No side or down image

[ricky]

I have a 798 SI that is about 3 yrs old. I don't have any side image on the right and the left doesn't look good, no down image. The image in simulator mode looks fine. Anybody have any ideas?
Called HB customer service, she pretty much told me there wasn't much I could do to tell wether it was bad unit or xducer except try it on another boat with same ducer or send it in. $200 if bad unit, $65 if nothing wrong or buy new ducer with no return if package is broken.
I took some pics but they didn't turn out. Didn't think about making a recording. Still looking for some one with a 798 in area.


HunninBird Greg chime in if you will (or anyone else).

[Stymie]

Can you check your connections and insure they are sound? I have a switch that let's me direct my ducer signals to either the console or to the back of the boat. Sometimes I don't push it all the way over and get similar as you....no image on right, bad image on left.

Otherwise, CS is right. Do you know anyone close by with another head unit? I'd put yours on their ducer and theirs on your ducer, see which way the problem follows then go from there.

Does the ducer look damaged?

[rnvinc]

ricky .... Pm me your location in w ky...And a phone number..

I can let you borrow my spare XHS 9 HDSI 180T xducer..(we might be able to set up a place and time to meet)..

You will not be able to use the 800kHz frequency...but the 455 will tell you if the problem is in the xducer or the head unit...

Rickie

[Humminbird_Greg]

ricky .... Pm me your location in w ky...And a phone number..

I can let you borrow my spare XHS 9 HDSI 180T xducer..(we might be able to set up a place and time to meet)..

You will not be able to use the 800kHz frequency...but the 455 will tell you if the problem is in the xducer or the head unit...

Rickie

Good point. You do not have to test it on another boat that has a 798 unit as the Si sonar will work on any of the Humminbird SI transducers that we have made. All you are looking for is some clear Si images in both the left and right Si sonar, so you can test it on a boat that has a: 981c Si, 987c Si, 797c Si, 898c Si, 997c Si, 998c Si, 1197c Si or 1198c Si unit.

[ricky]

Greg now both sides are not working. I will try to post a pic. I tried swaping the 788 in place of the 798 si on the console and changed the settings like you said (I think). I didn't see anything on the screen. I was confused about the "Side Beam View" but maybe I got it right.
Someone on this forum had a spare transducer and loaned it to me to try ( XHS-9-HDSI-180-T). looks like the ducer on my boat isn't working right. I was able to get the SI images with the spare transducer on a stick.

[ricky]

Last time I was on the water I thought I would make a recording....I was surprised when I got home and saw something on the left side on Humviewer and nothing on the unit. Looks like a lot of noise.

[ricky]

I instaled new transducer and tried it out today. Image looks great (can't remember it looking this good. I really believe it has been going bad slowly for a while. The image looks bright with less sensitivity and down image even looks good.
Thanks again all (esp Rickie).

[rnvinc]

Sounds like it's time to share some snapshots with us now that things are working correctly....

Did you end up getting the big HDSI xducer...??

I sure would be interested in seeing snapshots of those white bass you've been targeting...

Rickie

[ricky]

I did consider the larger ducer but didn't want to change mounts then having adjustment hassles. The compact was much easier. But I have to say that if I had installed the longer one with these results I would have thought there was MUCH improvement. I always had to run the sensitivity around 18 or so to get a good reading with the ducer that it came with.... the down image was practically useless. Now I didn't spend much time searching and tinkering with it but it looks much better.

I would attend seminars and read forums that talked about much lower settings and I just could not understand why I couldn't do that. I have to really wonder if the old one was operating at 100% out of the box.

I did make some recordings and looked at them last night but had issues with Humviewer.

Issues always issues.........prolly operator error.

[rnvinc]

I did consider the larger ducer but didn't want to change mounts then having adjustment hassles. The compact was much easier. But I have to say that if I had installed the longer one with these results I would have thought there was MUCH improvement. I always had to run the sensitivity around 18 or so to get a good reading with the ducer that it came with.... the down image was practically useless. Now I didn't spend much time searching and tinkering with it but it looks much better.

I would attend seminars and read forums that talked about much lower settings and I just could not understand why I couldn't do that. I have to really wonder if the old one was operating at 100% out of the box.

I did make some recordings and looked at them last night but had issues with Humviewer.

Issues always issues.........prolly operator error.

Has Humviewer worked for you before ...with previous recordings...??

Rickie