Electric Downriggers

[Downriggerer]

You know what Bob, that's embarassing.  I'm embarassed that you think you can do physics without math.  You said you need math to define the relationships but you fully understand those relationships without the math.  You want to "control the ions" with .6V  But, you have no idea what the effect is because you can't do or understand the math.  You can't just shoot .6V into the water and start controlling the ions.  You have no idea how any of this works, or allegedly works.  That's why you are stuck on the prinicple because you can't see the numbers behind what you are saying.  You can't even do Ohm's law with the information you know.  Nor do you know the resistance of stainless steel wire.  Nor do you know or understand the permittivity of water using a stainless steel braided line as a transmission line.  These are fundamental issues that you just gloss over for "principle."  There is a lot of math you have to know to do any of what you are proposing. . . . . ad infinitum

Yeah, what the heck was I thinking. My 40 plus years working in electronics with 20 of those years as an electronics engineer modifying, testing, evaluating, and programming long range radar systems after getting a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering (BSEE) is just meaningless when it comes to your far superior electronic knowledge with regard to the super complex downrigger technology. I am obviously out gunned in this discussion and should have bowed out of the discussion several posts above. My most humble apologies to the OP and any others following this thread for daring to go head to head with a far superior intellect than I. All hail the undisputed god of electronic downriggers; His Royal Highness Downriggerer.  I should probably get my order in today to Hodges Marine for 4 replacement Scotty 1106s before the rush.  I should probably get my 4 Cannons on Craig's List somewhere in the Midwest because it will be impossible to sell them on KSL since we've all been enlightened and shown the error of or ways for daring to use an inferior product on our boats.  Tight lines everybody.  Get those Scotty's ordered soon - before the massive rush that is sure to come.

I'm not going to treat you with the same disrespect over a difference of opinion, Bob.  But, you clearly have a problem with the math.  I noticed the word "designing" was left out of your explanation of your 40 years of changing parts on electronics.  That's because the Electrical Engineer was doing the math for you and telling you to go test his math out.  A BSEE is a degree in electronics without most of the difficult math that explains the physics of signals, waveguides, electromagnetic fields, and etc.  That's not a knock on you.  But, it's a suggestion that understanding the relationships between measurable aspects of physical phenomena is not the same as understand the math behind them.  Maxwell's equations weren't generated by measuring electrical fields and magnets.  Ohm's law wasn't discovered by a guy with a voltmeter.  They were mathemeticians who derived the equations and then found out that the equations reflected what they saw. 

My complaints with the cannons are clear.  You have addressed few of them but have continually defended the positive ion control based on nothing more than the Cannon's website explanation and thumping your chest about 40 years of electronics experience.  You have addressed none of the mathematical issues I've pointed out with PIC. 

Cannon's support entails mailing your downrigger back to them for service, at your expense, which is significant. No parts are available.  If you lose a bolt on the mount, you have to buy a new mount.  Their electrical connectors are outrageously tight even though the electrical contacts within those connectors are loose.  The contacts also corrode within 3-4 years.  They also have the auto-up feature which is a pain to use when you are stacking lines and will cost you hundreds of dollars in lost stacker releases.  And, to put the cherry on top, a second rod holder is not included with a new downrigger. 

Even if PIC worked, why would I put up with all of the rest of that for a downrigger?  I don't even think PIC harms anything.  All I've said is that I don't believe it does anything. 

So what's the problem?  You say PIC works.  I say it doesn't.  We both catch fish although only one of us gets snarky about the discussion.