Transducer Frequency/Cone Angle Question

[West Lake Willows]

Just called and talked to airmar regarding the "dead zone" concept. If you have a transducer that has multiple elements it will greatly reduce the shadowing or dead zone areas, but not completely.

The SS264W transducer from airmar that I am buying comes in multiple setups but lots of guys will buy a SS264N (narrow 6deg beam) and a SS264W (wide 25deg beam). They wire them to a switch box and have the ability to switch from one transducer to other. This way they can search with the wide angle to find structure etc. then go back over with the narrow beam to look for fish hugging tight to that structure, that might have been in the dead zone of the wide beam transducer.

I didn't realize the way a transducer would read a slope like that. Thank you for posting the picture sheldon.

Scott

[The Captain]

I knew a little about the dead one affect, but the scenarios you guys are presenting I think is the key factor. If you can select narrow, wide (or both?) make sure you are using the best choice depending on the application (Sheldon's structure example, vs. the open search) depth is obviously key too, as a narrow cone in 10ft of water is much more limiting than in 40ft.

The Mark 5x Pro is supposed to hit stores in March, still no manuals or emulators up from Lowrance, but as long as the user has control over the beam selection, I think I'll give it a go, hopefully its a winner for that price point!