Wayne P.

I have not seen any growth I would call a tree completely submerged in 6' of water unless it was cut down and horizontal on the bottom. Are the tree limbs submerged? What diameter are the tree trunks? What sonar unit do you have????

I use SI and 360 at the bow with both transducers on the trolling motor. I do not use DI at all for fishing and 2D very little. I want to see what is away from under the transducer as well as what is under it. It's all about the coverage.

If you want mapping capability along with the GPS function, it is tough to get within that budget with all brands with a usable display that does well for the side looking imaging technology. That takes screen width. If mapping is not a concern, then more models/brands are available. You can have a GPS function for waypoints, tracks, and routes without a map background. That is called a Track Plotter. With mapping, that is a Chart Plotter. I am familiar with the Humminbird Helix 5 SI GPS that has all of those for $499 MSRP. Also the Humminbird Helix 7 SI GPS is $699 MSRP. With creative shopping, you can beat those prices. I won't list those here. Someone with knowledge of other brands with all the capabilities can post those.

That is intentional for some setups. You run a small hub prop to get prop cavitation to get the rpms up. Some props do that with vent holes in the barrel. After you get on plane, that affect is nill. With the Javelin I had, I used a full size barrel prop when fishing alone and a small hub prop when someone was with me for tournaments.

Not in my opinion. I see no difference between CHIRP and non-CHIRP for the depths I fish---35' max. The unit chirps the standard transducer. Some comparison screen shots: [/URL When there is a true CHIRP transducer available maybe. I got the Helix 12 SI GPS for the larger display and higher resolution to display the 360.

Yes the menus are different looking but the same functions. External GPS antenna setup is different also.

I described it in my answer to Dan. Imaging is the ADVANCED tab in the Ethernet menu. The SI unit can display the dedicated DI from the DI unit if the DI unit is selected as the source for Sonar. Bottom line is all the sonar technologies are shareable, just need a source for the processed data.

Yes you would. Cross-sharing sonar technologies was added to Ethernet models about two years ago. It is done by knowing how to operate the units. The setting is in the Ethernet menu under ADVANCED If you had a 360 you can use that to have a DI and SI view with a DI or 2D model. As simple as knowing how to operate the units. The XX9 models, Helix 9,10, 12, and ONIX and ION models will cross share sonar technologies. If you had a XX8 Side Imaging model, you can share Side Imaging with the non-SI models of the XX9 and Helix models too. FALSE

No difference except you get some red bling, and either a book or some lures with the KVD version. Same price. The Helix 9, Helix 10, and Helix 12 models are all linkable via Ethernet to share GPS data, sonar data, sensors, and Ethernet accessories. You can cross-share sonar technologies such as display Side Imaging on a 2D or DI model. The SI, DI, and 2D models are all 360 compatible.

Don't have to, but formatting it will assure it works properly. The Helix 5 and 7 series have microSD card readers. Max size the unit can use is 32 GB.

The best one is Sonarphone.

If you want to see more than what is under the transducer, that takes a unit that has the side looking imaging technology. With that feature, you can see up to hundreds of feet on either side of the transducer. The water you fish and the boat you have makes no difference if you want the sonar data.

That would be the Emulator that Lowrance had or has for some models. I have used them to learn older Lowrance units I had. Functionally the same as Simulator on a unit for learning the unit operation. http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Support/Product-Emulators/ Still manipulating a recording but with less real data. Have not used Simulator on other brands, but using it with a Humminbird you can preset the settings you want and do waypoint management and unit updates with that operating.

How small is "small"? These are about 1 1/2' in diameter:

The catching should be better with less of these to compete with:

Take the time to fully learn how to use it before applying it to fishing. Spend at least a day riding around scanning stuff and making adjustments to see what effect they have on what is displayed.

The lake level has to be above 300 to be "in the bushes". As of 11:00 today it is at 299.11. http://epec.saw.usace.army.mil/dsskerr.txt

The transducer does not come in a package, just the mount does. . The exchange deal is about not opening the MOUNT package.

I use the aluminum ferrules for making loops in cables. I just put the wires in the ferrule and whack it with a hammer. I get those a Lowes. The ones I made with the whisk have a formed ball of epoxy over the ferrule. Example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/161650830516

I have been making my own since the "craze" started. First used the utility flag marker wires, then some stainless steel wisks ( like used in the kitchen) and lastly Toothproof brown stainless steel saltwater wire leader in 500# test. This is a smaller version using 240# Toothproof wire. Caught more bass with this size than the larger size.

There is no setting to have FishID and no FishID at the same time. It is either ON or OFF. If you get FishID symbols for crappie, they are NICE ones. The "rule of thumb" for the symbols is a 1# class bass with get the smallest symbol. A 2# class bass will get the medium size symbol and 3#+ will get the largest symbol. The air bladder size is the criteria. This is a very large school of crappie and only a few are large enough to be assigned a FishID symbol. I was just using 200 kHz when I saved the screen shot so any that would have been in the 83 kHz coverage are not shown and no blue FishID symbols.

Post a picture of your setup for analysis.

I use SI/DI/2D/GPS at the console and bow. I want all the information available no matter what location on the boat I am and I want that information from my location, not a boat length away. You may can get by with less. You can share sonar technologies with any version of the Helix 9, 10 or 12 via Ethernet. I will just be using one of my units tomorrow when fishing at an electric-only lake. I will be at the bow running the bow trolling motor and will have SI/DI/2D/GPS and 360 available.

I used 36V 105# thrust trolling motors on my 16' boat for six years. I had them rebuilt to 24V 82# last year to eliminate some weight. Never had an issue with too much power or in danger of being thrown out of the boat. Ran them on the highest speed setting lots of times to save time between locations. No such thing as too much trolling motor power.

Didn't you use the SideVu to show the fish "over there" and not spook them?