[TG] [TG11] Can’t get rid of sounder clutter

[Wawacoco]

Hi just wondering what the problem is and how to fix it. I run a tm275 with a co470 and axiom 9, I’ve run all my wiring off a seperate battery and atm have the transducer cable separated from all other wiring. I have ran the transducer at different heights but still remain with the same problem

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello Wawacoco,

Sorry you've not had a reply before. In case you haven't already got an answer, for example by calling our support team:

Moving a transducer up and down can help with problems with air bubbles across the transducer face (which cause gaps in the sounder image and low signal levels) but won't generally help with high clutter/noise problems.

Can you tell me what Sensitivity setup you were using when you took the video?
Do you have any other images or video in a bit deeper water?

In you video there is an increase in background noise coinciding with what I can hear of the engine revving up, but it's normal to get an increase in noise with increasing speed. Your transducer doesn't hear at the same frequency you do, but the increase in sound volume is the same either way. If you've shifted transducer cabling and tried with a separate battery then the noise is almost certainly acoustic (actual sound volume at the same frequency the transducer's working at) rather than electrical noise. There's not a lot that can be done about that - boats at speed are noisy places - but stepping the transducer mount off the transom on a rubbery anti-vibration mount can help, if the worst of the noise is transom vibration rather that prop, drivetrain, water-flow etc.

I describe noise like this to people as like trying to have a conversation in a noisy bar: even if your mate shouts, it can be hard to hear them over the noise.

Regards,
Tom

[Wawacoco]

If you have a look at this video it pretty much shows you at the start was kind of at rest then as soon as you speed up to above 10kmph the screen just turns to [censored]. I have been trying to solve this issue since I have got the transducer. So what your telling me is that I pretty much can’t run a transom mount on this boat and have clear returns?

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello Wawacoco,

No, that's not quite what I was trying to say. Some degree of noise as you speed up is normal, but in your second video it appears that the amount of noise in your system might be more than is normal. If that's the case then with a bit of work together we ought to be able to find out where it's coming from and hopefully solve it.

The first step is to run the sounder in a diagnostic mode which will clearly show how the signal and noise levels change in your system as you speed up and confirm that there is indeed a noise problem (it looks like that from the video, but the default Auto modes can make it hard to be sure about these kinds of diagnosis.) There's information on how to do this on this page. If you can set your sounder up in the 65/15/0 manual sensitivity and so on that that guide describes and then send images of the result at a range of speeds, I can confirm noise or otherwise and we can move onto the next step.
Alternatively, you could get in touch with your local technical Service Dealer (tick 'Certified Installation' on our dealer locator and ask them to look into this for you.

Regards,
Tom