Sonar newbie questions

[GonFishin]

I recently purchased a lowrance elite 4 chirp for my little scamp. I went ahead and purchased the HDI transducer so I could use the down scan. I have taken it out twice and have been struggling with the settings. One second it seems like the sonar is to sensitive so I adjust it and then it doesn't pick up hardly anything although the downscan shows multiple objects in the water. I'm not sure about noise rejection or surface clarity. Seems like everything changes when you adjust these. Plus the downscan does not produce the clear pictures I really thought it would. I will say that I am in farely shallow water. Roughly 10-20 feet. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

[Kevin22]

Reset her back to default and start over. 

You aren't around any other units so you should have interference OFF. 
The surface clarity should be on low to start
Put it in manual mode and advanced mode. 
Color palette in either white/blue/black fish reveal.
Turn aplitude scope on 
In 10-20 feet put color line to 52 and sensitivity to about 60-65 and adjust sensitivity from there
You can use auto depth if you want, or just leave it in 20ft setting. 
 

Try those settings and see what happens. 

For the down imaging, to adjust that you have to go to just down imaging page and adjust settings from there. 

[GonFishin]

This is what I'm looking for.   A solid starting point.  Thank you. 

[GonFishin]

Another question I feel dumb to ask, but here goes....  As I state in my original post, this is on a small scamp boat.  I have the transducer mounted on the trolling motor which in turn is mounted to the front of the small boat.  From what I can understand what I am seeing on the screen is what I am currently passing over correct? So would it make since to cast out of the back of the boat?  I know that it does help to know bottom structure and at what depth the fish are holding, just not sure if I am getting the full potential from this unit.  Thanks again.

[Robeng]

You are correct. What u are passing over goes from right to left on screen.  Depending how fast u are going will dictate how far behind u is now headed towards left side of screen. I have transducer mounted on my stern and Lowrance Elite5 HDI is mounted at console.  I fish mostly from the bow knowing what i just passed over is behind me.  So if i see fish or structure/cover i often turn boat around to go back and recheck the area.  Lots of good info on this website.  Search for further good info.  You tube has some really good videos on unuts showing how to read, settings, etc.  Search Wayne P on this site for his screen shots.  Excellent info.  Hope that helps.  

Forgot>>>Wayne P and others have screenshots at the top of this Electronics category.   Enjoy.