[CA] [CA11] Upgrading Axiom sonar capabilities

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Welcome to the Raymarine Forum a7ewizard,

Q1. Is the Axiom capable of Low or Mid chirp sonar when coupled with the corresponding transducer? Such as B75M, B175L or TM 265LM?
A1. The Axiom RV and Axiom DV MFDs do not feature internal 1kW CHIRP sonar circuitry as do the Axiom Pro RVX MFDs. The Axiom RV and Axiom DV MFDs feature internal 600W 50kHz/200kHz fishfinder circuitry in addition to RealVision or DownVision circuitry respectively. In order to add 600W / 1kW CHIRP sonar to a system featuring an Axiom DV or Axiom RV MFD, the compatible high power CHIRP fishfinder transducer would need to be interfaced to an Axiom Pro RVX MFD, RVX1000, CP470, or CP570, which in turn would be interfaced to the Axiom MFD.

Q2. If coupled with a Low or Med separate chirp transducer via the appropriate "Y" cable, will the RV-1000 still operate in the High chirp mode simultaneously and able to be displayed split screen? High and low chirp as an example?
A2. See response to Q1. If a Y-Cable is interfaced to an Axiom RV MFD, then the MFD will no longer process low power / high frequency conical CHIRP sonar via the RV transducer and will instead support 50kHz/200kHz sonar via the 50kHz/200kHz transducer.

Q3. Can you split screen to view downvision and low chirp?
A3. If 600W/1kW CHIRP sonar is introduced to the system by way of the options specified in the response to Q1 (L or LM CHIRP transducer installed) and the Axiom MFD has been interfaced to a RV transducer, then the Axiom MFD may indeed display DownVision sonar and low CHIRP within separate Fishfinder application panes of a page.

Q4. Knowing that Axiom output is limited to 600 watts, can one expect better performance running a 1kw transducer versus a 600w transducer? I have heard this is true because of the better quality or number of elements in the 1kw transducers.
A4. Power is generally associated with maximum depth performance, while the quality and number of elements are determining factors the clarity of the imaging. Accordingly, a 1kW or 2kW transducer having better quality and/or number of elements will typically provide better performance than a transducer having lesser quality and/or number of elements when driven at the same power.

Q5. If Axiom is not capable of other chirp output, will it power a non-chirp Low transducer?
A5. See the response to Q1 ... an Axiom RV or Axiom DV MFD may each be interfaced to a compatible 50kHz/200kHz transducer. The operator may then elect to display the 50kHz or 200kHz sonar channel within a pane.