Eagle FishMark 480 Settings

[CAMOMAN]

I am having a little trouble getting my 480 setup to give me the display I am looking for....I am looking for the sonar arches showing fish....I am not seeing any but I can put it on fish finder and it shows fish...any pointers here...also when my 480 is on I am seeing stuff like bubbles coming from the bottom to the top...I know it's not bubbles so what is it....I just got this for Christmas and only played with it twice but any pointers and recommended settings from you guys that use them all the time would be appreciated....Thanks,..

[bigbob]

Camoman

I use 480's and had love them. The best advice I can give is to look in the owners manual, it does tell you how to change to settings to get the arches and in the troubleshooting portion, you will find the bubbles on the screen listed and different things to check to try and fix it.

They also have a web site you can down load and play around with the settings without actually having to attach it to the boat.

[Barnacle Bill]

I'm not familiar with the 480 but probably the most important setting on any unit is the sensitivity. Turn it up until you start to get clutter then back it off one notch. Under 3MPH, fish will appear as long lines. You have to be going at least 3MPH or faster to see arches. This was told to me by Lowrance. Most units, if you turn the fish symbols off, it will show arches. Hope that helps.

[whizkids]

Arches will be tough to see unless you are fishing fairly deep water ( 20 ft. plus). For a complete arch to show the fish must pass completely through the cone of the transducer. The cone angle expands with depth. Zero at the transducer and wider the deeper the water. If you are setting still you will probably not see an arch, as a fish would have to swim directly accross the cone to produce one. You are more likely to see arches when the boat is moving. This has been discussed at length before and there are some more knowledgeable than me.
The suggestion to read the owners manuel is appropriate. Also go to the sonar and gps tutorial on the Lowrance site. You said 480 so I am assuming that is an LMS480M, which also has GPS .

http://www.lowrance.com/Marine/Products/LMS-480M.asp

turorial; http://www.lowrance.com/tutorials.asp

My suggestion: While fish finder is a term widely used and was used in marketing originally, they are now called sonars. Use it to locate structure where fish normally stay. Use it find pods of baitfish, crappie will be under them. Go to a place where you know what is on the bottom, a stump, a rock, a tree, hard bottom, soft bottom. See how the unit reads each thing.
You have a 480 pixel per inch unit as compared to a 160 or 320. That is a very good unit. Turn it on in automatic mode, no fish ID. Go fishing. Watch it all the time. You will learn to interpret what you see. Reading the manuel and going the tutorial will enhance the learning curve. Don't be too concerned with no fishes arches.

Hug whoever gave the unit to you, everyday if possible.

[Jumping Cholla Jigs]

First you need to understand what forms an arch to begin with. When the typical sonar transmits a sound wave it is in a round pattern and on a given angle from the tranducer. Most are 20 degrees so as depth increases so does the physical area of coverage. If a target (fish) is in the area of coverage a reflected sound wave will come back at the transducer and be heard. Now that fish may be 10 feet deep yet off to one side in the coverage area therefore 11 feet from the transducer. As the transducer passes directly over the fish the fish becomes closer to the transducer even though its actual depth did not change. That causes the upward portion of the arch. As the tranducer passes over and the fish now gets farther away from it even though it didnt move the distance to the tranducer grows again forming the other half of the arch. Any movement by the fish, waves, drift, etc will effect the perfect arch.

[bella]

http://www.eaglegps.com/Downloads/Em...80/default.htm go here & download this to play with it. I will get back when i get off work to tell you more good luck

[bella]

Go to sonar features & turn off fish id That will give archs = only if moving sitting still will produce straight lines . Good luck

[Wardy]

Sensativity and movement will be the keys to seeing the archs. Some will say to turn it up to see everything but you will experince alot of interference in shallow water that is carrying debris. My general setting for this is around 70%. Some places with considerable debris and bait fish..., you may have to go down to 50%. Scrap the fish I.D. You may also "zoom" this unit to see the bottom better.

My $.02.. Wardy

[bassadict69]

Download this tutorial & read through it. It explains everything in pretty good detail & is easy to understand.

http://webpages.charter.net/abshire5...20tutorial.doc

[SteveJ]

http://www.eaglegps.com/Downloads/Em...80/default.htm go here & download this to play with it. I will get back when i get off work to tell you more good luck

This is all well and good unless you have a Mac then it is no go. Why can't Lowrance add a download for us Apple people?