake. so why wouldnt it do the same when your in the 40ft range? why would it be up to the 3rd notch?

and if you have it like they do in simulation mode on a range higher than 40ft, the bottom water line (on the screen) goes higher than the 3rd notch and the whole picture gets alot smaller (granted when it tried this I was not in 100+ ft of water)

But i guess what i'm really wondering is where are your guy's bottom lines at? similar to mine?

or do i have another bad unit
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I think maybe you need to ignore the demo mode and take your sonar over a range of depths and bottom conditions, to get a good read on how it handles. Most sonars simply read the signal they get back and have basic programming to display what they think they see. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Cudas are not the highest quality and clearest resolution units on the market, but they do a good job of reading depth, temp and bottom contours...usually. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you truly believe that your unit is malfunctioning, then return it. They do have a 1 year warranty.[/#0000ff]
[signature]