Side Imaging not working when sitting

[mr_tippy]

Hey guys, I’m new to the fancy marine electronics world and am having some issues with my transdcuer. Yesterday while I was out on the water my side imaging started giving back really fuzzy images when the boat would stop moving. The down imaging and sonar also seemed to be fuzzy. Now, when I would start moving again (trolling or idling) the images would clear up. They’re brand new units as I just bought them this spring and had them installed. They’re Lowrance HDS Live 9s. The transducer mounted at the transom is entirely horizontal and doesn’t appear to have any noticeable defects on the outside of it. I was wondering if anybody had any input on what may be causing me issues? Or anything that I could try to do to clear it up? I don’t recall that I messed with any of the settings yesterday. I was idling into a creek and as soon as I came to a stop I noticed the images were fuzzy and nothing anywhere near clear. You couldn’t make out the bottom of the lake. It sounds a little silly but I ran some gas out of the boat yesterday and was wondering if maybe the boat is not sitting in the water deep enough now because of that? The tank is about 1/4 level (~10 gallons left) which is the lowest I’ve had it since I got the new units. I have yet to test that theory though. Thanks in advance!

[Bandersnatch]

Side imaging only works when moving 

[Russ E]

3 hours ago, Cheif250 said:

Side imaging only works when moving 

This.

Side and down imaging paints a picture of the bottom contour as the boat is moving.  It gives the most accurate picture if the chart speed is close to your boat speed. If you want to see what's happening when the boat is sitting still, switch over to 2d sonar.

[Tennessee Boy]

Does it make a difference if the motor is running or not?

[Bandersnatch]

1 minute ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Does it make a difference if the motor is running or not?

No, boat just needs to be moving. 

[Hower08]

My Helix 7 SI reads perfect at a stand still. Mess with your settings you should be able to get it to read

[flyfisher]

if you're sitting still it will basically just keep reading the same slice of the water over and over and that is what you will see on the screen.  It shouldn't be fuzzy though as you described no matter what the speed.

[mr_tippy]

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

if you're sitting still it will basically just keep reading the same slice of the water over and over and that is what you will see on the screen.  It shouldn't be fuzzy though as you described no matter what the speed.

This is what it used to do. Then yesterday I moved to a creek and as I stopped moving from idling the SI became very fuzzy and blurry. My down imaging and sonar off of that same transducer also became inaccurate for what it should’ve been reading (I was fishing a lake I’m very familiar with trying to understand more about using my units). If you idle though or troll at a higher speed it starts picking up good images again. I don’t know what I have going on but hope somebody on here could possibly give me some insight on what could be going wrong. I have a tournament in 3 weeks and really don’t want to fish it without these things working like they should.

[ntagger57]

Maybe your transducers are the problem. Have it checked, just my opinion.

[LonnieP]

My Lowrance Elite 7ti will get fuzzy if I've been sitting still for a couple minutes,  especially in shallow water. What you're seeing is normal. 

[Further North]

On 8/4/2019 at 9:42 AM, Cheif250 said:

Side imaging only works when moving 

A-Yup...

[Johnbt]

Is there a minimum speed required? 2 mph? 4 mph? Will drifting at 1 mph do it? Unless I'm fishing a reservoir and have my outboard on the transom, my trolling motor tops out at 4 mph.

[Tennessee Boy]

1 hour ago, Johnbt said:

Is there a minimum speed required? 2 mph? 4 mph? Will drifting at 1 mph do it? Unless I'm fishing a reservoir and have my outboard on the transom, my trolling motor tops out at 4 mph.

According to the posts in this thread,  if you have a Lowrance unit, when the screen goes fuzzy you're going too slow.  Apparently this is normal.   My Humminbirds work fine when I'm not moving.

[LonnieP]

4 hours ago, Johnbt said:

Is there a minimum speed required? 2 mph? 4 mph? Will drifting at 1 mph do it? Unless I'm fishing a reservoir and have my outboard on the transom, my trolling motor tops out at 4 mph.

As long as I'm moving , even with the trolling motor on low I get a decent image. 

[Johnbt]

Thanks, sounds good to me. 

[Jleebesaw]

My lowrance units and my old hummingbirds did the same thing. If the boat is not moving, side imaging does not work. There was no fuzziness, but you are getting a constant fine return. So basically, it slowly turns into blended vertical lines. If the boat moves at all, (even a very slow drift) those fine returns will be displaying new information on the screen, appearing as though it is working. This gives many people the impression that it works when they are sitting still, but it is not. The displayed returns are not accurate. You can't slow the display enough to get accurate representations of those returns unless you are moving 1.5-2mph. 2d sonar works at a standstill because of the broad signal returns. This information is pretty easy to find. All major manufacturers have literature available that explains sonar. It is somewhat complicated, but there is plenty of well written information out there. It's not something easily explained on a forum.

[BigTerp]

To get the best picture, at least on a Humminbird Helix, chart speed should match boat speed in MPH. 

[Tennessee Boy]

I have to disagree with some of the comments in this thread.  Sonar units work by sending out pings and then graphing the signals as they return over time.  Then a history of the results of these pings are scrolled from right to left.  That’s how 2D, DI, and SI all work.  The speed of the boat has nothing to do with how it works.  Now if you want a pretty picture of that tree on the bottom then yes you need to be moving at a certain speed.  Move a little faster and the tree will look a little shorter.  Move slower and it will look longer.  You would need to know the dimensions of the tree to judge if the image of the tree is somewhat accurate.  The same is true with down imaging.  Move fast and that drop off will look steep,  move slow and it will look more gradual.  To accurately interpret sonar results,  you need to realize that you are looking at history not an accurate rendering of the bottom.  Matching chart speed to boat speed is very subjective.  

 

Side imaging can be useful when moving very slow.   For example, it can be used to maintain a position a certain distance from a ledge when you are trying to parallel it.  You may not be able to recognize objects on the bottom but that doesn’t mean that the results are not accurate and useful.