Chirp vs dual sonar on helix si???Please explain...

So my brother and i are going to get a 10 or 12 SI helix and dont really understand the difference of the chirp to the dual. Either way its a good chunk of change but we are willing to spend it if its worth it. We are going from a old old gray scale type finder and will have this one for awhile. We wont have 360 or i pilot for now but could later. Please explain what we will or wont gain from the chirp sonar if we go with the 12. That is our biggest hang up right now. We could live with a smaller screen but if its better then we will get the 12. If anyone knows of a video that would be great. Thanks for any info!

CHIRP (by difference in Sonar technology) will give better target separation with less noise on the 2d display ...

Plus the capability to use a higher quality CHIRP xducer (additional purchase) ...

Target separation is sometimes beneficial in separating fish that are stacked close together ...or fish hugging the bottom ...

Rickie

Thanks for the reply Rickie. So in your opinion is it worth the extra to go to a 12 for that?? For guys that just enjoy fishing are we going to see the benifit.

Thanks

That depends a LOT on how you fish .... if the water is greater than 15 feet and you are looking for fish hugging the bottom the chirp units will generally show better whether it's a fish or a bump on the bottom........If you have a DI unit with a dedicated DI element, you can get even better target separation.

Unless 2D is EXTREMELY important to you, the advantage of the 12 would be the bigger screen and it also has better pixel density. Bigger is better when it comes to SI, and bigger would also allow you to split the views and still have good size on each split.

If you are new to this technology, I would just go with the Helix 10 initially and move on up to the 12 later. If you decide to go with the 360, the 12 would be good at the bow and the 10 at the console.

One advantage in the CHIRP 2d images will be the confidence you might see in fishing a particular spot that is showing separated and distinguishable echoes ...that may not look as "fishy" on regular toneburst 2d Sonar ...

Is CHIRP alone worth the added cost ...to some maybe ... to some others maybe not ...

One should always buy the biggest screen they can afford ...

I can recall no posts over the years of anyone wishing they had bought a smaller screen ...

Rickie

The bigger unit is more prone to get damages from lures and other abuse. I personally like the bigger screen for side by side use of GPS /2d. Though, due to the nature of my fishing and size of my boat won't put over a a 9 on my boat.

It could also be beneficial to have 2 smaller units instead of one huge one..... less expensive each. Once could be a Si unit and another just a GPS unit for mapping....2 9" units would be equal to 1 18".

Thanks for all the replies that answered the questions we were having. Now to order and get it all set up!!! O and make the final decision which one. Easier to buy a truck then this.