Wayne P.

Humminbird's FishID is not like other brands. The size of a fish's air bladder determines if the fish qualifies for a symbol. The approx. bass size that gets the symbols is about a 1- 1 1/2# bass gets the smallest of the symbols, about a pound more gets the medium size symbol, and 3+ # gets the largest symbol with the Freshwater setting. If you see a FishID symbol for crappie, they are NICE ones. If you set the unit to Saltwater, the criteria for the symbols are much larger. There are two colors of symbols, the older units have symbols shaped like Goldfish crackers and they are gold for fish within the 200 kHz coverage and blue for fish within the 83 kHz coverage. Helix models have symbols that look like walleyes and they are gold for 200 kHz coverage and green for 83 kHz coverage. The ONIX has symbols that look like tuna. The function does not work as it should, needs a software update to fix it. I do not adjust the FishID Sensitivity from the default of 5 since it shows what I want to see. These screenshots are at the same lake. Older models: Helix: ONIX: Bottom line is you have to be where large enough fish are to get FishID symbols.

Was the power supply you got rated at 12V 1A? I have three of these that are 13.8v at 1000 mA that I have run two 1198's and a 798 for a seminar demo. Have a 1198 connected to one now. Got them from Radio Shack and have Enercell as a brand name. It has an auto receptacle and I put a auto plug on the power cord to plug into it. The auto plug has a built-in fuse holder.

2D and down looking imaging units scroll the recorded images right to left. They mirror each other. The top of the image is the water's surface and the bottom of the image is the bottom of the body of water. Makes no sense to not have it that way. Side looking imaging units scroll the recorded images top to bottom

Good choice, the variable speed circuitry will give you more run time than the 5 speed models. Next choice is a deep cycle battery that will handle the run time you need so you won't need paddles if the battery dies.

About 67'. Look at the Web App map and change the Safety Depth to 60' and all deeper than that will be white. I was catching them in the 15'-20' range Thursday on the brush piles and beaver huts. This is one of them and the brush pile is shown on the left side of the 360 view. Several that size with a total of 46 bass.

DSI is a discontinued Lowrance model that is just Down Scan. Humminbird has DI (Down Imaging) models. Units with no imaging are Sonar models (2D). Those would be the least expensive. All brands have those.

Community Edits (waypoints) are shared between devices---all devices world-wide including the Web App. A regular waypoint is not map data, that is GPS data and has nothing to do with Navionics, Insight, or any other mapping.

Overfilling with acid/water will cause that out of the top. If the batteries have a cracked case, that could be from being frozen not fully charged.

The upside is you will be using the proper transducer for the installation.

Yes, I have posted it on this site, it is on Doug Vahrenberg's web site and posted on another forum also.

Yes, there are more differences. The Helix 10 has a higher resolution display as well as 1" more diagonal measured display. It has about 3,000 more pixels per square inch. The Helix 10 SI GPS comes with the XHS 9 HDSI 180 T transducer. The Helix 9 SI GPS comes with the XNT 9 SI 180 T transducer. Most that want shaper images, exchange that transducer for the one that comes with the Helix 10 SI GPS.

Which one of the nine models of Helix 5 do you have? edited: Never mind I see you stated that in your first post. GOOD choice.

If you have a few dollars, you can get the Lithium deep cycle batteries that weigh much less than the lead/acid batteries. https://www.lithiumpros.com/product/lithium-pros-m3110-12v110ah-starting-lithium-ion-battery/

You can make them mobile with just an extra mount, power cord, and transducer.

There is a V Hull or V-hull boat. Rounded bottom with a sharp V shaped front end???? There is probably strakes (ridges) on the bottom from forward to rearward that you do not want to have in the same line as the transducer. Just place the transducer away those strakes with the bottom of the transducer about 1/8" below the bottom of the transom so it gets a good water flow across it as you move forward. If you follow the installation instructions, you should not have any issues. The DI transducer installs just like a 2D transducer. This is a V Hull aluminum boat:

Which one of the six versions of Helix 7? What does your transom look like?? Did you read and understand the installation instructions? What is a vhaul??

Poor <10 Successful 25 Good 50 Excellent 75+

Yes, registering is just to give you access to unit software and HumminbirdPC. Has nothing to do with warranty.

Any new Navionics card includes a year of Freshest Data Updates. Did you purchase a package deal that included a Navionics card???? The unit reads Insight and Navionics mapping. You have to create a password protected account with Navionics by downloading and installing the Chart Installer software from their site. That registers the card and starts the year of updates-- you have 60 days from purchase date to do it or you loose it. The card should lead you through the process. Just have an internet connection and put the card in a computer card reader. Be prepared for at least an hour for the update to be done. I updated my Hotmaps Platinum card a couple of days ago using a local library WiFi connection and it took two hours and 5 minutes.

I do not have a DI unit to check the settings, but for 2D sonar there is a Sensitivity setting that affects both 2D frequencies the same amount. Then there is another Sensitivity setting that offsets the general setting. For a 83/200 kHz unit, there is a 83 kHz offset Sensitivity setting. The separate 455 kHz Sensitivity setting may be like the 83 kHz setting since a DI unit uses 200 kHz and 455 kHz for 2D sonar. The DI Sensitivity setting is different and separate from the 2D sonar setting. It only affects the DI whether you have 455 or 800 kHz selected or the unit changes the frequency automatically according to the depth. The Sensitivity setting adds or subtracts details that the unit displays. Don't be afraid to use it to see what it does.

Not all mapping products have coverage for all bodies of water. The current maps that Navionics has can be viewed on their website's Web App. If the lake you need is not shown there, Navionics does not have it. If the site does show the lake, update the map card as you should have when you got it.

At the top of this Electronics forum are posted Screenshots from several brands showing what 2D sonar, down looking imaging, and side looking imaging looks like.

There are several in that link. I would recommend at least a color display with regular 2D sonar. It is much easier to see in bright sunlight. Good ones by Garmin, Humminbird, and Lowrance within the $400 budget AND you can get most any of them at a lower price by shopping on-line with a marine electronics dealer instead of a big box general sporting goods place like Academy, Bass Pro or Cabelas. You can have not only color, but GPS and Down Imaging too in your price range. The Imaging technology will show what stuff really looks like. Humminbird has Down Imaging, Lowrance has Down Scan, and Garmin has DownVu as their trade name for the down looking imaging technology. Look through the posted screen shots in the topic above to see how stuff is displayed in the real world.

You made a good first step going to a location that has units on display. The best approach is push the unit buttons and see which you are the most comfortable with avoiding any advice by any sales person. Once you have done that, you need to decide what features you want and then see how many of those features fit your budget. There is probably some on here that have a unit you may be interested in and can advise you about it. The bottom end units would have a grey scale display and a single sonar frequency. Top of the line units would have a color display, larger display, some imaging technology and capabilities to add accessories to do more stuff. There is a wide range between those.

When you do the Restore Defaults, it just puts all the unit settings back to the original ones. It does not affect the operating software or the unit's memory with GPS data. I always keep my unit's software at the current level unless there is a glitch created with the new software, then I go back to the previous version. I keep a copy of all unit software versions and their descriptions as they are released in a folder on my computer. I file them by the unit model. Just noticed this in your first post " 8XXhz". A three digit 8XX would be 800 kHz for a Down Imaging unit ---597ci HD DI Combo. Those units have 200 kHz and 455 kHz for 2D sonar and 455 kHz and 800 kHz for Down Imaging. Restoring Defaults with that unit puts it back to 455 kHz Down Imaging and 455 kHz for 2D sonar. A 597ci HD Combo is 2D sonar and has 83 kHz and 200 kHz. Which unit do you have????