Depth finder

New to using depth finder
I see the screen but do not know when the picture comes up where is that brush pile I am looking at
Is it right under my boat or just ahead
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks whitney

Here's a short video showing how 2d sonar works....

One important item the video does not explain....

*The unit xducer is "pinging" (sending) the acoustic sound pulse thru the water at several times per second....
*The processed reflection data from each single "ping" is displayed along the right vertical edge of the 2d screen (about 1 pixel wide)....
*Then the next ping's processed data is also stacked on right vertical edge of the 2d screen pushing the previous displayed ping data to the left....
*This "stacking" of each ping's data at the right of the screen and pushing the previous ping's data to the left .....creates the "scrolling" effect seen on the 2d display...

So, in effect...only the very right-most vertical edge of the 2d screen is actually what is directly under the xducer....everthing else displayed to the left on the 2d screen is "history" and what the xducer has already passed over....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=YczeSnXjKd4

Rickie

Welcome to the site kingkoi59.....
You don't say what type of sonar you are using, so it is assumed you mean 2D. In a follow-up post, you might tell us exactly the unit you are using. If you are indeed using 2D, then it is cone-shaped from the boat to the bottom of the lake....so the deeper the water, the wider the area you are looking at. As the boat moves (whether it is forward or sideways), the outer edge of the cone "sees" the brush pile first. The transducer is supposed to point straight down, so when the picture is at the highest point on the screen, the transducer is close to being directly over the pile. If the transducer is at the back of the boat, then that is where the pile is located

Lowrance elit4 hdi and the 5 hdi
This is what I am have