Weird sonar issue, I’m getting frustrated…. Help. Lol

[BassCatBrad]

I need some help, I’m extremely frustrated with a sonar display issue. This will be lengthy but I want to be as precise with my explanation as possible.

My 2023 Bass Cat Caracal came with a Helix 9 SI G4 in the console and helix 12 DI G4 with Mega 360 up front, Ethernet hub and connections, it also has an in-hull transducer with Y cable. The bow unit has been awesome, no issues.

Shortly after getting the boat, approximately two months to be exact I started getting chirp sonar image distortion and extremely slow scrolling, even when the scroll speed was set to 10 on my helix 9 in the dash. I checked all connections from both transducers and the Y cable, and nothing was out of whack. I checked and made sure the proper transducer was selected, it was. I then took the unit out of the console and connected it to the bow of my boat and ran it for over an hour, and it worked perfectly.

I wanted a bigger unit in the console anyway, so I ended up buying a Helix 10 mega SI G4 for the console. When I installed the Helix 10 I replaced the mega transducer with the new one that came with the Helix 10 and also replaced the Y cable with a new one thinking maybe that was the issue.

The Helix 10 worked great for about two months. Now yesterday when I was out fishing, the Helix 10 mapping worked great however the image distortion was back, but this time it showed up on the SI, DI and chirp screens. It also would not scroll fast at all. It was extremely slow again even when I made the scroll speed 10. Could my issue be the power cable or connection? Or could it be a bad in-hull transducer causing the problems. Again, the power cable and in-hull transducer were the only things I did not change from the original Helix 9 when I installed the new Helix 10. The bow Helix 12 still works great, yesterday I Went into the settings on the helix 10 while I was having the issues and had it read the transducer off my Ultrex trolling motor, and it worked perfectly. It just won’t display the rear mega SI/DI or in-hull clearly and the scroll speed is almost frozen.

I’m getting EXTREMELY frustrated with the console unit….again…. Anyone have any ideas? I was thinking about maybe disconnecting, the Y–cable and connecting the transom mega SI transducer straight to the helix 10 thus bypassing the in–hull transducer to see if I could get better images. But then again how can an in-hull chirp transducer interfere with the mega transducer.….ugh

[BoatBuggy]

First thing I would do is bypass the Y-cable and in-hull transducer. If a transducer or cable is going bad, it can make the unit do some weird stuff.

[bobcoy]

The Y cables should snap together very tightly( so tight you almost feel they are glued together). If you can pull them apart easily they were not seated properly or are defective. Might keep that in mind when doing BoatBuggy’s test. Bob

[Wayne P.]

The sonar frequencies are broadcast in a sequence so they cannot cross-talk.
Ping broadcast, then wait for return echo to record the distance and then the next ping.

That is four frequency pings per sequence. Left SI, Right SI, DI, 2D.

If 2D does not get a fast return echo to record depth/2D then that slows down the whole sequence and why the other stuff freezes.

Fix your 2D to resolve the issue which can be:

Poor shoot-thru installation
Faulty Y cable.
Faulty shoot-thru transducer.
Defective boat hull at the shoot-thru transducer location or the wrong place in the hull.
Faulty unit connection or internal circuit.

You start eliminating parts to see if that shows where the issue is.
1. Disconnect the Y cable and the shoot-thru from the Y cable, and connect the shoot-thru directly to the display--test on the water.
If the shoot-thru by itself fails, put about 2 gals of water in the bilge to determine if adhesion has failed--test on the water.

2. Disconnect the SI transducer from the Y cable and connect that directly to the display--test on the water.

IF both transducers perform for Depth/2D, you have a faulty Y cable.

If both fail, a faulty display would be suspect.

[CRAWFW]

Are both units and the trolling motor connected to the Ethernet Hub?
Maybe check the hub connections and also the connections from the head units adapter to the Ethernet cable.
I know you said you checked all the connections from both transducers including the Y cable but it could be an ethernet or ethernet connection issue. You may want to take apart the cable tray connector to the back of the unit you’re having issues with and make sure they laid all the wires in there properly as well. Which Ethernet hub did it come with? Might be able to see if there’s a communication issue if you have the new one with communication lights.

[BassCatBrad]

THANK YOU ALL. I hate stupid issues on the water. I go fishing to get away from every day stresses lol. I will take these steps and start troubleshooting

[OK_BassBum]

Since your boat should be under warranty, I would envolve Bass Cat. If you have hull problems, it would be wise to include them.
My skeeter had a hull problem which did not allow the 2d to work. I ended up installing a transom mount and have had no problems since. And I would document everything.