See full version: Transducer leveling issue
You really want a higher wattage transducer with a lower frequency to penetrate saltwater and all the sediment it has in the water column if you want bottom detail. A 600 watt 50 kHZ transducer will be more than ample for up to 300ft of bottom detail and should track bottom to about 1000 ft. here
I honestly haven't messed with the side and downscan very much but it seems to be about the same, showing nothing much in the water column. more
Also, I think your inclination is correct about the level. If you were to err on the side of higher or lower on the backside of the transducer, you'd want to make sure it is a little lower (pointing forward) so the cone has time to shoot back at you as you are cruising. You may never be getting a return as the cone is expanding farther away from the boat the deeper you go. [links]
Could possibly be the transducer strength and frequencies that it works on. Typically deeper water you are going to need a stronger signal and lower frequencies. However you should be able to get a little something out of that transducer in those depths.
I went through a few different transducers trying to figure this out years ago, so this is just what I've experienced. here
I just installed the TM265 on my friend's boat (he has a 9 inch Simrad EVO3) on Friday so I went through the whole process recently. If you don't want to spend the money for the adapter box, you can make your own, but you have to know what you are doing. You can either use 7 pin pigtails and use a 7 to 9 pin adapter or get two adapters and cut off the 7 pin connector to wire directly. Note, the EVO3 and newer fish finders only have a 9 pin connector so you will need a 7 to 9 pin adapter to interface any 7 pin transducers. I suggest buying the box if you don't know how to wire your own transducer and pigtail. The XID connection provides both the XID identification signal for the transducer and the digital signal for the water temperature. You will not have to connect the (analog) white thermistor temperature wire to the pigtail. The brown wire goes to the ground braid since that is the return ground for the XID wire. We were able to get a good temperature reading with just the XID pin attached to the Simrad.
Structurescan 3D is different, it is a different transducer and also a black box sold as a package. along with the 3D image it produces, it also produces the side scan and down scan images you see with the Structurescan HD, all be it at a steeper price point.
Either way, if you are doing the EVO3, you have to get the pigtail box for the 9 pin connectors. You will need to use up the SS and the normal transducer connector in order to go dual band. If you are only connecting the H band, you can use the regular 9 pin connector for the transducer and use the SS for your SS transducer. You will only have one band in that case. The XID inside the transducer will recognize the high band side. If you connect the low band side to the regular transducer, you will need to manually set the frequency since it does not have the XID. However, if you use both connectors, the system will recognize both high and low as part of the TM265 or TM275 transducer.
there is also another option, the Totalscan transducer, it has the side and downscan elements, doesn't have 3D, but it does have M and H band chirp elements in it, they aren't 1kw however. Im not sure what the 2D chirp element in it are rated at. this one connects directly to the evo3 as well. [links]
It depends on your style of fishing. If you do more bottom fishing at up to 360 feet, the TM265LH would be a better transom mounted transducer if you plan to have a dual band transducer. If you do more offshore, the TM275LHW is better as described above due to the wider cone angle. The low chirp is good for tracking deep water but you lose resolution. It is harder to find a good spot on a transom mounted transducer and not have noise when you are at a high speed plane. The high frequency chirp does cut through air bubbles better or reject the noise better. The side scan transducer does not work as well in deeper waters in my friend's setup. In shallower waters, it works fine. It might be how the transducer is mounted, but he was never able to get a good solid reading at over 200+ feet depths. He mainly fishes for rockfish at deeper waters. [links]
As for a 1kw transducer, the TM options are single band only H,M,L and HW CHIRP bands, for offshore searching for pelagic its going to be hard to beat the HW its a wide band high band transducer with a 25* cone, its shit for bottom fishing as it looks at too much ground, a standard High band would be best for that, but can't use both at the same time as they are using the same frequencies. a good compromise if getting only one to use for both would be the M in my opinion. [links]
Re: Problem with sonar losing signal
Once you loose depth, will it come back on its own if you shut down let the boat come to a rest?
You need to look over the stern of the boat when you are on plane and look at the water around your transducer to see if you have good clean flow of water. here
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