Two 93sv on the console

[bigkahunaranch]

So after much deliberation I am putting two Garmin 93sv on the console.
One of the things I was wondering was where I was going to mount the transducers.
Also was looking to see if I could run both units off of one transducer.

I came across this statement from Garmin support:

Running more than one transducer at a time



It is not recommended that more than one transducer be run at the same time.
If two transducers are transmitting at or close to the same frequency and the signals cross, interference may appear on the display of your Garmin Marine Chartplotter or Sounder. For best results, two transducers need to have at least a 50 KHz difference in their frequencies so there will not be interference.
Garmin currently does not make a switch for two units to use the same transducer. Garmin also does not recommend splitting the transducer signal between two units since the signal strength may degrade.

So in layman terms WTF.....??
I can't run two transducers and can't split the signal to one, so please give me some advise
on how am I going to run my two 93sv ???
Its the 50hz part that has me confused.

[LWINCHESTER2]

Your quote from Garmin is generally true. Regardless of brand, transmissions need to be about 50 kHz apart to avoid interference. Quite often the way people handle running multiple units is to choose units that will network sonar so that one transducer can be shared between two units and this avoids the problem. You stated 93sv. There are three of these; the original echomap 93sv, the later echomap CHIRP 93sv and now the current echomap PLUS 93sv. None of these will network sonar today. A spring software release for the Plus 93sv will add the ability to network sonar between two Plus units if they are 7 or 9 inch units. This software will only work for the Plus units.

There are other ways to do this, particularly with Garmin chirp units. If you get two echomap CHIRP 93sv units then you'll most likely have two CV52 transducers. You can set the units up to run a manually set frequency instead of the chirp and avoid interference. For example, set one to 150 kHz and the other to 200 kHz. The ClearVu and SideVu also have to be set to run different frequencies, but that choice is also available in the software. Set one unit to 455 and the other unit to 800.

Which version of the 93sv are you considering? original, CHIRP, or PLUS?

[ring fry]

I have two 73's (CHIRP and Plus) on the trolling motor with two transducers and Panoptix. I get very little interference even if I'm running the same frequencies. Just lucky I guess. On the transom I have three transducers but use just two at a time (CHIRP and PLUS), and also get very little interference.

SE Kansas grass grower

[LWINCHESTER2]

Thanks Ring Fry. I neglected to mention Garmin's exceptional interference control. I don't know how they do it. The comparison I did in November 2016 between the Airmar TM150M and the Garmin GT15M-TM is hard to believe or explain. Both running at the same time, mounted within an inch of each other on the exact same frequency and you can see from the screenshots - Zero interference. While I have reported how well it worked, in other situations with other transducers I have seen interference. I don't know enough to be able to say ahead of time to someone that they won't get interference. I don't follow the 50 kHz rule myself and most of the time don't have any problems. Right now I'm running 83, 107, 150, 200, 240, 300, 400, 417, 455 and 800 andprobably a couple more. When planning a setup though I start out with a goal to stay 50 apart.