dual sounders

[JESSE JAMES]

does anybody run dual sounders while fishing? i am having problems with my two. i have a Garmin 431s,(chartplotter and sounder), on my console and i have a Garmin 300 fishfinder on the bow. both units will work in harmony some of the time but then i start to get incorrect bottom readings. once this starts the units will not correct themselves until i turn them off and then on again.

i contacted Garmin and they are telling me it is probably because both units are running at the same time. if that were the case i should have incorrect readings most of the time because most of the time both units are on at the same time. also i will experience same problem with only one unit on.

any suggestions out there. if know fix is found am thinking of switching to Raymarine.

[CatFan]

It's going to be the same with any brand. Once the water gets deep enough for the cones to overlap, you are going to get interference. Usually starts around 20ft in a 20ft boat, but it can be worse if either transducer is tilted slighly toward the boat. I just turn my console sonar off when I get up to go to the bow.

[Wannabe...]

Agree with cat.

It's not the brand that is the problem. The intermittency of the issue is due to changing water conditions, depth, speed etc. Once the intereference starts, the processor can't straighten itself out, that's why you have to turn it off and back on. If you're leaving the console on and spinning it around to use the chartplotter, you may can just turn the transducer off so you don't get inteference on the front. Not sure if the Garmin can do that through the menus though. you might could just disconnect the transducer cable too for the same effect, although that'd be a pain.

Wannabe...