I went today and got the humminbird fishing buddy 120 and tested it out on the lake today. Im completely new to the fish finder game so i have a few questions. What portion of the transducer is actualy used for the side finder? I figured that when i pointed the back of the unit (where the wires are) that it would be pointing straight out so that the screen could be pointed straight at me, But i wasn't sure. Also when i see fish on the screen (not side finder) how do i know where they are in relation to me? Im in a float tube and the unit is placed like 2 feet in front of me and like 1 1/2ft to to the left of my feet. Are they directly under me? Are the fish on the right of the screen down and to the right? I just dont know. So how do i learn?

-Sorry for so many questions :-[ Marcus

Welcome to the forum.

Sorry, I cannot help you with that unit.

id un-plug the transducer which will put the unit in simulation mode and get the book out and spend a ton of time playing with the unit. the next thing to do is plan on a few hours on the water not fishing and playing with the unit.

The manual sucks. If it was that easy i would def not be taking the extra time to post this question online. The manual just shows the features. It is also just about as big as a one page news paper. Not trying to be a jerk just frustrated with finding info.

-Thanks, Marcus

On that model using the side view the transducer is pointing 180° away from the display. You can pivot the unit and sweep the are in front of you.

When you are using it as a regular fish finder , looking down, the right side of the screen is right under your boat. everything to the left is what was under your boat. The scroll speed and boat speed will determine how long ago it was under your boat. The main thing that determines what you are seeing is the cone angle. That unit has a 20° cone angle so you are only seeing a circle 1/3 of your depth of the bottom. So if you are in 10' of water the circle of the bottom is only 3' in diameter and the circle gets smaller toward the bottom of transducer. Think flashlight.

Here is a good read

http://www.fishfinder-store.com/howfifiwo.html

a better one

http://www.lowrance.com/Support/Tips-and-Tutorials/Sonar-Tutorial/

Thank alot!  Thats pretty much all i needed to know.