Transducer Interference

[TimY]

I either heard or read somewhere that transducers placed to close together from different sonar units may interfere with each other. Does anyone know if this is true and if so what distance is recommended between the transducers.

Thanks

[Redge]

I either heard or read somewhere that transducers placed to close together from different sonar units may interfere with each other. Does anyone know if this is true and if so what distance is recommended between the transducers.

Thanks

It is true, I can't tell you the correct distance.

[crappiepappa]

Don't have an answer for ya Tim but you might contact Bryan at BG Marine. The guys really helped me out

[SeaRay]

I have a HB Helix on my TM and a Lowrance HDS7 on the transom. When I have both on I have lines running vertically down the HDS screen. Not a major problem but it decreases the sharpness of the screen. Turn off the Helix and it clears up. These transducers are 17 feet apart.

[TimY]

Wow 17 feet. I was told the different frequencies are the issue and causing the interference. I have seen those transducer blocks they sell where you can put multiple transducers on it to avoid drilling several holes in the hull. You would think these wouldn't work since the transducers would be side by side. Thanks for the info.

[Ranger09]

You will even get interference from another boat that's close by. It depends a lot on the bottom structure as well. I have 2 HDS units in my boat and leave one on standby when using the other to keep from picking up interference. They ar 20' apart......Ranger

[Fishers]

I have a HB up front on the trolling motor and Lowrance in back on transom, both side imaging. I never have problems with one exception, when I swing that front one around looking for stumps and such, when the side image beams cross the Lowrance transducer in back it will slightly disrupt the Lowrance returns. This is also more pronounced on the sonar than the down/side images. I hardly use reg sonar anymore, so... . I was under the impression that I was able to run both without much problem because they WERE different frequencies. I have noticed what Mark said about other boats, some peoples units will mess up my returns others dont. So I think it prolly has to do more with frequency than anything else.

[TimY]

I'm gonna be running a Garmin 93 SV on the console and a Lowrance HDS with structure scan on the front. Don't use side imaging on the trolling motor just downscan. I did contact Garmin and Lowrance Technical by email. Will see what they say and let you know. I have found out it's better to ask people that use them on the water vs the ones that set in an office. Thanks again

[TimY]

I did talk to Lowrance and Garmin. They both recommended the transducers be at least 7 ft apart. They said it doesn't matter whether one is running on 83 KH and the other is running on 200 KH they will still cause interference. They both agreed if the transducers cross each other in their cone angles, interference will occur no matter what frequency they are in. This would explain how you get interference from another boat. They did say the wider the cone angle is set, the more likely you will have interference because of coverage. So as they make the cone angles wider with newer technology, the more interference there will be. Decided it will be best to run one at a time.

[Ranger09]

The Lowrance has a standby mode built in. Just place it in standby and it keeps the processor hot without turning the unit off. The transducer will be off as well. Problem solved.......Ranger