Fish ID 128 Fish ID 128 INST ALLA TION AND OPERA TION INSTALLA ALLATION OPERATION INSTR UCTIONS INSTRUCTIONS ® 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 3 SPECIFICATIONS ........................................................................................... 3 INSTALLATION ............................................................................................... 4 PERMANENT MOUNT TRANSDUCER .......................................................... 5 POWER CONNECTIONS ..........................................................
INTRODUCTION Thank you for purchasing an Eagle sonar. Your Fish ID 128 is a high quality sonar designed for both professional and novice fishermen. This unit has an automatic feature that finds and displays the bottom, fish, structure, and more! All you have to do is press the on key. However, if you wish to fine tune the unit, simply press a menu key. This unit has powerful features available through easy-to-use menus. To get started with your Eagle sonar, first read the installation section.
INSTALLATION - Bracket You can install the unit on the top of a dash or from an overhead with the supplied bracket. It can also be installed in the dash with an optional IDA3 or IDA-4 mounting kit. If you use the supplied bracket, you may be interested in the optional GBSA-1 swivel bracket kit. This converts the gimbal bracket to a swivel mount which can be used on the dash or overhead mounting positions. Installation instructions for the in-dash and swivel mounting kits are supplied with the adapter kits.
PERMANENT MOUNT TRANSDUCER INSTALLATION The HS-WSPC supplied with your sonar is a transom mount transducer. It can be installed on any outboard or stern-drive (inboard\outboard) powered boat. The “kick-up” mounting bracket helps prevent damage if the transducer strikes an object while the boat is moving. If the transducer does “kickup”, the bracket can easily be pushed back in place without tools. Read the enclosed transducer installation instructions carefully before attempting the installation.
4. If possible, route the transducer cable away from other wiring on the boat. Electrical noise from engine wiring, bilge pumps, and areators can be displayed on the sonar’s screen. Use caution when routing the transducer cable around these wires. CAUTION! CLAMP THE TRANSDUCER CABLE TO TRANSOM NEAR THE TRANSDUCER. THIS WILL HELP PREVENT THE TRANSDUCER FROM ENTERING THE BOAT IF IT IS KNOCKED OFF AT HIGH SPEED.
RATCHETS remove the transducer and ratchets from the bracket. Place the ratchets into the holes in the bracket with the letter “B” aligned with the dot stamped in the bracket. Reassemble the transducer and bracket and place them against the transom. Again, check to see if you can move the transducer so it’s parallel with the ground. If it does, then go to step 3. If it doesn’t, repeat step 2, but use a different letter until you can place the transducer on the transom correctly. 3.
4. Hold the transducer and bracket assembly against the transom. The transducer should be roughly parallel to the ground. The bottom of the transducer bracket should be in line with the bottom of the hull. Don't let the bracket extend below the hull! Mark the center of the slots for the mounting holes. Drill two 5/32" holes in the marked locations for the #10 screws supplied with the transducer. TRANSOM SIDE VIEW 5.
6. Route the transducer cable to the sonar unit. Make certain to leave some slack in the cable at the transducer as shown at the bottom of the previous page. If possible, route the transducer cable away from other wiring on the boat. Electrical noise from the engine’s wiring, bilge pumps, VHF radio wires and cables can be picked up by the sonar. IMPORTANT! Clamp the transducer cable to the transom close to the transducer.
POWER CONNECTIONS -PERMANENT MOUNT UNITS ONLY IMPORTANT! INSTALL THE TRANSDUCER BEFORE WIRING THE POWER CABLE! The Fish ID 128 works from a 12 volt DC system only. For the best results, run the power cable directly to the boat’s battery. Keep the power cable away from other boat wiring, especially the engine’s wires. This will give the best isolation from electrical noise. If the supplied cable is not long enough to reach the battery, splice #18 gauge insulated wire to it.
FISH ID 128 PORTABLE ASSEMBLY INSTALLING THE BATTERIES Release the latch on the front of the battery case. Open the compartment and install eight "D" cell batteries into the adapter. For the longest life, we recommend you use alkaline batteries. This battery case will also hold one rechargable battery instead of the "D" cells. See the enclosed coupon for more information on the rechargable battery.
battery voltage. Most of the complaints we receive about portable units result from stale batteries. Make certain the ones you buy are fresh. Always remove batteries from the battery compartment before storing the unit as dead batteries can leak and corrode the contacts. In cold weather the efficiency of dry cell batteries drops with the temperature. We find it a good idea to have the sonar unit good and warm along with the batteries before we leave home.
Clean the chosen area of the hull before attaching the suction cup. Locate the transducer on the hull as shown below. Don't allow the bracket to go below the hull, as water pressure against it can cause the suction cup to come off at speed. Moisten the cup, then press it onto the hull as firmly as possible. Tie the nylon cord to the boat and route the transducer cable to the sonar unit. Plug the transducer connector into the Fish ID 128. Your portable sonar is now ready for use.
KEYBOARD BASICS The unit sounds a tone when you press any key. This tells you the unit has accepted a command. PWR/CLEAR Use this key to turn the unit on and off. It also clears menu selections and the menus from the screen. Fish ID 128 Note! To turn the unit off, press and HOLD the PWR/CLEAR down. A countdown from 3 seconds appears on the screen when you hold the PWR key down for more than a couple of seconds. When the countdown reaches zero, the unit shuts off.
NOTE: Turning the unit off erases all user settings and it returns to the system defaults. For example, if you turn the lights on, then turn the unit off, the next time you turn the unit on, the lights will be off, since the default setting for the lights is off. MENUS This sonar unit uses menus to guide you through the unit’s functions and features. The menu keys accesses these features, allowing you to customize the unit to your particular needs and water conditions.
RANGE You can’t adjust the range when the automatic mode is on. It is adjustable when the unit is in the manual mode, however. To do so, first put the unit in the manual mode. Now press a menu key until the “RANGE SEL” menu appears as shown at right. The current range shows at the bottom of the menu. In this case, the range is 60 feet. Now press the up arrow key to decrease the range, the down arrow key increases the range. After you select the desired range, press the PWR/ CLEAR key to clear the display.
SENSITIVITY The sensitivity menu lets you control the unit’s ability to pick up echoes. A low sensitivity level excludes much of the bottom information, fish signals, and other detail. High sensitivity settings lets you see features, but it can also clutter the screen with noise and other unwanted signals. Typically, the best sensitivity level shows a good, solid bottom signal with grayline. This unit adjusts the sensitivity level to keep a solid bottom signal on the screen.
floats, air bubbles, etc. Individual tree limbs extending outwards from a group of limbs are the hardest objects for the Fish ID feature to distinguish from fish. You may see Fish ID symbols on the screen when, in fact, there are no fish. Practice with the unit when the Fish ID feature is on and off to become more familiar with Fish ID. To turn this feature off, press a menu key until the Fish ID feature’s menu appears as shown at right. Now press the down arrow key.
CHART SPEED The rate echoes scroll across the screen is called the chart speed. It’s adjustable by pressing a menu key until the chart speed menu appears. Chart speed is set to maximum when the unit is first turned on. To decrease it, press the down arrow key. Press the up arrow key to increase the speed again. The percentage of chart speed also shows on this menu. Echoes scrolling onto the screen will also show the effects of the change. If you reach the maximum or minimum level, an warning tone sounds.
ALARMS FISH ALARM The Fish Alarm sounds a tone when a fish symbol appears on the screen. To use the fish alarm, press a menu key until the “FISH ALARM” menu appears on the screen. Now press the up arrow key to turn the alarm on. Repeat the above steps to turn the alarm off. SHALLOW ALARM The shallow alarm is triggered only by the bottom signal. No other echo will activate this alarm. The shallow alarm sounds an alarm tone when the bottom goes shallower than the alarm’s setting.
LIGHTS The display is backlighted for night use. To turn the backlights on or off, press a menu key repeatedly until the back light menu appears. Now press the up arrow to turn the lights on or the down arrow to turn them off. The menu will clear automatically after a few seconds. FEET/METER This unit can show the depth in feet or meters When the unit is in the metric mode, all depth readings, ranges, zooms, and alarm settings are in meters.
automatically after a few seconds or press the PWR/CLEAR key to clear the screen. ASP (Advanced Signal Processing) ASP is a program embedded in the computer that is specifically designed to eliminate noise. It continually monitors the signals from the receiver, determines which echoes are noise and rejects them. This allows true target echoes to display on the screen with a minimum of clutter.
FISH ARCHES Fish arches are created when the cone of sound passes over a fish. The distance to a fish when the cone first strikes it is shown as "A" below. When the center of the cone strikes the fish, the distance is shorter as shown "B". As the cone leaves the fish, the distance increases again as shown in "C". When the Fish I.D. mode is off, the depth of the water will affect the size and shape of the fish arch due to the cone angle diameter.
One of the best ways to get fish arches is to expand or “zoom” a segment of the water. For example, from 45 to 60 feet. The smaller the segment, the better the screen resolution will be. The easiest way to do this is with the Zoom feature. This feature expands the echoes, making it easier to see detail. For the best results, turn the sensitivity up as high as possible without getting too much noise on the screen. In medium to deep water, this method should work to display fish arches.
SURFACE LAYER ABSORBS HEAT FROM THE SUN EPILIMNION THERMOCLINE MOST PRODUCTIVE ZONE FOR FISHING HYPOLIMNION The sonar can detect this invisible layer in the water, but the sensitivity will probably have to be turned up to see it. TROUBLESHOOTING If your unit is not working, or if you need technical help, please use the following troubleshooting section before contacting the factory customer service department. It may save you the trouble of returning your unit. Unit won’t turn on: 1.
Unit freezes, locks up, or operates erratically: 1. Electrical noise from the boat’s motor, trolling motor, or an accessory may be interfering with the sonar unit. Rerouting the power and transducer cables away from other electrical wiring on the boat may help. Route the sonar unit’s power cable directly to the battery instead of through a fuse block or ignition switch 2. Inspect the transducer cable for breaks, cuts, or pinched wires. 3. Check the transducer and power connector.
rejection feature. This can cause the unit to eliminate weaker signals such as fish or even structure from the display. Try using resistor spark plugs or routing the sonar unit’s power and transducer cables away from other electrical wiring on the boat. No fish arches when the Fish ID feature is off: 1. Make certain transducer is pointing straight down. This is the most common problem if a partial arch is displayed. See the Fish Arch section in your owner's manual for more information. 2.
unit’s power cable and transducer cable away from the wiring that is causing the interference. VHF radio antenna cables radiate noise when transmitting, so be certain to keep the sonar’s wires away from it. You may need to route the sonar unit’s power cable directly to the battery to isolate it from other wiring on the boat. If no noise displays on the sonar unit from electrical equipment, then make certain everything except the sonar unit is turned off, then start the engine.
EAGLE ELECTRONICS FULL ONE-YEAR WARRANTY “We", “our”, or “us” refers to EAGLE ELECTRONICS, a division of LEI, the manufacturer of this product. “You” or “your” refers to the first person who purchases this product as a consumer item for personal, family, or household use. We warrant this product against defects or malfunctions in materials and workmanship, and against failure to conform to this product’s written specifications, all for one year (1) from the date of original purchase by you.
How to Obtain Service (Canadian Customers Only) We back your investment in quality products with quick, expert service and genuine Eagle replacement parts. If you need service or repairs, contact the Eagle Factory Customer Service Department at the toll-free number listed below. A technician may be able to solve the problem and save you the inconvenience of returning your unit. You will be asked for your unit's serial number. 800-324-1354 Canada Only. Monday through Friday 8:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M.
How to Obtain Service (U.S.A. Only) We back your investment in quality products with quick, expert service and genuine Eagle™ replacement parts. If you're in the United States and you have questions, please contact the Factory Customer Service Department using our toll-free number listed below. You must send the unit to the factory for warranty service or repair. Please call the factory before sending the unit. You will be asked for your unit's serial number.