Quote Originally Posted by rnvinc View Post
Pappy the learning curve is not as difficult as it may seem...

1. Always be aware of the shape of your sonar beam (I think you have that mental picture already)...
2. Always be aware of how those individual sonar pings (in that sonar beam shape) are plotted on your screen (I think you have that mental picture already)...
3. Time practicing....

I think you will be glad you put that unit on the front with you.....

The front is where you fish...Your most advantageous tool (your E5DSI) should be up there with you...

I'm looking forward to pix from your experiences with the E5DSI...

Rickie
Yeah, Rickie ... I think I'm pretty much down with the shape of my cone & how that relates to the picture on the screen. I am wondering, though ... do you know the actual "degree" of cone angle spread that this unit throws out ?? Like I said before ... if I know that my elongated cone is 6deg front to back & 45deg left to right, then I'll have a better idea of the area's size & shape as it relates to the depth of water I'm in. I'd just have a better mental picture to compare to the screen's picture. Like when I used a 2d unit w/20deg cone angle ... I knew the "circle" on the bottom was 1/3 as wide as the depth (20fow = 7ft wide circle) .... so the swath I was seeing was ~ 3.5ft to either side of the transducers position. That helped me with rod/bait placement, and pinpointed the cover into a small area. With the DSI cone shape being elongated out to each side (in relation to the direction the TM is pointed) ... knowing the degree of angle would give me a better idea of what patch of bottom I'm seeing, and where to make bouy drops that wouldn't be right IN the cover, as well as how to spread my poles or where to concentrate my baits.

... cp