Humminbird Side Image Clarity Issues

Hi,

I work in the shellfish aquaculture industry, and we use a Humminbird Helix 10 with MEGA Chirp to find derelict aquaculture gear on the bottom of shallow bays in Florida. When we first purchased our unit in 2019, we were able to get really clear images of oyster cages on the bottom. About a year later our side scan stopped working, and after talking with our boat mechanic, we replaced the transducer (the depth sounder wasn’t working either). Unfortunately, now our imagery is not nearly as clear.

I’ve added screenshots for reference. On the first one (taken in April), you can clearly see oyster cages on the bottom on the left side of the screen. On the more recent snapshot, we were right next to a line of gear that we could see was sunken (great vis that day) but it didn’t show up on the screen.

For more context, we run a 23 ft Carolina Skiff in shallow (usually 4-6 feet) brackish water, usually on sand or mud, we have played around with the SI settings (chart speed, sensitivity, range, contrast, sharpness, contour, etc.) but nothing seems to be making the imagery more clear.

Any suggestions on what to try next? Thanks in advance!

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Let me start by saying I don’t mean this to be rude at all. If this is for your work, you should have company supplied training on how to use your tools, procedures and documentation for how to operate and maintain your equipment. If these do not exist, you have an opportunity to show initiative and write those down and provide training to your other coworkers. Most of the people on this forum are freshwater hobbyists and rarely run in salt/brackish. Things to check are motor trim, speed (SI is supposed to be run at around 5mph) and make sure the transducer is mounted correctly and hasn’t been bumped out of where it should be. Good luck!

Thank you! Yes, unfortunately we are the first ones using side scan in our office, so we are learning as we go, and yes I’m absolutely working on a manual for future use! Thanks for the suggestions, I’ve been seeing a lot about making sure the transducer is level so I think that may be our next step.

Side imaging is a constructed image based a series of very thin slices with out forward motion there is no variation to construct. 0.5 mph may not be enough forward motion to construct a viable image. Your other image is 1.9 mph.

You may want to post on

http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=njgpbrucp78dmletm5lqhnp4h1&action=forum

This website is dedicated to all types on Humminbird Side Image users.

Good Luck

Was just going to say your speed is one of the differences…slower the speed the more stretched out distorted the image is going to be. They other thing I would change is I would zoo in much further. 100 ft is way to wide for that shallow. The reason the edges are black is because it is not picking up anything that far out.

If this were a speed issue, the images would be there but streeeetched out. I have a 2 thoughts, check to be sure you have the right transducer set. I once did a factory reset, solved some minor issues I had but my SI came back grainy, not mega quality.

So check what Transducer you have selected.

Second, your Tranducer might be going bad. I notice the images is darker, that is a sign of a failing ducer. Although it normally goes bad on one side first. Did you try driving the opposite direction to see if SI was facing out both sides?

Also mega washes out around 50 feet, change your frequency if you want to see farther