( 2 reviews )
-
Posted: 11-26-2007
Recently purchased a SmartCast RF15 with channel A remote sonar and additionally a channel B remote sonar The RF15 display is big and looks fine. Yet I found it inconvenient to bring around the fishing rod and the RF15. The options with wrist or rod seem better for portability and easy of use. Did not see a way to save certain settings to persist across RF15 switch-off. For example I would like to have different than the default depth range or channel, yet it seems this is not possible. The biggest problem - remote sonar RF40-B on channel B does not work, even after I change the channel on the RF15. No idea why. The remote sonar on Channel A, which comes with the RF15 is working perfectly.
-
( 15 of 16 found this review helpful ) Posted: 01-07-2005
Got this as a gift for Christmas when I was shopping with the wife at BassPro here in Orlando. I had been researching these units for a few days after reading about one online. The fact that I could cast out from the shore appealed to me so I chose one of the smartcast models. BassPro had the RF10 on sale and the R15 was the price I had expected the R10 to be so I went with the R15. It includes grey scale and water temp as part of the upgrades from the R10 series. Over the past two weeks I've taken the R15 out to 4-5 lakes around my area to test it out. Provided I do a nice steady retrive a smooth display of the bottom is presented. I have also seen a fair amount of fish on the display using the Fish ID function. From what I have read on various newgroup posts this feature should generaly be turned OFF. Instead one is supposed to learn how to identify fish using "raw" sonar returns. So far I have not seen any "fish arches". I have a feeling I might need to be in deeper water for this to occur. Overall the detail is nice and there are four options for displaying the 4 gradations of grey in ordet to highlight either weak or strong returns. One of the limilations of using this near the shore is that is does not do well with shallow depths. It lists 2 feet as the minumum but even depths of 3 feet and a bit more seem to confuse it, giving false returns. I have not tested its actual ability to recognize a return as a fish yet. I say this becuase so far I have not taken my tackle out, just the fishfinder in order to concentrate on learning it. I think I will try adding some bait to a line and attaching this to the small hole provided on the bottom of the RSS to see if it will show any fishing coming up to check it out. I have had the unit lock up here and there, but unpluging the power cable and reinserting it and then turning on the unit again seems to have solved it. The other day I was getting some weird temp readings, it went from 40F and then back to the correct temp of 71F a few times. I also expienced an anomoly with the display. When set to "Black" mode for bottom detail the unit was only displaying 10H/6V pixels of resolution. Not sure what was up with that and I haven't tested it since then. Perhaps its a battery thing. Overall I'm really happy with the unit. Sure is nice to be able to see contours of a lake as well as know if fish are in the area. Although the Fish ID might not be perfect you at least know that if nothing is showing on the screen at all to move somewhere else so as to not waste time.
