I really wish you'd take it to someone who knows what they're doing to inspect it. I've never heard of anyone having so much trouble with multiple units. I don't know, perhaps you're expecting too much out of the unit? I can't understand why either the Hbird or the Lowrance is giving you so much trouble. All I know is that you've had such a tough time getting either unit to work while thinking it's installed correctly. You really, really need to have it checked out by someone who's experienced. I promise you, there is at least one simple thing that's being overlooked. I wish you were close enough for me to see what's up with it. Perhaps there is another Crappie.com member in your area that can help out. Have you tried posting for help on the Fl board?

As for the settings, the default settings right out of the box are dang near perfect and I wouldn't change a thing until I was more familiar with the operation of the unit. You can always reset them to default too.