Was wondering which fish finder do you have in the front of your boat and why did you choose that one? Thanks
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Was wondering which fish finder do you have in the front of your boat and why did you choose that one? Thanks
Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app
I use to have the old school black/white 2d sonar units (from the 1970's to the mid 2000's) but wanted something that showed more detail & in color ... so when I got my latest boat, I bought a Lowrance Elite 5 DSI from a fellow member. In essence, I skipped right over several years of color 2d units, straight to Down Imaging. There's an 88pg sticky thread (started in 2011) on this forum, showing my ignorance and my desire to get the unit set up and working for me. Fast forward to late 2017 and I'm dialed in on using the Down Image technology and then .... bam !! While trying to plug the unit up, I ended up breaking one of the copper wires in the back of the unit. A unit that's long out of production, by the way. So I'm still looking for a broken Elite 5DSI so I can salvage the electrical connection assembly from it & fix my old unit. In the meantime, I've purchased a Hook 7 ... which is basically a Elite 5 DSI with a bigger screen & 2d sonar capability added back in. I haven't mounted it on the boat, yet ... but I have manually added all 200 waypoints that I had in the DSI unit (not from the unit itself, but from the GPS coordinates that I had written down).
The main reason I chose the Hook 7 was because it offered virtually the same setup as my Elite 5DSI, on a bigger screen, on sale at my local Cabela's ... for less than what I paid for the Elite 5DSI. The only minor negative things about the unit are the large transducer and the bracket and the power cord & transducer cord are separate & have separate connection plugs in the back of the unit.
HB 998, I got a good deal on it and I :Roflcan SEE it.
SI for searching ...
DI for identifying what SI finds ...
2d for fishing what DI identified it as ...
Mapping to know where "it" is ...
All brands do the 4 above (if equipped) basically the same ...
The Menus differ in each brand to do them ...
Rickie
Love my Helix 10 Mega. Still learning it thanks to Rickie but it is easy to use for the basics.
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I use 2 HB 7" - plus a Ray marine- 7 pro. The ray has the sharpest image of the 3. But they all do the same.
Garmin 93sv chirp. Easy to navigate, I think a great display, long-term reasonable repair policy if that matters to you. ( It obviously did to me ).
Helix 10 Sonar / GPS on the bow. Reason: 2d sonar is compatible with the US2 transducer on the trolling motor, chose the 10" screen for more visibility. I run it in 60/40 split screen, 60 for the lake-master map card for running contours, ledges, channels etc. and 40 in basic 2d sonar to identify bait fish, structure and fish underneath the bow. Upgrading to the Mega SI unit (from standard SI) for the console unit in the very near future for scanning purposes.
I have had Lowrance and HB but recently switched to Garmin. The reason is when I had Lowrance I purchased mapping chips at $150 a piece then when I purchased a new boat it came with HB and the mapping chips had to be micro chips. Now Garmin has built in mapping and if I ever need updates I can do it on-line. The mapping on the Garmin is great.
Humminbird 1198 w/DI, SI, maps, 10.4" screen,etc. Great for old eyes! I bought it on close out when Gander Mountain went out of business.
Mega 9” SI for side and down scan, and below it 5 Hook for sonar and lake maps. Both transducers on Rickie’s da ducer!
Just upgraded to a Lowrance Hook 7 DI, Chirp, and gps. Already have an Elite TI 9 at the helm which I can turn to face the bow to see SI. Found the hook on sale at cabelas for $250 shortly after black Friday. Couldn't pass it up. Basically it's up to what you want in the unit and how much you want to spend. You need it to be big enough for you to see. Mounted mine on an adjustable Cumberland Crappie mount. It sits right between my rod holders. I would love to have a HB mega unit with 360 but the boss won't allow it!
I have garmin on my pontoon, a 9 in on console with all the goodies and a 7 in DI on the bow.
Humminbird 999ci hd si combo.
Fin
I have a 899ci HD SI and 858c on the bow and a 899ci HD SI and a 788ci on the console. I use the 858 and 788 as saved waypoints. And the 899's are mostly used in the side imaging mode 99% of the time. It helps to have a separate unit just to find waypoints.:twocents
Garmin 73 DI on bow and 73 SI/DI on console.
Gen 2 9 Touch at bow and console. Thinking about selling one to upgrade to a Carbon but also would love to have a Hummingbird to link to a Minn Kota
Garmin echomap 73 sv plus units. With extra bases. I fish alone 90+% of the time. Can put both on the bow or console.
Once the Q1 update is released, they will share sonar and waypoint, when Ethernet connected.
I've only had them out once, I'm more than happy.
With active Captain app, you can view your maps on phone. To get a plan together, before you leave.
They come preloaded with 17000 lakes, 13000 of which have 1' contours.
If you need a better mapping, you only need one card for the whole country.
1 micro SD card slot.
If mapping isn't required, get the striker series. Same ducer and images as echomap. Has a basemap that's waypoint capable. No sd card slot.
Both above are quickdraw capable.
On a side note, our Gander Mountain closed late last summer and just re-opened as Gander Outdoors.Quote:
Originally Posted by elkhunter
Back on topic, I'm running a Garmin Echomap Chirp 73sv with the GT52HW transducer. The imaging is all I could wish for.
Sounds like a Garmin is a real nice unit [emoji849]
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I have the Lowrance HDS7 touchscreen. It is by far the easiest unit to use that I've had. That is mainly because of the touchscreen functions.
On regular units you have to backtrack through screens and menus to change anything. The touch screen is much easier to use. In most cases you just touch what you want to change and the menu pops up for that function.
The screen is sharp and easy to read but most units today are good so the touch screen is an option I'd recommend on whatever brand you choose.
HDS 8 up front and an HDS 9 on the console both linked to the XI5
I would like to move the 9 touch up front and get a bigger touch for the console
I have a gen 1 helix 10 si at console and a helix 7 si g2n at the bow. I have them rigged so I can interchange or have both up front or at console. The 10 I bought right before Megas came out so got a good deal but I am happy with it. The 7 I was wanting to add another graph for mapping and already had my mine set that helix 7 si g2n would be the smallest I’d go. Found it marked way down in cabelas clearance cave for about 60% off with 15 hrs on it. I use si ducer from the 7 on the tm as poor man’s 360. Pleased with both FF. I do miss the bigger map card slots on the 9s and above but hard to beat a great deal.
This has been a great thread!! It has me looking at some units that I would never had looked at before. It sure has widen my eyes. I'm waiting on the classic show to see if I can grab up a show special. The boat came with a piranha 4 on the console. But it's built in and you can't see it from the front so I'm fishing the old style right now just what you can see with your eyes.
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My turn to be the Sonar again ...??Quote:
Originally Posted by sds888
;-o
Attachment 288447
Rickie
Now that's funny, I don't care who you are!
still searching for that one unit that'll do it all great, but in the meantime I run....
-Helix 5 SI for a superior sidescanning portable
-Garmin Echomap 7sv for Panoptix
-Garmin 547 w/GT23 for superior 2d
-Lowrance HDS 7gen3 for superior sidescan range and 3D and Spotlightscan
Actually i'm making an assumption with the Lowrance since I havent had on the water yet :bash
Currently have a Helix 12 DI and Helix 12 SI KVD (Gen1's) on bow, I am thinking about selling the 12DI to put a Mega (DI) unit up there also, at least to start.... LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by sds888
I have a HELIX 9 G2N at the bow. This unit was at the console of my old Triton 1756 (which is for sale). I mounted it at the bow and networked it to a console mounted HELIX 12 G2N, MK Ultrex, and TM mounted HB 360 transducer.
I am very happy with the 360. It is more of an targeting tool where SI/DI/2D is more scouting tools. Lately the crappie have been schooled up in creeks and off of main channels. I set my SI range to 90' to find the schools marking with WPs. Then I deploy the 360 and set the range way out to 90' and chase down the schools. This works really well with spider rigs given you know exactly how far out your bait is and can predict almost to the second when you are going to get bit. All this works fine as long as the crappie are biting.rotfl
I moved my Helix 10 SI to the bow when I upgraded to a Helix 10 Mega at the console. Have found the SI at the bow to be very useful to pinpoint the crappie on brush by slowly turning the trolling motor, like a poor man's 360, lol. Just added a HB 7 DI G2N to the console for mapping and sharing mega di from my Helix 10.
I have a HDS 7 gen 3 at the console. I have an 1199 bird and a HDS 12 gen 3 on the bow that I place according to how i’m fishing.
Don
Helix with mega, chirp, si..... Why? Because i like several features of the Helix, Lakemaster maps split screen with side image, or down image. Good luck
Hopefully tomorrow, after the UPS man runs, I’ll be the proud owner of a Helix 9 SI,DI, and GPS. Can’t wait!
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On the Bow I have a Humminbird for Sonar & Imaging and a Lowrance Gen 3 for GPS, linked to my XI5 Motorguide. At the console I have another Humminbird