jaysen Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 i bought a humminbird 798 hd si fishfinder in may. this was my first fishfinder. i custom mounted it to my kayak and made sure there was no obstructions to the transducer. it reads depth and the side imagining will tell me how far the shore is. the issue is that the side imaging is showing no detail or structure. going over trees that the down imaging will show to the best of its ability, is showing up as a dark small blur on the side imaging, if it even shows up. i see no detail on structure in the water and adjusted the settings multiple times. i spoke with humminbird who had me send in the unit. they found nothing wrong with the unit so now i spent more money sending it in and continue to suffer the same issues. any advice is appreciated. i just feel like the images that they show on the booklet seems to be unrealistic marketing. i dont see trees or branches, stones, boulders, or anything for that matter. Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted October 13, 2014 Super User Posted October 13, 2014 Set the screen scroll speed number close to the GPS speed number. Use a SI range setting at 3 times the depth for the best detail for depths more than 10'. For shallower depths, set the range to 40-50'. Choose a SI color that you can see the best according to the ambient light. Imaging is a scanning function, you have to be moving so the imaging pulses can scan. You have the highest resolution display in the industry, it should show what is "down there" if you operate it properly. Post a picture of your transducer installation. Quote
Tim Kelly Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Your image will be very strange unless you are moving, so you need to be moving at 3-5mph ideally and the nature of paddling a kayak, where the hull is prone to rock and swing side to side a bit will probably mean you're not going to get images as good as you might in a boat a lot of the time. Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted October 13, 2014 Super User Posted October 13, 2014 Your image will be very strange unless you are moving, so you need to be moving at 3-5mph ideally and the nature of paddling a kayak, where the hull is prone to rock and swing side to side a bit will probably mean you're not going to get images as good as you might in a boat a lot of the time. Your 3-5 mph statement may apply to Lowrance Structure Scan. Humminbirds are not speed dependant for good images since they are adjustable. I use Side Imaging while I am fishing using an electric motor for positioning/navigating.. Quote
jaysen Posted October 14, 2014 Author Posted October 14, 2014 i will try to post pictures later this week as a reference. thanks for the help. Quote
Tim Kelly Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 Your 3-5 mph statement map apply to Lowrance Structure Scan. Humminbirds are not speed dependant for good images since they are adjustable. I use Side Imaging while I am fishing using an electric motor for positioning/navigating.. Your images are outstanding! Not sure how they're possible at extremely slow speeds as the screen displays a history, rather than a picture, so you need to be moving to show new info at the top of the screen. Can't argue with your screen shots though! Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted October 14, 2014 Super User Posted October 14, 2014 Your images are outstanding! Not sure how they're possible at extremely slow speeds as the screen displays a history, rather than a picture, so you need to be moving to show new info at the top of the screen. Can't argue with your screen shots though! Going between zero and 1 mph is moving. Humminbirds can be adjusted to record clear history in that speed range. Quote
Tim Kelly Posted October 14, 2014 Posted October 14, 2014 As you've proven. The usual recommendation is between 3-5mph with the chart speed set at 3-5. Clearly it's possible to get great images at slow speeds if you know how to set it up. Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted October 14, 2014 Super User Posted October 14, 2014 I have seen the 3-5 As you've proven. The usual recommendation is between 3-5mph with the chart speed set at 3-5. Clearly it's possible to get great images at slow speeds if you know how to set it up. I have seen the 3-5 statement used several times. That is why I have the mythbusting screen shots. For fishing purposes where only real time data is beneficial (not history) you can be sitting still and get usable images to keep up with schooling fish. All you do is turn the trolling motor with a Side Imaging transducer attached to do the scanning. I did that a lot. Now with the 360, it does that for me. Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted October 14, 2014 Super User Posted October 14, 2014 As you've proven. The usual recommendation is between 3-5mph with the chart speed set at 3-5. Clearly it's possible to get great images at slow speeds if you know how to set it up. BTW, I don't fish at speeds between 3 and 5 mph and I use Side Imaging while I am fishing. I have a Side Imaging unit at the bow with at Side Imaging transducer on my trolling motor. I fish some electric-only waters and only take my bow unit to those. The screen shots in this thread were done with the bow unit. There is a trolling motor puck version of the Compact SI transducer (XTM 9 SI 180 T). The HDSI transducer has two versions, the transom model is the XHS 9 HDSI 180 T and the trolling motor version is the XTM 9 HDSI 1890 T. The transducers are the same, just the mount is different. I use the Transducer Shield and Saver mount for the trolling motor since it is sturdier than the Humminbird TM bracket: Humminbird Side Imaging is a search tool and a fishing tool. It takes no special settings to have both, just knowledge of how to fully operate the unit. Quote
jaysen Posted January 23, 2015 Author Posted January 23, 2015 sorry it has taken so long to respond. it has been a busy bunch of months. so here are pictures of how the fishfinder is mounted on my kayak as well as snapshots of the images i see. the snapshots were taken on smooth calm water so the kayak wasnt rocking side to side. Quote
jaysen Posted January 23, 2015 Author Posted January 23, 2015 here are some more with the settings. i can see structure with down imaging but side imaging shows maybe a blur if i am lucky. this includes dock pilings. Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted January 24, 2015 Super User Posted January 24, 2015 A dock post will be displayed the same size as a fish that is the length of the post diameter. THINK about that. The post's shadow will be the most prominately displayed., but the shadow will still be the post's diameter. You didn't post any Down Imaging views. Down Imaging IS Side Imaging--same imaging crystals, just blended to create the Down Imaging view. The upper left side of both screen shots I posted is Down Imaging. I see your paddle strokes in the screen shots. You have to be where stuff is to see stuff. Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted January 24, 2015 Super User Posted January 24, 2015 This is with my 798 Side Imaging unit. The top is 2D sonar and the bottom is Down Imaging. Quote
Super User Wayne P. Posted January 24, 2015 Super User Posted January 24, 2015 Adjusted properly, it will show individual weed stems in a weed bed with Down Imaging. This was with a 798ci SI bow setup and trolling motor mounted SI transducer at an electric-only lake. Quote
jaysen Posted January 24, 2015 Author Posted January 24, 2015 thank you Wayne for your help. i truly appreciate it. Quote
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