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Do you guys shut your sonars off when the TM is up?


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I've got an ultra with with the mega down imaging built in hooked to a helix 12 on the bow.  I never used to even worry about shutting off the sonar when it was out of the water, couple years ago I read it was a big no no to do that so I stopped, but when you are running and running on the river it's a pain.  I don't leave it on mega, just regular 2d, and to be honest it's only for 5-10 minutes at a rack as I run from spot to spot, ilam I screwing the pooch as they say?

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I have Humminbird Helix units both at the console & the Bow.

I use the "Stand By Mode" when on the water and not using either.

Essentially puts the unit to 'sleep' including the transducer.

Super easy to do, it's like 3 button clicks.

Take literally less than 5 seconds to do.

One click on the power button 'wakes' it up and 

it's back in full operation with zero lag time. 

So running down the lake, bow unit is in stand by mode.

and when fishing on the bow, the console unit is in stand by mode.

Saves some battery juice at the end of a long day as well.

 

:smiley:

A-Jay

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Never have turned a single unit off in over 35 years of constant fishing. They get turned on at the launch, then turned off when leaving the lake. Newer units with much higher power and frequencies are said to potentially be at issue, but I’ve never really heard of a failure during normal use. That said, @A-Jay’s advice is the way to go if you decide to play it safe.

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Thanks for the input, I'm gonna take my chances especially when I'm just running between spots, heck I  feel like I'm doing good when I remember to pull up the trolling motor, I'll shut it off if I'm gonna have it out for more than 15 min or so

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I run 3 Solix units.  They are turned on in the parking lot.  When I get back I clear the tracks and turn them off just before I load the boat.

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Not sure if mine have a stand by mode. I’ll have to look into it.

 

I don’t have 12 inch screens with mega sonar, mine are 7 inchers with just 2D sonar. If the bow mount is out of the water for more than a quick run, I shut it off and restart it at the next spot. My console unit is always running since that transducer is always in the water.

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I "stop sonar" on my Active Target, as suggested by Lowrance.  I don't on anything else.   To my knowledge Lowrance has never recommend stopping anything except Active Target.

 

FWIW with Lowrance putting the MFD in stand by doesn't stop the transducer from pinging.   Other brands are different.   

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I always installed a toggle switch to turn on/off sonar units and remove the head units trailering my boats. Never has a single issue with them.

Tom

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Short answer...no, they all stay on.

If I'm using Mega360 on the Helix, which is most of the time, I'll just switch to 2D and pull the TM up. My Garmin for FFS, I put to sleep for a run, then just touch the screen to wake it up.

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Never cut mine off until I leave the water but I'd likely reconsider if I had those " new fangled " units.

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I leave mine on. I’d be more worried about not having my TM locked down while on plane. Last thing I want to do is be running skinny and have it deploy. I think that could do some major damage. 

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