I have a Tracker Superguide V16 with a Humminbird 788ci HD DI on the console and the transducer mounted on the transom. On the bow I have a Lowrance Elite 7 HDI with the transducer mounted on the trolling motor. I would like to move the Lowrance transducer to the transom, will this work or will the two units interfere with each other?
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Transducer interference
- Thread starter Fyresq
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enginerd
Well-known member
Short answer, yes, they will interfere with each other.
Long answer: If you are operating both transducers in close proximity, they will interfere with one another and I would be surprised if you weren't getting some interference even with them mounted on opposite ends of the boat. Doing a quick internet search I see that the Humminbird operates on 83/200-kHz. The Lowrance could be set up with either 83/200-kHz or 50/200-kHz for it's primary sonar. Regardless of the set-up on the Lowrance, the high frequency is identical (200-kHz) and will result in "cross-talk" between the transducers. Your high frequency is what provides more detail and is used in shallower water. If you have the 50-kHz transducer for the Lowrance, the interference operating on the low frequency wouldn't be as bad, but even operating at different frequencies two transducers place next to one another are going to make things noisy for each other and result in degraded performance.
Now, if you're using the "down view" sonar on the Lowrance, it operates on 455/800-kHz and you should be able to operate it with out cross-talk, but again, if they're mounted closely even though the frequencies are different you will likely get interference. The reason the Lowrance is able to operate both it's standard sonar (83/200- or 50/200-kHz) with the down view sonar from the same transducer is that it probably triggers both transmit pulses at the same time, so that one doesn't drown out the other (i.e. if both transmit at the same time, neither one is transmitting while the other is trying to listen for it's echo).
Just curious, why do you want both transducers co-located and operating at the same time?
Long answer: If you are operating both transducers in close proximity, they will interfere with one another and I would be surprised if you weren't getting some interference even with them mounted on opposite ends of the boat. Doing a quick internet search I see that the Humminbird operates on 83/200-kHz. The Lowrance could be set up with either 83/200-kHz or 50/200-kHz for it's primary sonar. Regardless of the set-up on the Lowrance, the high frequency is identical (200-kHz) and will result in "cross-talk" between the transducers. Your high frequency is what provides more detail and is used in shallower water. If you have the 50-kHz transducer for the Lowrance, the interference operating on the low frequency wouldn't be as bad, but even operating at different frequencies two transducers place next to one another are going to make things noisy for each other and result in degraded performance.
Now, if you're using the "down view" sonar on the Lowrance, it operates on 455/800-kHz and you should be able to operate it with out cross-talk, but again, if they're mounted closely even though the frequencies are different you will likely get interference. The reason the Lowrance is able to operate both it's standard sonar (83/200- or 50/200-kHz) with the down view sonar from the same transducer is that it probably triggers both transmit pulses at the same time, so that one doesn't drown out the other (i.e. if both transmit at the same time, neither one is transmitting while the other is trying to listen for it's echo).
Just curious, why do you want both transducers co-located and operating at the same time?
enginerd said:
The trolling motor is a Powerdrive V2 and I have to keep an eye on it as I steer or the transducer cable gets hung up on the mount. It's annoying enough when using the foot control and I'm adding an iPilot so it I imagine it will become an bigger issue. I've found ideas online to fix the problem but I figured the easiest thing is to just move it to the transom.
To be honest I probably don't really need to run them both at the same time, but it would be nice to not have to keep powering them up and down every time I make a short move.
Wyatt
Well-known member
Do you happen to have a picture of how the transducer cable is tied to the trolling motor?
