Garmin

[salty pig]

Hi new to the site and have a question. I have a garmin 168 sounder that came with the boat. I can see the bottom when on the sonar page but my depth will flash other than what it is showing on the screen. Any clues? have cleaned off the xducer.
 Thanks

[CapBob]

Is your transducer Hull or Transum mount? If it is transum mounted it might be at wrong angle or you might be getting air cavitation if it is mounted in the wrong place.

[salty pig]

Sorry its  transom . I thought same thing but I can see the bottom contour on the screen the depth just doesnt move it only flashes like if the bottom is 24 it'll flash anything but what im seeing on the screen. cant read or see bottom when moving cause of the cavitation. but drifting i see bottom contour.

[Hotrod]

Do you have a manual?

if not is this it?
http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/GPSMAP168Sounder_OwnersManual.pdf

here is the tranducer page..  they are all the same..

[CapBob]

You got me on this one, best to call Garmin....

[Reel Time]

 to hell with calling garmin,, not with a perfect chance for a brandnew toy, and its not even close to xmas,,,


 but on a little more serious note, could be a ton of things. but i would assume its in the unit somewhere, sounds like you got missing info. bad placement/ and or angle would still give a depth even if it wasnt correct.

[Capt. Ed]

Hi All,

Call Garmin and get th "Master Reset" sequence of keys. Any technician should be able to help. They may also have you update the software to the latest version if you have not already done so. I have had good success with their website for this type stuff. Their "WebUpdater" software works well.

If the Master (or Hard) Reset does not work, it is probably in the head unit. If out of warranty, it is a tough call to fix or buy a new one.

Does the scale work on the side of the screen when displaying the bottom? Does the scale change as you enter different depths of water?

Thanks,

Captain Ed

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Salty,

Here is something that I noticed yesterday.

The water had a lot of particulate matter and debris in it. I do not use the "automatic settings" on my fishfinder (Raymarine DS500X). I had the power level at 100% and the gain pretty high. I noticed that the depth would blink once in a while. This is probably because it lost the bottom momentarily on a particular ping.

My point - is your unit on "Automatic"? If not, put all appropriate settings on "Automatic" and see if the blinking goes away. Mine did ... I eventually lowered the "Gain" settings and I was OK.

Do you use "Automatic" or "Manual" settings for power and gain? This could be the source of what you are seeing.

If you don't have the manual, Garmin has them on their website I believe.

Thanks,

Capt. Ed

[salty pig]

Yea I use manual I usually set it at what depth i'm at and watch the bottom I did notice I had to raise the gain  on Monday couldnt pick up the bottom. Think I may just save for a new color one next year. Might be pushing it with wife since I just boat the boat    Damn thing comes and goes but mostly its gone LOL

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Salty,

So, if you get a chance can you put it in automatic mode and confirm that the bottom reading is stable?

There are many folks following threads like this.

This points out a good issue. I am constantly changing the manual settings during a trip depending on water depth; if there is small particles in the water; and temperature. That is the tradeoff ... you have to constantly make changes for a better look underneath you.

There is probably nothing wrong with the unit. If you want a new one, get a nice color unit.

Good luck,

Capt. Ed

[salty pig]

Think I have done that in the past and the unit would default to either to 999 ft or to 5 ft and flash. since im not in that depth i couldnt see the bottom contour. Im going out on Friday IF i can find  someone to go out with. ill test it than and let you guys know.

 Hmmmm Nice 7" color combo  next year just dont tell the wife.

[mboy]

Sh!t, I was going to go with a 7" Lowrance 28hd last week, but the place with the best prices was out of stock and weren't sure if they would be able to get it to me by last week (didn't want to wait or pay more for same unit since I planned on having boat pulled over weekend).

Well, I was eyeing a Standard Horizon Cp1000 10.4" display unit for a measly $300 more, so guess what I did?

Yep, pissed away more money,lol.

At least I wil be able to see the screen form a god distance away. I am terribly nearsighted, even with glasses/cintacts.

At least the wife was like, get the bigger display, you know you want to,lol.

[salty pig]

ill just fish next to you and read your  finder from my boat 

[IrishAyes]

ill just fish next to you and read your  finder from my boat 

Too funny! 

[mboy]

You will probably be able to.
Hell, I can hook up a DVD player to it and watch DVD's as well (good for my kid if he gets bored,lol).

[salty pig]

DVD for the kid or you buying one of those DVD that has HUGE fish images so the other boats think your over the mother load??

[mboy]

DVD of empty bottom so they all leave me alone

[ped579]

There you go.  Sounds like a plan.