Does the 1197 'package' come with a sd card reader included.....for hooking up to my pc...??
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Does the 1197 'package' come with a sd card reader included.....for hooking up to my pc...??
No, but you can pick one up at wally world for $20 or less.
Assuming that the 1197 also does not come with a SD card either.....
Is there a preferred Brand / Size / Speed of SD card recommended by the Si owners out there...??
The 1197 does not come with an SD card, nor an SD card reader.
SD cards are cheap. Get yourself a 2GB card and it will hold more screen captures than you can imagine.
My laptop has a built-in SD card reader, which makes downloading screen captures to my laptop on the boat easy as pie.
My recommendation is to take LOTS of screen captures and study them while out of the boat. You'll be surprised how much you'll pick up on when you're not focused on catching fish or controlling the boat.
2GB is fine, but don't get the cheap cards. Used a cheapo and it took significantly longer to write the file to the card. Switched to one, cant remember the brand, but it was SDHC and significantly improved the write time.
Wannabe...
I'm using a 8 GB in mine.Quote:
Originally Posted by rnvinc
I use Sandisk Extreme III in my camera and my SI. Excellent flash memory.
Get high speed name brand stuff. Makes a big difference with snapshots.
Look at the package and check the access speed. The higher this number, the faster the flash can accept data. I believe mine is 133X. Be sure to check this write parameter before you buy. Speed don't kill and does matter.;)
Most of my snapshots were about 900kb in size. So, round this number up to 1 meg and you can save 2000 snapshots using a 2 Gig Sd card. Theoretically, of course.
Should I have 2 SD cards.....??
1 for screen snapshots and recordings....
1 for HB software updates...
yes
I have a sandisk Ultra 11 SDHC card with 4gb from wally world and it works excellent plus it will hold a lot of info.
One of the few times that we recommend by brand name anybody else’s product is with the memory cards. Cane Pole has some good advice and we recommend the SanDisk brand of memory cards because they follow the SD card Manufacturer Association’s specs for memory cards. So we know that they work with our products because we designed them to work with these specs. Some of the off-brands may or may not work correctly.
The speed of the memory card should be determined by what you are going to be using it for. The Extreme III models are great for fast picture taking in cameras and so are the best for making sonar recordings and screen snapshots with our units. The Ultra II’s are a little slower and while they will work for sonar recordings and screen snapshots they will not do so as fast. The standard speed SD and SDHC memory will work for these things also but at a noticeably slower rate. I would not recommend them for sonar recordings if you want any detail in the data you are recording. The standard speed cards will work fine for software updates though.
Card size is a matter of just how much you want to dump onto the card or if you want to have multiple memory cards or just one. In theory our units can use up to a 32GB SDHC memory card (not sure if these are even out yet) so you should not have to worry about getting one that is too big. If all you are going to do is use it for software updates, even one of the old 8MB MMC type memory cards has more than enough storage space for this. Going to take a bunch of screen snapshots? Get at least a 1GB so you can save a tom of them. With the prices of 2GB cards this holiday season I would look at getting at least a 2GB if not larger SDHC memory card. Making sonar recordings? Go for a 4GB or larger memory card.
You can use a single memory card for everything. Some like to use a separate memory card for software downloads and that’s fine. Some even have a separate memory card for each lake they fish. Just be sure not to have more than one on the memory card at a time when you insert it into the unit though (software update files for different unit models on the same card are okay though as each unit will only recognize and attempt to load its own software file).
I really like the idea of having 2 cards.....because I may have screencaptures or recordings on a card that I haven't had time to work with .....while still needing to update my unit using the 2nd card....
Next question about SD cards.....
When and why should a SD card be formatted....??
I only format them when they don't work with a unit/camera/PC.
Just thought about this: make sure you are using an SDHC capable card reader with your computer. The older SD card readers do not always work with these higher capacity cards. Also, not all software in PC's will work with SDHC cards either when you format them. I've got a link on my work PC to some free software that was written to format the larger SDHC cards. If you don't use the newer software you could turn an 8GB SDHC card into a 2GB card...
After I get updates from HB and get the update downloaded onto the SD card...
I'm supposed to insert the SD card into the slot, power the DF unit 'on', and follow the prompts on the DF unit.....
During the data transfer process of updating the DF unit from the SD card...
Does the data get 'wiped / deleted' from the SD card or is the data merely 'copied' to the DF unit leaving the update data on the SD card....??
I'm supposed to insert the SD card into the slot, power the DF unit 'on', and follow the prompts on the DF unit.....NO---New way of doing it is to first power on HBDF, reset to factory defaults then with HBDF on then install the SD card in unit--not before, then follow the prompts...Quote:
Originally Posted by rnvinc
No the card does not get wiped U can do that by placing back in card reader & deleting the info on card no need to reformat, follow Humminbird_Greg 's instructions.
Didn't I read somewhere that I'm supposed to 'reset to factory defaults' before and after the update install..??Quote:
Originally Posted by jaxsprat
Then would the sequence be...??
First power on HBDF, reset to factory defaults then with HBDF on then install the SD card in unit--not before, then follow the prompts (to install the update), then reset to factory defaults again...??
Sounds good to me;)
What's the purpose of setting the unit to 'factory defaults' after the update is loaded onto the DF unit..??
Just a precaution is all. We've had some folks who have had problems updating their units that were not related to power interruptions or pressing buttons before it was done. Resetting the menus before updating makes sure that you start with the same menu settings before the update occurs and makes sure and resets the menus after updating as well in case they get glitched during the update. With the addition of new menus, moving menus around, or adding settings to menus its best to reset afterwards as well.
Make sure you do this with the unit connected on your boat so that the unit is in the Normal operating mode. Otherwise it will not remember the menu settings and therefore will not have actually reset the menus when you update it.
I can see no problems with this if the boat and transducer are in the water....Quote:
Originally Posted by Humminbird_Greg
But, if my boat is in the garage.....and because the update install procedure you mention requires that the unit be powered on before the SD card is inserted into the unit....isn't the unit going to be in a "confused" state looking for a sonar return in the air by powering the unit on into the "normal operating" mode while sitting in the garage...??
I have done 4 1197c SI updates,2 updates 798c SI,in the garage they work fine.
good info guys
Same here all is fine, however if U don't have the transducer hooked up then I believe it will not work as unit goes into demo mode.Quote:
Originally Posted by Denny
So, after the unit is powered up in the garage...does the unit just search for a "sonar return" while you stick the SD card in the slot to upload the software update...??
Yes it will just start searching for a valid sonar return but this will not be a problem. When you install an SD or map card the unit is programmed to read the information on it. If it’s a map card it will start displaying the map data for the area where you are (or where you have the cursor). If it’s an SD card it will start either loading Nav Data if the memory card has it or it will enter into the programming mode if it sees a software update file.
You can do this without the unit being on the boat but you would have to make sure and force the unit into the Normal operating mode just to make sure that the menus get reset to the factory defaults, else it will automatically go into the Simulator mode as Jaxsprat stated. The unit can make a software update from any mode but the menus can only be truly reset from the Normal (or forced Simulator mode). Since most boats have a transducer, power cable and battery source that can power the unit through the update process it makes sense to do your software updates there.
Should the SD card have nothing on it except for the firmware update that I want to install into the unit ....??
I’ve updated units with SD cards before that had screen snapshots, sonar recordings and Nav Data on them before along with update files for other model Humminbird units. Now it did not make a difference those times that I have done it but I don't know that it won't in all instances. It should make no difference but if you may want to be cautious and have only the software update file on it.
[QUOTE=Humminbird_Greg;951459]I’ve updated units with SD cards before that had screen snapshots, sonar recordings and Nav Data on them before along with update files for other model Humminbird units. Now it did not make a difference those times that I have done it but I don't know that it won't in all instances. It should make no difference but if you may want to be cautious and have only the software update file on it.[/QUOTE]
SD cards are not that expensive..sounds like it would be good insurance from potential problems...IMO