Filter
Top Products
Wave action also affects the bottom depiction. The information drawn is a distance
measurement, so if the boat is moving up and down over flat bottom, the bottom
depiction often appears in regular variations that match wave timing.
Structure. Structure is defined as any object physically attached to the bottom. The
sonar configuration of the 300TX is optimized to give the most accurate depiction of
bottom structure possible. Grass, trees, stumps, wrecks or other debris are accurately
displayed, however the depiction of these objects varies with boat speed and direction.
The best way to learn to interpret structure is to operate the 300TX over a variety of
known conditions and experiment with user functions to best represent those conditions
on-screen.
Surface Clutter. Surface clutter is the layer of water near the surface that is rich in
algae and other growth, and often is aerated by wind or wave action. This area of water
interferes with sonar transmission and often appears on-screen as regular clusters of
individual dots near the “0” line.
Thermoclines. Thermoclines are sharp differences in water
temperature. These are easily identified by the continuous
nature of the return.
Second Returns. When a sonar signal is reflected off the
bottom back to the transducer, there is often enough energy
left in the signal to be reflected off the surface of the water
back to the bottom a second time. Second returns appear as
a slightly weaker bottom representation exactly twice the depth
of the primary bottom return. The second return is most likely
to occur in shallow water and in areas of relatively hard
bottom.
Fish ID. The 300TX uses advanced signal processing to further evaluate any sonar
return between the surface and the bottom. For Instance, a small school of bait fish
usually appears as a dense cluster of individual dots. If the return meets certain
additional criteria, a fish symbol will be assigned. There are three different size fish
symbols used to indicate the intensity of the sonar return. While signal intensity is a
good indicator of relative fish size, the different species of fish have different sonar
characteristics, so it is not always possible to distinguish fish size between varying