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www.cobra.com MF 2500 FISH FINDER Owner’s Manual All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher. TM ® ©2006 Cobra Electronics Corporation ©2006 Cobra Electronics Europe Limited 6500 West Cortland Street, Chicago Dungar House, Northumberland Avenue, Dun Laoghaire Illinois 60707 USA County Dublin, Ireland Cobra®, NightWatch®, Nothing Co
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Our Thanks to You and Customer Assistance TM Thank you for purchasing a CobraMarine MF 2500 Fish Finder. Properly used, this product will give you many years of reliable service. TM How Your CobraMarine MF 2500 Fish Finder Works TM The CobraMarine chartplotter combined with the sonar performance of the TM CobraMarine MF 2500 Fish Finder is one of the most advanced marine navigation system available. Please read this Owner’s Manual carefully to learn the operation and installation features for
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Warnings and Cautions WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS TM Before using your CobraMarine MF 2500 Fish Finder please read these general precautions and warnings. Please read through this manual before the first operation. If you have any TM questions, please contact the customer service or your local CobraMarine dealer or distributor. Extensive exposure to heat may result in damage to the MF 2500 Fish Finder. Connection to the power source with reversed polarity will damage the MF 2500 Fish Finder severely.
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Included in This Package ABOUT THIS OWNER’S MANUAL TM Any menu operations in this Owner’s Manual are related to the CobraMarine Series of chartplotters. Connecting this product enables all of the Fish Finder TM menus and screens in the CobraMarine Series chartplotter. WHAT IS IN THE BOX? When the package containing the MF 2500 Fish Finder is first opened, please check it for the following contents (if any parts are missing contact the dealer the MF 2500 Fish Finder was purchased from): TM Cobra
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Table of Contents 1. MANUAL ORGANIZATION 1.1. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................2 OUR THANKS TO YOU .................................................................................................................... 2 CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE INFORMATION .................................................................................................. 2 WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS ............
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Overview 1.2. OVERVIEW The Fish Finder consists of a high power transmitter, sensitive receiver and a transducer. The Fish Finder sends an electrical pulse to the transducer which contains an element that converts the pulse into acoustic (sound) wave which is sent through the water. As this wave travels from the transducer to the bottom, it may strike fish, structures, thermoclines (temperature changes in the water, etc.). When the wave strikes an object(s) a certain amount of the wave is reflec
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Technical Specifications 2. THE MF 2500 FISH FINDER 2.1. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Display Colors : 16 colors Display Vertical Resolution : up to 400 pixels (depending on chartplotter screen resolution) Power Requirements : 10 - 35 Volt dc Over Voltage protection Reverse Polarity protection Power Consumption - operating: 17W max Power Consumption - stand by : 1.7W max Operating Frequency : Dual 50 and 200kHz Output Power : 500 or 1000W (4000 or 8000Wpp) Depth Range 1KW/200kHz : 2.5 Ft (0.8m) to 1
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Dimensions 2.2 DIMENSIONS 2.3 MOUNTING THE FISH FINDER The MF 2500 Fish Finder should be preferabily mounted in a dry and well ventilated location. Do not mount it where it will be submerged in liquids or exposed to high temperature. 8 Owner's Manual
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Mounting the Fish Finder 2.3.1 Installation Picture showing actual example of the MF 2500 Fish Finder installation. Fix the MF 2500 Fish Finder to the mounting location using the four screws (holes diameter 4 mm), see previous picture. TM Route the CHARTPLOTTER cable to the CobraMarine chartplotter. Mount the transducer according to the instructions provided with it. Connect the POWER cable to the battery. Please be advised that the MF 2500 Fish Finder when not operating will remain in Stand-By
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Status LED The MF 2500 Fish Finder is in Standalone DST (Depth, Speed, Temperature) mode, but is not pinging because Transducer ID has not detected a transducer. This condition will occur if there is no communication with the chart plotter, and no transducer is connected. 3. STANDALONE DST LED Behavior: 1 long flash every 2 seconds The MF 2500 Fish Finder is in Standalone DST mode, and is pinging normally. This condition will occur if a transducer is connected properly, but there is no communica
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External Connections 2.5 EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS ® 11 Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra
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Power Supply Wiring Diagram 2.6 POWER SUPPLY WIRING DIAGRAM We recommended the installation of a switch and a (5A) fuse in the positive DC supply to the MF 2500 Fish Finder. The MF 2500 Fish Finder is active sending the digital depth through the NMEA interface even when the power (chartplotter) is turned off, thus the need for a switch. In the example below you will notice the positive DC power connection is run through a switch and a fuse before connecting it to the MF 2500 Fish Finder and the
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Chartplotter Connection Diagram 2.7 CHARTPLOTTER CONNECTION DIAGRAM See the following picture to make the connection to the chartplotter: ® 13 Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra
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Transducers 3. TRANSDUCERS The transducer is a device that transmits and receives sound waves into the water. The active component inside the transducer is commonly referred to as an element but actually is a piezoelectric ceramic material. TM CobraMarine sells 4 transducers for various applications. See the table below . 14 Owner's Manual
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Transducers Please contact your transducer dealer for other available transducer configurations. There are many unique options available for your installation: Only some transducer models are suitable for 1000 Watt operation. Airmar has several suitable models. The MF 2500 Black Box Fish Finder will operate at this higher power rating if one of these transducers is connected. ® 15 Nothing Comes Close to a Cobra
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Frequently Asked Questions 4. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 4.1 How can I disconnect the cables from the MF 2500 Fish Finder in case I need to do so for the installation? Open the MF 2500 Fish Finder box unscrewing the four screws (see the following figure). Once the screws are removed, pull out the panel and the Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Unscrew the cables from the PCB. Wire the cables as needed. 16 Owner's Manual
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Frequently Asked Questions Reconnect the cables to the PCB. Push the panel towards the case (be sure to have well positioned the rubber gasket). Close the MF 2500 Fish Finder box screwing the four screws. 4.2 How can I set optimal operating parameters. Optimal operating parameters can be set accordingly with the intended use of the Fish Finder. To quickly set get optimal operational parameters for fishing it is possible to select the FISH preset from the Fish Finder Setup menu, while for cruisin
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Frequently Asked Questions 4.4 How can I restore the Fish Finder default operating parameters? Simply select the CRUISE or the FISH preset. This will restore optimal operating parameters for either cruising or fishing. 4.5 I’m using the Fish Finder in manual mode, how can I set the parameters for optimal operation. Setting operating parameters for optimal operation depends upon environment conditions, user preference and intended usage of the Fish Finder (e.g. fishing or cruising). A good starti
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Frequently Asked Questions decreasing the STC value to SHORT in shallow waters or to switch it to VERY SHORT or OFF. 4.8.2 Auto range fails, and the digital depth readout displays a very shallow reading. What should I do? This usually happens if the STC is off or is set to a low value causing disturbs from surface clutter to be stronger than bottom echoes. Try increasing the STC value. As general rule STC has to be set as in shallow waters and LONG in depth waters. 4.8.3 Auto-range fails in ver
