So took my new HDS7 out today and was ...disappointed. The structure scan was lack luster to say the least. Now my question is : could be be because where I was fishing it was only between 3-10 feet of water and heavily weedy? Perhaps my location of my LSS transducer is in a wrong location (im 98% sure its not)..or is my motor causing an issue? I dont know it just didn't loook......how i expected it to? like it literally served me NO benefit...at all...like it wasn't even working.

I took like a 10 sec video so if you can rapidly see if anything severly does not look right let me know...i guess ill just have to tinker with the settings i guess.

I dont know it just didnt look.....clear..it was literally fuzzy. ]

I couldn't really tell what you have as I don't fish where there is any vegetation.

Can you post up a picture of your mounting spot and also your location of your standard transducer?

Yes, I would say it is normal given you were in < 10 feet of water over submerged vegetation. Really, the two main things you will adjust are Contrast and Range. The white, washed-out look you are getting is a result of too much contrast. I typically run mine between 60 - 80, with more needed as you move deeper. Try lowering the contrast to around 60 when in depths < 10 feet. Running Auto Range with downscan works well, but I do prefer to run side scan in Manual Range (at times, Auto has it too high to see good detail). HDS 8 and 10s have quickkeys to adjust range, but given you have the HDS 7, you would have to go into the Menu to adjust.

The clutter you are seeing in shallow water is due to air bubbles from waves/prop wash, and just suspended particulates. Nearly all of this clutter disappears in 10 feet and deeper depths. You can increase your level of surface clarity in the LSS menu to minimize this when in shallow water, but I would turn it off when using in > 10 feet.