[TG] Zero Depth readings

[Tom - Raymarine - Moderator]

Hello Bob,

It's unlikely that an ITC5 fault would stop it communicating on the network intermittently (a network comms fault would almost certainly be permanent.) What's more likely the cause there is something network-related, like a bit of corrosion on the STNG cabling going to the ITC5, or someone having incorrectly connected the ITC5 on the end of a spur cable instead of part of a backbone, and then getting having moisture or extra terminators in the 'spare' blue backbone sockets (ITC5 should never be connected just off a white spur cable; there should only every be 2 terminators in any NMEA2000 system, putting extra ones in will cause all sorts of unpredictable network comms problems; any empty STNG socket is just asking for condensation to start bridging pins, causing data corruption and corrosion.)

Re. the false depth readings, we sometimes get this sort of report in instances where the transducer is fairly close to the keel, so that the sounder's getting an echo from the fringe of the beam from the keel itself. If this is stronger than the bottom echo (maybe soft bottom, turbid water, high heel angle, deeper water etc.) then this can be treated as the real depth by the ITC5. This is one reason why I personally now recommend our installers here in Australia to fit fishfinder depth transducers connected to the MFD rather than an ITC5 - more power, more diagnostic capability in the instance of a problem, and a graphical image of what you're anchoring over, for a similar price to an instrument depth transducer.

Regards,
Tom