Mega 360 Interference and Filter Setting

[C130]

First day out with my new mega 360. I have really bad interference anytime the trolling motor prop is running. I had zero interference on the previous 360. I have direct wiring from the batter to power the mega 360 except fir in line fuse and a switch. Any suggestions on where to start and is there a filter setting in a Helix G3, I cant find it if there is. I have no interference on DI.

[G48]

First day out with my new mega 360. I have really bad interference anytime the trolling motor prop is running. I had zero interference on the previous 360. I have direct wiring from the batter to power the mega 360 except fir in line fuse and a switch. Any suggestions on where to start and is there a filter setting in a Helix G3, I cant find it if there is. I have no interference on DI.

Is the tm power on a separate battery from the m360? and is the m360 power routed down the steering cable for the tm?

[C130]

Different battery, power cable is not routed down the steering cable. It’s in a neoprene sleeve with transducer cords.

[Wayne P.]

Some are using the Noise Filter setting for that. It is in the main Sonar menu when you have User Mode set to Custom in the Setup menu.

[Dogfish_Jones]

Check for a common ground. It clear up about 90% of my interference. My common ground was at my battery switch in the back.

[C130]

Thanks, just got home and will look at the suggestions. Everything worked great until I hit the trolling motor pedal then it was really bad interference. It only affects the 360, nothing else.

One thing I’ve noticed is the mega pod seems to be bigger, longer than the 360 pod. I can’t raise my trolling motor very far at all and have the 360 deep enough in the water. I was getting these weird displays and think the pod needs to go deeper. I adjusted it once but need to lower it just a little more, that may be due to my boat and how it sits. It kinda looked like it was displaying the waves as they went by, only thing I could think of. Images are very nice, much improved over the 360, just gotta figure out the interference issue, it about drove me nuts.

[19trx Patriot]

I had the same interference problems when pushing my ultrex pedal. I had a blown out fuse on the head of my ultrex and I adjusted the noise filter setting to #2. I heard some guys even use #4. You must be in custom user mode in order to adjust the noise filter settings. I believe it's in the setup tab. It took care of the interference immediately. I am now able to count fish on laydowns! The detail is sick!

[C130]

I went and rerouted the power cable and the electrical wires to power the 360, moved some other cables around, turned the filter up to high also. I figured I can always go adjust it back down. It didn't look like the fuse was blown in the Ultrex head but I replaced it anyways since I had one. Tested it in my garage and didn't notice any interference when I activated the trolling motor. Thanks for everyones help and hopefully I can get back on the lake this week and try it out and update the results.

[sigep1967]

From what I gather it is not so much turning up the setting as it is a different frequency setting for the noise reduction. Mine has interference on 1 and 3 and clear on 2 and 4.

[C130]

From what I gather it is not so much turning up the setting as it is a different frequency setting for the noise reduction. Mine has interference on 1 and 3 and clear on 2 and 4.

Thanks, I’ll try some different settings and see which works the best. It’s so freaking hot and humid here I didn’t go out fishing today.

[C130]

I went out yesterday and still have pretty bad interference. Filter settings 2 and 4 helped but still pretty bad. I unplugged the external DI transducer cord from the y cable and it seemed to mostly go away. The 360 rotation speed changes also with the transducer plugged in vs. being unplugged from the y cable. At one point I went and selected the mega 360 transducer only and the image was amazing clear for about five minutes then went back to having interference. I have a brand new DI transducer and will swap it out today. Any suggestions? I’m not sure what to try now. It only happens while using the Ultrex and I did not have any issues with the previous 360.

[Wayne P.]

I went out yesterday and still have pretty bad interference. Filter settings 2 and 4 helped but still pretty bad. I unplugged the external DI transducer cord from the y cable and it seemed to mostly go away. The 360 rotation speed changes also with the transducer plugged in vs. being unplugged from the y cable. At one point I went and selected the mega 360 transducer only and the image was amazing clear for about five minutes then went back to having interference. I have a brand new DI transducer and will swap it out today. Any suggestions? I’m not sure what to try now. It only happens while using the Ultrex and I did not have any issues with the previous 360.

Have you tried the MEGA 360 with 455 kHz to verify that the MEGA frequency only is being interfered with?

[C130]

I believe I did yesterday, I tried different frequencies on everything I could. I turned the console unit off (Helix G1) as it’s networked with the bow unit but that didn’t help. I don’t understand why it cleared up completely when I selected the mega 360 transducer only, had zero interference, then came right back a few minutes later.

I did notice yesterday that my DI image wasn’t as clear as the first day I used it earlier this week. I didn’t see any interference per say but the image was not that clear.

Should I select the mega 360 and mega DI on different frequencies? I tried different frequencies but do people normally run them on different frequencies with mega 360?

[Wayne P.]

I believe I did yesterday, I tried different frequencies on everything I could. I turned the console unit off (Helix G1) as it’s networked with the bow unit but that didn’t help. I don’t understand why it cleared up completely when I selected the mega 360 transducer only, had zero interference, then came right back a few minutes later.

I did notice yesterday that my DI image wasn’t as clear as the first day I used it earlier this week. I didn’t see any interference per say but the image was not that clear.

Should I select the mega 360 and mega DI on different frequencies? I tried different frequencies but do people normally run them on different frequencies with mega 360?

You have two choices for 360 frequencies and there are three choices for SI and DI. I use different frequencies if they bother each other.
The MEGA frequency is more sensitive to "stuff" in the water column so that may be part of your unclear images. There is a setting to automatically filter out "stuff" in the water column = Dynamic Contrast, or you can use the contrast adjust adjustment separately.

BUT you would be trying to figure out trolling motor RFI which is different than the above.

[C130]

Thanks, I’ll mess around with the settings again. I did replace the DI transducer with the new one a few minutes ago. I had bought a transducer shield saver with a slightly used mega DI transducer with the plan to buy a CHO Helix 12 but they were sold out of the CHO units so I bought one with the transducer. I did verify it was the correct DI transducer. I don’t think that’s the issue but will rule that out since the interference pretty much went away when I unplugged the DI transducer and used the trolling motor.

[G48]

I just came off the lake and I have same experience..More so with spot lock than just using the foot pedal. On the m360 view I went thru each noise filter to see if it would help and it appeared level 4 was the best and 1 being the worst. The interference only shows at the east and south views..(don't know if that matters). Oh ..I have solix 12 on bow with built in mdi+ ultrex. My 2d and di don't seem to be responding to any sensitivity adjustments but I notice a change from a subdued color on the bottom of my 2d when I change to max mode.. My 2nd time out I still have some playing around to do..This trip was a stand alone unit as my new (replaced) e switch was in route from eufala so I can't blame any networking. Took a bunch of pics ..will add those tomorrow.

[Wayne P.]

Do you have an on-board battery charger that is connected to the trolling motor battery/s and the starting battery?

If so, disconnect the starting battery lead before getting on the water again to see if the charger is the path for RFI.

[C130]

Wayne, how do you run your transducer cable or suggest running it for those of us with the external transducers? I saw where some ran it along the trolling motor base. I have it running up the Ultrex shaft. Do you think adding a ferrite ring would help? I was reading an old post on another forum and you had used them, recommended the ferrite toroid mix 77. Is that still good for the Ultrex and our issues?

I’m going to try unhooking the Ultrex Ethernet cord to the 5 port hub also. Any possibility that’s causing any interference?

[G48]

Do you have an on-board battery charger that is connected to the trolling motor battery/s and the starting battery?

If so, disconnect the starting battery lead before getting on the water again to see if the charger is the path for RFI.

My setup is..tm power cable routed down port side gunwale to 2 50 ah 12v lifepo4 batteries (no onboard charger). My solix 12 goes to blue seas 5025 fuse panel w/ cutoff switch ..Panel is connected 100 ah 12v lifepo4 house battery.On the panel I have solix 12, solix 10,m360, e switch and stereo..Minus the e switch today.

[Wayne P.]

Wayne, how do you run your transducer cable or suggest running it for those of us with the external transducers? I saw where some ran it along the trolling motor base. I have it running up the Ultrex shaft. Do you think adding a ferrite ring would help? I’m was reading an old post on another forum and had used them, recommended the ferrite toroid mix 77.

Well you have no choice but to run the transducer up the shaft, it's what you do after that matters. I run my cables along the mount to the deck. Some can get away by running it with the steering/power cable, but that is what NOT to do due to RFI issues. All depends on what frequency your motor is broadcasting on.
There are dozens of possible remedies for RFI including replacing the whole motor. A ferrite toroid is one of them.
Proper cable management is also one. Did you follow the instructions for that?