At wits end with Raymaine A70D FF - insists that downrigger weight is bottom!

[CoachPotato]

I never would spend $1800 for a FF/GPS/Chartplotter, but that's what came with my '09 C-Dory. So far, I have learned to hate the $%&@*! thing.

Just for shucks and giggles, I counted the number of button pushes to change the depth alarm setting: it takes SEVENTEEN button pushes to accomplish that simple adjustment! Is there a shorcut? I haven't found one yet.

But even more frustrating is the A70D's refusal to ignore the downrigger weights. On New Melones the past two days, I tried every setting adjustment and there were waaaay too many to adjust. But I tried 50 KHZ, 200 KHZ, tried every gain setting, the TVG settings, VRM settings, and no matter what, it would still show the depth as whatever the single downrigger ball was set at.

In the past, with two downrigger balls, I could reduce the TVG to 70-80 and then the bottom depth digits would usually show. But yesterday with a single downrigger, nothing would work.

Hopefully I'm doing something wrong and someone will take pity and help me out. Honestly, I'm about to rip out the Raymarine by its roots and buy a Humminbird FF/GPS/Chartplotter as I've had before and it worked so much easier.

Thanks for any advice...

 

[Pez Vela]

Re: At wits end with Raymaine A70D FF - insists that downrigger weight is bottom!

That's just the way it is. Set the depth range to manual. Adjust depth range incrementally deeper until bottom shows up visually on the screen. Read bottom depth by noting hash marks on the right side of the screen. The numerical read out will display the depth of the downrigger ball because you've got a quality machine and it's working as intended.

 

[j_martin]

Re: At wits end with Raymaine A70D FF - insists that downrigger weight is bottom!

If the downrigger returns a stronger signal than the bottom, and is stable, the electronics will assume it's the bottom and the other is a ghost echo. Let me guess, downrigger is down 30 feet, bottom is 250 or so.

Maybe you need to invest in stealth downrigger weights.

 

[CoachPotato]

Re: At wits end with Raymaine A70D FF - insists that downrigger weight is bottom!

That's just the way it is. Set the depth range to manual. Adjust depth range incrementally deeper until bottom shows up visually on the screen. Read bottom depth by noting hash marks on the right side of the screen. The numerical read out will display the depth of the downrigger ball because you've got a quality machine and it's working as intended.

Thanks for the reply, and I'll try that. Maybe "bottom lock" would do the same thing?

It may be a quality machine (not by my experience) but for hundreds less I may yet buy a unit that can distinguish between the weights and the bottom as my old Hummer did (which included an external antenna at no extra charge!). And I could also adjust the depth alarm with just a few button pushes instead of the seventeen required by this high $$ Raymarine. Apparently not many of these are out as I cannot get any other informative replies on several sites. Yours was the only informative reply.

Thanks again.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: At wits end with Raymaine A70D FF - insists that downrigger weight is bottom!

Point the transducer more forward.
Get a transducer with a smaller cone.
Use your bottom lock feature
The machine is doing what it is supposed to. Thats why the call it a fish finder not a bottom finder.
Use the dish style weights. Much less reflection.
Take the gain off of auto and manually set it. So what if you can see the weights. Turn it up and you should see both.
I don't understand why you are using the bottom alarm. Are you fishing alone?
Over a couple of hundred feet you should be in the 50HZ setting.

Set your depth range in manual.

 

[Pez Vela]

Re: At wits end with Raymaine A70D FF - insists that downrigger weight is bottom!

The Raymarine software provides many alarm features (including fish alarms and depth alarms) and they can be confusing, but 17 button pushes is excessive to set the shallow water alarm, if that's what you're trying to do. If you haven't already done so, highlighting the required button pushes (in the manual while on the couch) and then applying them in the boat should get'er done with far fewer selections. The real issue which I have encountered is the failure of the Raymarine machines to remember all the basic selections after being powered off. If the Raymarine unit is simply too complicated, and is taking the fun out of fishing, then going back to something simpler is probably not a bad idea. I encourage you to stick with it for a while, as I did, and finally one day the light bulb will turn on and you will enjoy the coveted Raymarine "ah-ha" moment.