Bottom Line Fish Finder Tournament 1101 trouble

[ducksterman]

I doubt if any of you can help me but I thought I'd give it a shot.

My fish finder is reading the depth at only about 1/2 what it really is.I have the transducer velcroed to a strap wrapped around a pontoon.

Any ideas....I've emailed the company basically asking if the velcro mount could be the problem but no response so far.

[J Castwell]

I might suggest,,,

IT'S BROKE!

[ducksterman]

Possible....it is new.....

[dixieangler]

Here is what I would do first. The graph will read water depth and bottom depth so I would make sure that the AO (bottom depth) feature is set correctly. The two different types of depth readings should be covered in the manual. I suppose you could always go back to the default settings. Secondly I would make sure the transducer is connected, mounted, and positioned correctly to scan and read correctly (also in the manual). Then if all that failed, I would contact the company. Good luck, Phil.

[ducksterman]

Robert...yes, one day I spent with the thing set on reading only the bottom 10' and paniced...figured that out...then went out and found depths to 26'...but lastly am only getting readings to 13' occasionally...went to defaults...and of course the manual isn't in to pontoon mounts unless it is a side mount...at this point I'm thinking it's a mounting problem??????

I know there are some folks here that bought this model when I did and thought maybe they knew some thing....

[Marco]

Ducksterman,
A temporary easy solution is ,since it shows only half the actual depth, simply multiply the screen reading by two. For example, if the screen reads 8, multiply that by 2 and arrive at an actual depth of 16 feet. For ease of calculation, you can print up a "pony" with the answers.


Mark

[ducksterman]

Marco, I knew I can always count on you...but that is really complicated

[DShock]

Ducksterman,
The Depth Finder I used to have had a internal bow mounted transducer and it worked fine.
My Console mounted Graph had a external stern mounted transducer and that was required.
I called it Fish TV and I was fascinated by the fact it was a Video screen and I could even watch it at night.
Didn't get much fishing done but it was interesting!
Is there a Hot Line you can call about your Bottom Line Unit?
Maybe the company that built your pontoon boat would have some ideas!
Marco's Idea! OH MAN!
Doug

[dixieangler]

Another problem might be if you are using a trolling motor or mounted the transducer too close to something that might cause interference. Just another thing I thought of that could cause problems.

[Silverexpress]

I started with the BLF 1101 a few weeks ago. I had issues with it also, so I returned it. If you still have that option, exchange it for a Humminbird 500 series or Matrix 12 or a Eagle Cuda, Fisheasy, or SeaFinder. The performance is like night and day when compared to the BLF's. I don't know what you paid for it, but the Cudas, and Fisheasy's are a real good buy - get a dual sonar model, designated with "DS".

I use a strap that is made specifically to hold these fish finders in place on an inflatable tube. Its made by Scotty. I got it at Cabelas in Dundee Michigan; however, their website does not show it. Here is info from Scotty's own website:

http://www.scotty.com/marine/products/p ... inder.html

For more info on Pontoons, Float Tubing, and Fish Finders...check out the forums at

http://www.bigfishtackle.com

http://www.bigfishtackle.com/forum/Floa ... T_P184642/ go near the bottom for a listing of prior

sonar threads - you might find more answers there on these items.