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Thread: Garmin Striker 7sv very poor sideview results

  1. #1
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    Default Garmin Striker 7sv very poor sideview results


    I just purchased a Garmin Striker 7sv as an upgrade to the Garmin Striker4 plus I had been using for the last couple years. I was hoping to use the new side scanning feature to map out brush piles on the waters I fish in, especially for crappie hunting.

    Well, I'm really disappointed with the results after two fishing trips and probably 6 hours of trying out different settings while passing back and forth by known structure. It looks to me like the sideview feature is going to be useless for locating crappie structure. It's barely possible to make out a stone wall in 10 feet of water with this depth finder's sideview, after tuning to the best possible settings for it. This is sideview in name only.

    I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else who uses one what their experience is. Really sorry I dropped the money on this unit so far.
    Likes Skippa Chippa LIKED above post

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    I had a lot of the same trouble but did eventually get it to work halfway decent. I still didn't really have a lot of luck finding brushpiles with it though, that is still true with the 93SV I have now.

    Firstly your scroll speed should roughly match the boat speed. 3-5mph is about right for SI.

    Second, I always had better luck with 455khz than 800.

    Lastly check your trasducer location. I had mine on the transom just off center beside the outboard for a long time. When I moved it to the outside corner, images improved quite a bit. I'm not sure if the motor was obscuring the image, or if it was caused by turbulence, but it worked way better.

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    I have the 7sv and my son has the 7sv plus. Never a problem except transducer cable would work loose sometimes. So I put silicone chalk on it. without seeing your screen, I'm guessing. Make sure about transducer placement, then make sure brightness and contrast are not to high. Start will 455 until you dial in a clear picture. Stay in water 15 to 30 feet to make adjustments. Stay with about 40 feet sideview until you get dialed in. If that fails, I'd return it.

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    Thanks Atimm693. I am using it on my rowing boat, so no there is no outboard or trolling motor to block or interfere with the transducer. Transducer is mounted near the stern directly on the bottom of the boat, ahead of the rear fin and right on the centerline. The bottom is flat. The transducer has a completely open view all around, and no turbulence is generated at these speeds and this location.

    Boat speed is right at 3.2 mph, under oars, for my cruising speed, and these tests.

    I've tried both 455 and 800 kHz, and I think I also agree that 455 is better, but I need to check that and write down my actual settings for what I got as best imaging before I forget or change them. Unfortunately the transducer seems to need to be hooked up (and therefore the boat in water) for the SideVu settings menu to come up so I can copy them. I'll put them up here as well.

    What transducer does your 93SV have? Mine has a gt52.

    Do you find the side image is better with the 93SV than it was with Striker 7sv?

    I will try to get some pix of the display next time I'm out on the water, and post them here.

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    Thanks Jay, also. You don't happen to have any pix of your sideview in action, so I could compare what a known good unit shows?

    I'll post mine when I get back in the water. Maybe I can do that today..... depends on weather this afternoon.

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    I'm in the same boat, very disappointed with my side image. I have mine mounted on my trolling motor and get a so so image when I shut the trolling motor off. I placed a piece of 1/4" rubber in between the tmotor head and the transducer and still get interference, my problem seams to come from the transducer cable being to close to wires for the tmoter. I don't know but plan on keeping up with this thread to maby try something someone else suggest.
    You know me, I'm always ready for a road trip. Chip Newest member of Traveling Team Overalls

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    Hi Skippa Chippa, sorry to hear about the problems. They do seem to be from a different cause than mine -- I'm sure you can reduce or minimize trolling motor interference with some effort. But happy if others chime in here with suggestions for you. For me the big problem has just been that the image presented has minimal detail, so it's difficult to make out even prominent structures. I think I've managed to get a noticeably better image than I first got using Garmin's factory default settings. Here's an example of the kind of thing I got first day out with the defaults on a "Vivid" Striker 7sv (I didn't order the Vivid model btw, but one was sent anyway).

    I'll put up the worst depth sounder screens first, and in subsequent posts show what I eventually arrived at to get the best images I can (so far) with this unit after many hours of experimentation. Literally!

    Notice the default vivid color scheme called "Rusted Iron" it seems nonsensical to me, being orange and blue -- what the colors indicate individually I have no idea. Nothing really useful, at least in the waters where I'm using the unit.

    Picked up in this screenshot (barely) is a stone wall in the lower portion crossing the screen. In reality that stone wall is at least 4' wide.

    And nothing else in that image that I can decipher. If I didn't know that was a stone wall (plainly visible over the side of the boat) I'd have a hard time guessing just what it was.

    Shown first is the land end of the stone wall on shore at about the same distance away from the boat that the Garmin screen shot is portraying.

    Name:  StoneWall.jpg
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    Notice also that the boat speed in the abve shot is only 1.55 mph. Any faster and the stone wall would have been even narrower. This is at Garmin's "Fast" chart speed -- which should widen the image of the stone wall itself, making it more visible, but keeping it on screen for a shorter time before scrolling off.

    Okay moving on to the next image, improved over the last one (Garmin's Striker 7sv default). This new image is after two days of fiddling with settings over the same stone wall. They are as follows:

    Range 40ft
    Contrast 40%
    No Zoom
    Brightness Auto High
    Frequency Chirp 800 kHz
    View Selection L+R

    Sonar Setup:
    Depth Line Hide
    Color Scheme Amber
    Noise Rejection:
    Interference Medium
    TVG High
    Scroll Speed Ultra
    Flip Left/Right ON (my boat is a rowboat, so I face the stern)
    Transducer type GT52HW

    It is possible to make out the stone wall more clearly with only one color. And the rest of the image is more intuitively interpretable. The settings also reduce contrast quite a bit and increase brightness.

    Name:  FirstSettingsStoneWall.jpg
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    Last edited by SRHacksaw; 07-28-2021 at 05:58 PM.

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    Finally today I tested with a 455 kHz frequency instead of 800, switched brightness to Auto Medium, Range 30 ft, Noise rejection: Interference to Low and TVG to Medium. Results are more in line with what I would expect a stone wall to look like. Notice the speed is only .51 mph. This seems to match the rock size and shape better to the image at this "Fast" scroll speed. The stone wall finally looks to be about in proportion.

    Name:  SecondSettingsStoneWall.jpg
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    Last edited by SRHacksaw; 07-28-2021 at 05:59 PM. Reason: corrected spelling

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    I'm sure you've watched a bunch of youtube vids of how to set up the side view and tweeks to use, right? Does your unit have the ability to record as you go along, so you can replay it when home and play with the settings? That may help, too. Helped me a ton when I got started. In my opinion, 455 is for finding, 800 is for detailing at closer range after finding it with 455.
    In my limited experience, you're trying to capture great images in a difficult setting. Looks like there is a ton of weeds and plant life in your 2nd picture and that is really tough to get good images in. I think you need to cut your sensitivity back some more. Another thing is your distance out from depth; rule of thumb is 3x your depth to either side so your 40' in 7' of water is kinda iffy.
    While I have a HB unit, friend of mine got a new Garmin and I've been watching video's like this one. I think this guy does a very good job presenting settings and what to look for. I realize your unit might not have exactly what he's showing but it might help you get a bit more on the right track. He discusses brightness, TVG, contrast, etc.



    Another thing to try is to get out into some deeper water and get away from that weed growth a bit so you're not so cluttered with returns. For instance, if the weed edge stops at the drop off where it drops down at the 12' depth, move over another15-20 feet so the edge shows on the one side but not the other. Then fuss some with the settings and see if it's a bit easier to see without all the clutter of the weed returns.
    I'm betting you will find good results with some more playing around with it.
    Yes, I was talking to myself; sometimes even I have to ask for expert advice.
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