Thread: which hb 798?

what is connecting unit to unit? is that where 2 sonars run from the same transducer? thanks guys. im new to all this. bout to buy 1. and i want to get the right 1.

if you connect two units, the bow unit will still run off a trolling motor transducer but if you are at the console unit and see something worth marking you can mark it and it will be saved on both units. really nice feature to have so that you dont have to keep turning around while fishign to look at the console unit to see if youre in the right place

If both units are ethernet capable, then you only need the ethernet capable to connect the 2 units together. Otherwise, you would need the Interlink unit in between to share information. If they are ethernet capable, I believe you can actually see what the other transducer is seeing.

and that is called interlinking?

There are 2 types of networking on the humminbirds. Interlink and ethernet. Ethernet came out 2010/2011. They are starting to make more devices/accessories that take advantage of this.

so they are basically the same thing. just ethernet is a more updated version with more capabilities

Correct. But they are not necessarily interchangeable.

i'm looking at similar purchase and have been digging around for info. the hb site has FAQ section that covers this to some extent.

i'm comparing 798ci hd si, 798c hd si, 798ci si

c or ci is combo w/gps. the 'i' is internal. you would get a separate gps puck w 'c'. this might be good if unit was in a cabin with no view of the sky i suppose.

i think the above is correct - the hd was added for marketing purposes. this unit has higher pixel count than the competing 'hds 5', always has, even before they added 'hd'.

the above is correct as regards ethernet too. i think this was added at same time as 'hd' letters.

i'm looking at the 'si' because i want the side imaging.this runs at 455 khz. it also has down imaging. other larger hb si units can run at either of 455 or 800khz. i think 455-only kept price down and allows unit to function in deeep water that would not have been possible with 800-only.

but for me - the important difference between hd and non-hd units is the pre-loaded charts. older non-hd units probly have 'unimap'. i don't think these charts show depth contours and you may have to upgrade with a map card. the new hd units are loaded with 'contour xd' charts. i think these charts have contours for the bay, but may be missing many lakes. i've been able to find precious little info on this. in stores, they seem to run on simulator and i don't think that's same as the preload chart but i haven't been able to find out for sure.

i've found old non-hd unimap unit for 750, and new hd unit with contour xd for 850. i'm not sure what a navionics bundle upgrade costs but want to believe i can be happy with contours xd. i saw an ebay ad for a nonhd unit. it said it had contour xd. i asked if that info was from the box. response was no. he said he didn't know much about FF's and copied description info from website. caveat emptor?

there is also good info on the hb 'forum' and the 'unofficial' hb forum. i think you're on the right track but it's worth spending a couple hours research on this. looks like there may be a transducer upgrade to consider before i open pkg'g on the stock transducer. not sure.

ps - my first post!!! wanted it to be a big fat fishing report but,...wth. i plan to use this unit for fishing chesapeake mid bay area and coastal bays from hobie kayak.