shallows and raymarine ds500

[Barney_Rubble]

Keen to buy ds500 but need it to be able to read less than 3 feet (ie shallow creek mouths, dirty water, big tial range, etc) Can you manually set the gain to do this and do you half to do that process each time you power up the unit,also is anyone having problems with moisture behind the screen [smiley=dankk2.gif]

[revs57]

G'day BR,

I've had no problem with moisture behind the screen in mine...I used it in a 15ft Centre console tinny before graduating it to the Riptide's hard top...so i've not experienced any concern.

As far as adjusting the gain and range, it is via a pop up menu system and making adjustment by hitting the "volume" button...a bit fiddly but can be done...certainly the Furuno with its dial system has greater flexability in this area of function. I have found that the auto function is very sensitive and works well for me even in the shallow. Having said that i am very satisfied with my Raymarine and functions perfectly for the kind of fishing I do...offshore reef stuff.

Once you have adjusted a setting it needs to be readjusted...it does not return to the default when you power down and then power up again.

I'd give Jason at Sundown Marine a call 0732033007. I'm sure you'll find him a wealth of information but if you don't get him today, you'll battle to get him til after the boat show unless you can catch him at the boat show on the Sundown stand

all the best

Rhys

[Barney_Rubble]

Thanks Rhys for the info,

i am probably guilty of trying to get to good of a sounder for where i am fishing,mostly fishing below 140 ft around the islands off Mackay,but if the weather blows up i like to be flexible enough to go and play in the creeks.

its only going on a 15 ft open glass boat,also hopping to get the garmin 172c chartplotter.

The reason i am concerned about the moisture issue is due to the failure of my prievious two sounders (lowrance &humminbird) and do not want to go down that road again.

I release you are probably trying to avoid these shallow areas,but do you know of anyone who has actually has had their units working under 3 ft [smiley=dankk2.gif]

[davez104]

Had my FCV-620 reading .9M today, no problems at all. Reckon it would go shallower. Not sure how good it would be at detecting fish at that range, or how many fish would actually stay under your boat as you motored through that much water.

Dave.

[Barney_Rubble]

Thanks dave,
Seen one today ,nice unit but the wife reakons i am blowing the budget .
Is it because of the digatal proccesor on the DS 500 that it has trouble reading in the shallows??
I have had heaps of other sounders and can normally read under 3ft. I would be happy if it showed the numbers, not really looking for fish.

[revs57]

BR,

I started with mine in a 15ft tinny fishing near on shore reef systems and estury stuff, the pin area, Wooli Wooli river...only time the screen filled out was in reverse...had it reading down to 2 ft in the tinny...and that being centre console the unit was exposed to the elements. The unit is now over two years old and continuing to power on...if it carked it I'd probably go for another one the same...reckon I've had value for money out of it. I bought it with the 6mt Riptide/deeper water in mind but was very happy with it for shallow stuff too.

BTW I'm running a Garmin 172C GPS, absolutely fantastic unit, complements the DS500X exceptionally well...you wont be disappointed

Cheers

Rhys

[nevd]

Thanks dave,
Seen one today ,nice unit but the wife reakons i am blowing the budget .
Is it because of the digatal proccesor on the DS 500 that it has trouble reading in the shallows??
I have had heaps of other sounders and can normally read under 3ft. I would be happy if it showed the numbers, not really looking for fish.

Based on my experience, you will be disappointed with the DS500 in shallow water. The 500 uses the same processor as the DS 400 and DS 600. The depth reading will often be 2 or 3 times actual so is dangerous for shallow water navigation in my opinion.

To get reliable shallow water depth readings in less than 2 m in muddy creeks, you need to go to manual gain and manual range. The problem is the settings are all lost as soon as the sounder is turned off and you then need to go through the poorly set up menu again the next time the sounder is turned on. The first Raymarine DS series would hold the set up when turned off, but in their wisdom, later models go to default set up after being turned off.

Yes they also have a reputation for moisture behind screen like Lowrance and Humminbird and they are not repairable in Australia. Send me a PM if you want more info.

[revs57]

Hi Nevd,

I haven't had any of the things you've outlined on my ds500x. They may have changed the system to return to default on power up, perhaps mine is an earlier one, but I would agree the moving around menu system to adjust range and gain is a bit cumbersome, but mine reads O.K. in the shallow stuff on auto

cheers

Rhys

[DALEPRICE]

running at 30 clicks the other day in water down to .9m on the shallows on 200hz not a drama. no screen moisture and havent heard of one that
has yet.............
cheers dale

[nevd]

running at 30 clicks the other day in water down to .9m on the shallows on 200hz not a drama. no screen moisture and havent heard of one that
has yet.............
cheers dale

Re Shallow water operation - I have returned 2 units to the Australian Importer for this problem and eventually I was told by Ocean Talk Service Dept that they don't reliably work in less than 2 m of water.

Re screen moisture - have a look at this thread in The Hull Truth. http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...114144&start=1

Here is another from The Hull Truth indicating Raymarine have the problem in more expensive units also.

Both my RayMarine C80 units are flush mounted which makes them suceptable to salt spray and rain. Both have been returned for repair for moisture getting inside them. RayMarine told me that this was not covered under the warranty. Can't believe that 6 month old units with moisture inside is not a deffect. Anyone else had this kind of trouble? Any ideas how to keep them dry?

Scott

[DALEPRICE]

scott,

havent heard of a drama with the moisture from any-one
i have spoken to who owns these units.................. u can find a million
reports about anything and read anything into it...........

sorry to hear your having probs and hope you sort it out,
copped a flogging myself a few weeks back with the raymarine
getting drowned every wave, no drama's as of yet.,

cheers dale

also if your in 3 foot of water just look over the flamin side ????????????

just my 2 cents

p.s i no that the raymarines arent the best sounder out their but for the price
they seem ok.

[revs57]

Scott,

I reckon Ocean Talk are dodging the question...I think we've had this discussion before...why not talk to Jason at Sundown Marine and have him take it up?

I'd be wanting more consistent service advice than the "too bad so sad" approach. If they do have a problem both with depth reading in shallows and water ingression, i'd be wanting it fixed or refund

all the best

Rhys

[Barney_Rubble]

Hi Nevd
Thanks for your reply, so very interesting reading in from this link http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...114144&start=1 I have also trashed my previous two sounders because of the moisture problem and need to get it right this time. Getting a bit pissed off at about $1000 a go, maybe I need to do a bit more over time and up grade to the furono 620. I have read that it is easier to adjust the gain and manual controls. this might be money saved in the long run. [smiley=dankk2.gif]

[Smithy]

On Raymarines, there was a good thread going on the MB about them in the top end of the range. Didn't really follow it but it was something like the new cards coming out would not run in the C80/100/120s forcing you into the much more expensive E series. Don't quote me on this. Few of the guys were pretty antsty about this and the concensus was once you are up into that sort of money you are better of getting a LCD screen and running a computer software package like Endeavour or Nobletec. You can even use touch screens to access all the menu functions. All the big boys are running Nobletec at the moment and then it is just a case of using whatever Airmar transducer and linking it all together into something that works and much cheaper than stuff like E120 Raymarines. Now that was on the MB that has Raymarine/Oceantalk as one of the sponsors.

So with a bit of bad publicity about condensation, shallow water performance, bang for your buck and my own personal experience using them in the deep I could never see myself buying one.

[yort]

I have the ds400 and I am really dissapointed with its shallow water performance. It won't read anything under 1m which now I know means I'm in shallow water, doesn't help when I'm fishing the creeks around the haughton. It is great though in anything over 5m, picks up bait schools, individual fish etc quite well. I reckon the transducer swamps itself with to much power in the shallow stuff which is unfortunate as I fish most of the time in under 3m. If I had the chance again I would of bought a top of the range b&w lowrance or save up for a colour furuno which most of the charter boats up here in townsville use.

Cheers
Yort