Airmar P79 in hull transducer

[eddystone]

Bit of a long saga on getting this to work on an earlier thread which I won't rehash. Basically, although my fitting is probably not optimal in that it is tilted forward a bit it seems to be giving a roughly accurate reading checked by reference to a back-up Hawkeye depth sounder and a plumb line. However, it loses the signal with some regularity and can take 7-10 seconds to give a reading. The river bed under my mooring is very squidgy mud and the river itself carries a lot of sediment and debris. Could this have an impact? Might add it doesn't read below c3.0 metres

 

[PaulRainbow]

Definitely should read below 3.0 metres.

 

[Arcady]

I fitted the same transducer in a previous boat, and it worked fine most of the time. However I do recall one trip down the Gironde estuary where the abundance of silt in the water rendered the echosounder entirely useless. So yes, silt laden water will certainly affect performance!

 

[laika]

Don't know if it's relevant but I have an issue with my sounder, discussed here:
Depth reading wrong

Depth more often correct-looking the deeper the water: on constantly >13m and mostly reading an obviously incorrect 0.8m + offset when depth of water is <5m, although it seems a bit better if stationary: these days reading a (highly variable) but probably roughly right figure when moored in 3m+

Per thread above things seemed to improve by blasting the head unit's socket with contact cleaner but it certainly hasn't cured it. Definitely not the transducer: I wasted a hundred quid on a new one but fortunately tried it dangling over the side before fitting.