Thread: which hb 798?

yes! that's so cool - thanks!!

Originally Posted by Southerly

yes! that's so cool - thanks!!

From what I could tell scrolling over the bay around Annapolis, there are no contours for depth showing. You would probably need a map chip for it.

dooohhh!! thanks for checking, it would be rude surprise to be expecting it. and i was.

i don't get it. noaa has all their charts online for free as far as i can tell. i'm just not computer-savvy enough to do much useful with them.

Originally Posted by jbp84

so say if i own a 597 now and wanted to put it on the bow and buy a 798 for the console could i link the two together?

jbp84,
You cannot Ethernet or InterLink the 597 unit (or any 500 series unit) with another unit. They do not have any sort of networking or linking capability.

Originally Posted by Southerly

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.

Southerly,
All of the 798 “HD” models are internal GPS only (798ci HD Si – there is no 798c HD Si model).

Yes, Ethernet was added at the same time that we added the “HD” designation to the model number. This helps us know which particular model of 798 that our Customers have and can help us help them more effectively.

The Navionics mapping bundle cannot be added to a unit once it is produced. It has to be built into the unit as it replaces the UniMap or Contour XD maps. We no longer offer the Navionics Value Bundle (NVB) with our units.

thank you for some solid info. please answer another question - was the type of backlighting changed from ccfl to led in the 798 units at the 'HD' change? what type of backlight do the non-HD and HD units use?

if they're different, what are the differences in brightness and current draw?

thanks again

Southerly,
All of the 798 units that we have built (HD and non-HD) have all been built with the same 640 X 640 LED backlit display.