Mega Live choke adapter???

[BOWILLIAMS]

I installed the choke on my charger cable as explained in the instructions. However, now I am confused after my son said we installed it WRONG on our boats. He said a Humminbird prostaff on Facebook said to install the choke on the Mega live power cable. I looked over the mega live manual again and papers that came in the box and I found nothing saying to put the choke on the power cable!!! My son had a spare choke that came with his external transducer mount for the ultrex so he decided to put that one on the Mega live power cable. Well.... it did absolutely nothing, mega live looks the same as before and still gets a slight flash with mega 360 on. I don't fully understand the choke but I understand that it helps with interference, right? Is there is more to it? Is the manual wrong? Do I need to move the choke or buy another one? Will Humminbird send us another choke if we already installed it on the charger?

[SLYDoggie]

Everything I have ever seen about the Choke says to install it on the charger as the Mega Live instructions say. I wouldn't trust heresay on Fakebook.

[BOWILLIAMS]

Everything I have ever seen about the Choke says to install it on the charger as the Mega Live instructions say. I wouldn't trust heresay on Fakebook.

That's what I thought!! But my son said this guy Rick works for Humminbird as a master grapher and had mega live before everyone. I don't want to mess up the live and wait forever to get it fixed because of this choke adapter in the wrong spot.

[densik]

The choke goes on the charger lead to the electronics battery. It stops trolling motor RFI from transferring through the charger to your electronics power. Once it passes through the battery into the electronics power the choke will not work to eliminate the issue. The charger lead is the one and only place to install this choke. If you go back to that post, there is in-depth info on this, and that gentleman is taking a hit on his post.

[Wayne P.]

The definition of “interference” got lost.
The choke filters RFI typically from the trolling motor.
The flashes are cross-talk, so it makes no difference where you put the choke, it will not prevent cross-talk.

[BOWILLIAMS]

The choke goes on the charger lead to the electronics battery. It stops trolling motor RFI from transferring through the charger to your electronics power. Once it passes through the battery into the electronics power the choke will not work to eliminate the issue. The charger lead is the one and only place to install this choke. If you go back to that post, there is in-depth info on this, and that gentleman is taking a hit on his post.

I did not see the post, got the info from my son. Thank you for the clarification!

[BOWILLIAMS]

The definition of “interference” got lost.
The choke filters RFI typically from the trolling motor.
The flashes are cross-talk, so it makes no difference where you put the choke, it will not prevent cross-talk.

Thank you for the information. Good, I'm not going to worry then.

[SLYDoggie]

The choke goes on the charger lead to the electronics battery. It stops trolling motor RFI from transferring through the charger to your electronics power. Once it passes through the battery into the electronics power the choke will not work to eliminate the issue. The charger lead is the one and only place to install this choke. If you go back to that post, there is in-depth info on this, and that gentleman is taking a hit on his post.

Thanks for this explanation! I have always known that it connects to the charger to prevent interference but I never did know what the interference was that it was preventing.

[RichW]

What does the RFI look like? Has anyone seen the rfi eliminated after the choke installed?

[bobcoy]

Not that easy. It does not always look the same. If it is from the TM it will stop when the TM is stopped. Or something is done to mitigate it.(possibly the choke) Bob

[SLYDoggie]

What does the RFI look like? Has anyone seen the rfi eliminated after the choke installed?

On the Mega 360 RFI interference typically is the "Wagon Wheel" effect. You can search this forum for Wagon Wheel and see plenty of pictures. All of the Mega Live issues I have seen appear to be crosstalk with the other actively pinging sonars (Mega 360, DI, or SI) using the same frequency range. That is what causes the flashing semicircle rings at various distances out on some videos. I was able to stop this by changing the Mega Live Interference setting on the Sonar Settings page on my Solix and Apex units.

Be aware that RFI can also be transmitted through the water by a trolling motor with a bad fuse or another issue which is putting unwanted signals into the water to then be picked up by your other electronics. This type of RFI interference won't be prevented by the choke.

[Wayne P.]

What does the RFI look like? Has anyone seen the rfi eliminated after the choke installed?

Typically it looks like the images are washed out (light colored). It can affect 2D sonar, Down Imaging, Side Imaging, or LIVE, just depends on the frequency that the motor is broadcasting. One can only hope that it isn't a frequency that the unit uses since it is random what the frequency is and its intensity.

This is what I was getting on 455 kHz about 12 years ago. Each of the light colored bands is when the trolling motor was running.

[BOWILLIAMS]

Awesome information all! Thank you!

[tcesni]

Interesting thread. I get interference on my Mega 360 when my trolling motor is operating at a low speed of say 10-30 but I get no interference when it is operation at a high speed of 70-100. That seems odd to me.

[SLYDoggie]

Interesting thread. I get interference on my Mega 360 when my trolling motor is operating at a low speed of say 10-30 but I get no interference when it is operation at a high speed of 70-100. That seems odd to me.

I came across an article a while back that did a good job of explaining this. The speed control on the Minn Kota trolling motors is called a Digital Maximizer. Since it is digitally controlled, you have the opportunity for RFI. The slower the speed, the more interference opportunity you have. At full speed, there is no digital PWM control... It's just going all out.

Here is an excerpt from the article... Digital Maximizer based Minn Kota motors work totally differently. They use Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to control speed, instead of the set number of speed coils in traditional motors.With PWM, the transistors switch on and off at approximately tens of thousands of times per second. The ratio between on vs off intervals is what controls the current flow, without wasting energy.

[Wayne P.]

I came across an article a while back that did a good job of explaining this. The speed control on the Minn Kota trolling motors is called a Digital Maximizer. Since it is digitally controlled, you have the opportunity for RFI. The slower the speed, the more interference opportunity you have. At full speed, there is no digital PWM control... It's just going all out.

Here is an excerpt from the article... Digital Maximizer based Minn Kota motors work totally differently. They use Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to control speed, instead of the set number of speed coils in traditional motors.With PWM, the transistors switch on and off at approximately tens of thousands of times per second. The ratio between on vs off intervals is what controls the current flow, without wasting energy.

When I was experiencing RFI with the unit in post #12, the trolling motor was a Motor Guide Tour 36V. A friend with the same motor was experiencing RFI on his Lowrance bow unit that he had moved from the console to the bow. Those motors have the electronic speed control.

[Hollada]

If you remove your charger leads from the electronics battery and the interference is still there, the choke will do nothing for you.

[Wayne P.]

If you remove your charger leads from the electronics battery and the interference is still there, the choke will do nothing for you.

[Meleagris1]

That's what I thought!! But my son said this guy Rick works for Humminbird as a master grapher and had mega live before everyone. I don't want to mess up the live and wait forever to get it fixed because of this choke adapter in the wrong spot.

I saw that post on FB and actually posted a link to the manual so people wouldn't get confused on this. Rick was trying to be helpful just got his wires crossed on that one point. As a separate matter - kids (mine included) and many adults these days need some real lessons in understanding the difference between primary and secondary source information. It blows my mind how no one actually goes to the source to check information even when its right at their fingertips!

[Hollada]

I saw that post on FB and actually posted a link to the manual so people wouldn't get confused on this. Rick was trying to be helpful just got his wires crossed on that one point. As a separate matter - kids (mine included) and many adults these days need some real lessons in understanding the difference between primary and secondary source information. It
blows my mind how no one actually goes to the source to check information even when its right at their fingertips!

RTFM! Few know what that means anymore.