# reefs



## marcuswon (Apr 5, 2010)

OK we must being doing something wrong.i had a tech from hummin bird take the public reef numbers,all of them for escambia county and gulf shore area(pdf file from here and Alabama reef deplorer's). and do what ever had to be done for them to be put on the scan disk card for my 798di/sc.we have went to where it has the markers at on the plotter and found nothing on the di/sc.are these number just a reference to the area or what are we doing wrong.as most know we are new to the going out more than 5 or 6 miles.we tried to go out to day and by the plotter where 10 and 14 miles offshore where we where trying to find the reefs.we found the mass it was about 50 to 75 yards off.but never found any of the other ones.we found a few boats that where grouped up out there but never seen anything on the di/sc and there was not any pre-marker's on the plotter for that spot.we stayed about 25 to 30 yards away from them as not to brother them.then we got down to a 1/2 tank of fuel and came back in.


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## Starlifter (Feb 24, 2011)

*Potential Solution*

You need to find out what format the Lat./Long. coordinates for the artificial reefs on the sheet are, what format the real coordinates are in, which coordinate system was used when placed onto the memory card, and what coordinate system your machine is set on. The coordinate system I usually see used is the Degrees, Decimal Minutes System; 

_Massachusetts Wreck
30° 17.723'N
87° 18.737'W_

Here are some examples of coordinate systems:
Decimal Degrees; dd.dddddd°N dd.dddddd°W
Degrees, Minutes, Seconds; dd° mm' ss.ss"N dd° mm' ss.ss"W
Degrees, Decimal Minutes; dd° mm.mmm'N dd° mm.mmm'W


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## marcuswon (Apr 5, 2010)

i don't know.thats way i got the tech at hummin bird to do it for me. so that way it should have been done right for the unit. i know that from reading that some of these reefs are small like 15 foot or less in size.but should not be hard to find if i am in the right area right?


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## Redtracker (Dec 28, 2011)

Starlifter said:


> You need to find out what format the Lat./Long. coordinates for the artificial reefs on the sheet are, what format the real coordinates are in, which coordinate system was used when placed onto the memory card, and what coordinate system your machine is set on. The coordinate system I usually see used is the Degrees, Decimal Minutes System;
> 
> _Massachusetts Wreck
> 30° 17.723'N
> ...


I use the same format as starlifter on my humminbird 998 si and use the public numbers on any chart found in the stores and the SI is great. Pin point. Best $2000 I have ever spent.


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## marcuswon (Apr 5, 2010)

i think the 998,898 and the 798 are all about the same other than screen size if i remember from when i was looking at them to buy.


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## ryanbr (Oct 10, 2007)

What have you tied to find??? Do make sure(read the manual) it's in the right format. Try entering some numbers manually and carry the county's list w you. Also look at the lat/lon #'s on the machine itself, giving you current position, and see if everything matches up. Try the 3 barges, russian freighter, I-10 bridge rubble, etc, first. Remember some of the public #'s are really old and some are non-existent. Gulf power towers, some reef balls, etc. But you really need to learn the machine. Turn on, then point and shoot will get you in trouble.


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

I have posted the numbers on this site for most all the public stuff. Search username hjorgan and go back about a year or so.

Anyway, I have been able to locate most of these wrecks with my HB 788ci (older model) with good success. Some have moved due to storms and some have sanded over, but most are visible.

I used the Humminbird software to load the coords onto an sd card and then onto my unit. PM me an email address and I'll send you a copy of the florida coordinates in GPX format. Those are posted on here somewhere. If you need help pm me.


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## submariner (Oct 2, 2007)

Sounds like your new to the unit. Make sure you have the sonor set up right and know how to understand what the screen is showing. I have a 898 unit.

The mass is not on the bouy it is off by 50 -75 yards. 

The humminbird software for the computer is free and will allow you to load number and look at locations on google earth. Need to look at that.

Pick some of the larger sites like - bridge rubble, russian freighter or 3 barges and find them. If you are not sure the numbers you have work for these- pm me and I will send numbers that work.

Hjorgan and ryanbr are correct, some of the numbers are close but not right on due to movement. When you get to a spot circle around and look for structure in the area.

If you need/want help reading the display- pm me and we can set a date and place to meet . ed


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## marcuswon (Apr 5, 2010)

when i bought my unit i talk to one of the techs at humminbird.told him i knew nothing about what or how to do the gpx(i think its what it is).he told me to give him the numbers and he would do the rest.gave him the link from here and the AL site to.they show markers on the screen some are named and some are just markers.but we go to the markers and zoom in.set the di/si to 175 foot(the water is 80 to 100 foot deep)and do circle around it and can never see anything show up.we used the mass as a test and learn reef and it shows up and looks just like a ship.don't know if the ones we are at are (not named marker)them 15 or 18 foot and smaller ones or they are not there anymore.we used a half a tank of gas yesterday looking for some of them at the 10 to 14 mile out and found nothing.we left the Pensacola pass and went out and to the left to try and find 5 of the markers(unnamed).


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## Starlifter (Feb 24, 2011)

Keep in mind that depending on the relief (how high something rises off the bottom) is; if you have your depth scale set too high you will completely miss most of the artificial stuff altogether. If you are bottom fishing, increase your zoom to the max and just watch the first 30 feet from the bottom. Unless the structure your looking for has a greater relief than 30 feet.

Also, if your machines gain/sensitivity isn't set right; you may not be seeing much of anything. Here is a tutorial on how to decipher sonar charts; it was written for Lowrance machines. Regardless, all the information on how sonar works is roughly the same.

http://webpages.charter.net/abshire5078/Chart tutorial.pdf


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