Garmin Striker Vivid 9sv reviews?

[Chris at Tech]

Anyone have any first-hand experiences with with Garmin Striker Vivid 9sv?

 

I've got an old HB 898 now and I always had it in my head that I'd get another Humminbird but I must admit this Garmin has me intrigued.  I exclusively fish small, electric motor only reservoirs which are rarely mapped, so paying extra for built-in mapping capabilities serves no purpose for me. 

 

The 9 inch screen, the ability to create my own lake maps, and the sonar/DI/SI capabilities are pretty much exactly what I both want and need.  Now I just wanna hear some more real-world experiences.  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?

[Fishingmickey]

I run the Garmin Echomap 93SV UHD. I'm very pleased with how it performs. I suspect the striker series would probably be the same. 

FM

[desmobob]

I have last year's Striker, a non-Vivid version in 5" and I love the thing.  I use it with my float tubes and kick boat.  Two of my favorite places to fish aren't on the popular chart cards, so I value the mapping ability of the Striker.

 

I have an older Echomap 93SV in my boat and even though it has maps loaded, I use the mapping feature all the time.

[KYRANGERMAN]

Not the Striker but I have a ECHOMap 93 Chirp at the bow (along with a ECHOMap Plus 73sv) and I really like mine.  Don't think the Striker has all the options of the ECHO but still probably worth looking into.

[MN Fisher]

I've also got a pre-Vivid Striker - the 7CV (no side imaging). The mapping capabilities are great, the screen is clear and visible in sunlight...I'm highly impressed.

 

Now to save up for a SV unit...maybe even an Echomap... (dreams)

[dickenscpa]

I just posted about mine two days ago a couple threads down. I'm having a few problems with mine.

[Boomstick]

The Striker Vivid is basically the older EchoMap transducer with a slightly updated unit that does not have lake maps available (you can still draw your own contour maps or download them from other users on the Internet).

 

For a little more money, you should be able to find a Garmin EchoMap with the GT54UHD transducer which are greatly discounted as they upgraded the package to include the newer GT56UHD. The biggest difference is the GT54UHD's return on sidevu drops off around 50-70 feet depending on depth, where the GT56UHD is clear and bright all the way out to 100 but the 54 is still an upgrade over the GT52 that comes with the Striker.

 

I have the same EchoMap unit. The only problem I really had is my GPS was a bit off until I enabled WAAS and it's pretty easy to use and configure.

[VTFlier]

I just purchased a Garmin Striker 7sv, (ordered the older non-Vivid, but was shipped the VIvid) and I am very disappointed with the SideVu response. I spent probably 6 hours yesterday and today going back and forth over known structure in 10-20 feet of water, and continued to get very poor imaging.
I was barely able to make out a 4' wide solid stone wall (obvious to the eye directly in the water) after lots of trial adjustment of every setting available for the SideVu. Maybe I'm missing something, but this is sideview in name only. The response is very poor, and the "Vivid" colors make it worse.
Best image was seen using the single color "amber" choice, brightness turned down, range set to 30', interference and TVG settings increased.

If anyone has any suggestions for other settings, or actual (better) experience with this unit, I'd appreciate it. But for my own review at present? Definitely not worth it. This really does not show trees, tires and sunfish nests or much else, despite the nice pics in the manual.

[Boomstick]

3 hours ago, VTFlier said:

Best image was seen using the single color "amber" choice, brightness turned down, range set to 30', interference and TVG settings increased.

On the EchoMap UHD with the GT54UHD transducer I use usually 85% contrast most of the time but may run 70-75% if I'm in shallower water, leave brightness on auto medium usually and sometimes auto high, and I get a solid return of roughly 60 feet on each side when in about 30 feet of water, then it starts to lose detail.

 

It's a different unit, but it might be worth a try.

[VTFlier]

Thanks kindly Boomstick. I will definitely try that. Mine came with the gt52 transducer. I don't know whether that makes a difference.

 

BTW, we're practically neighbors, I'm in Guilford, just south of Brattleboro. I mainly fish the CT river, though just got back from a trip to Champlain camping with the family.

[PourMyOwn]

13 minutes ago, VTFlier said:

Thanks kindly Boomstick. I will definitely try that. Mine came with the gt52 transducer. I don't know whether that makes a difference.

 

BTW, we're practically neighbors, I'm in Guilford, just south of Brattleboro. I mainly fish the CT river, though just got back from a trip to Champlain camping with the family.

I'm local too(and just bought a Garmin 73 uhd echomap). I'm hoping to hit the river late next week. I put in at Hinsdale.

[VTFlier]

Wow, hi PourMyOwn, I've put in at Hinsdale, too, though more often at Retreat Meadows, Norm's and occasionally at Ferry Road in Bratt since they're closer. I do sometimes fish from shore at Hinsdale after a trip to Walmart, just to check what's biting at the time. I mainly row or kayak fish, though I have a 17' Thompson wooden runabout I use once in awhile.

 

I'd really be interested in your results with your new depth sounder. I might put in at Hinsdale too, and check mine out in the steback there. I wonder if I can get a reasonable photo of the screen to put up here.

[VTFlier]

I think I've managed to get a noticeably better image than I first got using Garmin's factory default settings. Here's an example of the kind of thing I got first day out with the defaults on a "Vivid" Striker 7sv (I didn't order the Vivid model btw, but one was sent anyway).

I'll put up the worst depth sounder screens first, and in subsequent posts show what I eventually arrived at to get the best images I can (so far) with this unit after many hours of experimentation. Literally!

Notice the default vivid color scheme called "Rusted Iron" it seems nonsensical to me, being orange and blue -- what the colors indicate individually I have no idea. Nothing really useful, at least in the waters where I'm using the unit.

Picked up in this screenshot (barely) is a stone wall in the lower portion crossing the screen. In reality that stone wall is at least 4' wide.

And nothing else in that image that I can decipher. If I didn't know that was a stone wall (plainly visible over the side of the boat) I'd have a hard time guessing just what it was.

Shown first is the land end of the stone wall on shore at about the same distance away from the boat that the Garmin screen shot is portraying.

Notice also that the boat speed in the above shot is only 1.55 mph. Any faster and the stone wall would have been even narrower. This is at Garmin's "Fast" chart speed -- which should widen the image of the stone wall itself, making it more visible, but keeping it on screen for a shorter time before scrolling off.

Okay moving on to the next image, improved over the last one (Garmin's Striker 7sv default). This new image is after two days of fiddling with settings over the same stone wall. They are as follows:

Range 40ft
Contrast 40%
No Zoom
Brightness Auto High
Frequency Chirp 800 kHz
View Selection L+R

Sonar Setup:
Depth Line Hide
Color Scheme Amber
Noise Rejection:
Interference Medium
TVG High
Scroll Speed Ultra
Flip Left/Right ON (my boat is a rowboat, so I face the stern)
Transducer type GT52HW

It is possible to make out the stone wall more clearly with only one color. And the rest of the image is more intuitively interpretable. The settings also reduce contrast quite a bit and increase brightness.

Finally today I tested with a 455 kHz frequency instead of 800, switched brightness to Auto Medium, Range 30 ft, Noise rejection: Interference to Low and TVG to Medium. Results are more in line with what I would expect a stone wall to look like. Notice the speed is only .51 mph. This seems to match the rock size and shape better to the image at this "Fast" scroll speed. The stone wall finally looks to be about in proportion.

For me, the jury is still out on this sounder, because I haven't spent time trying to fish and identify unknown structure with it at my today's latest settings. I have more hope than I did first day out, where the images looked like a spilled sand painting, but running at half a mile an hour to get a good bottom structure image still might prove problematic. I would like to try this on the Connecticut River in deeper water than the pond I was testing the unit on for these stone wall tests.

[desmobob]

Your choice of settings show a drastic improvement.  You'll have it mastered very soon, by the looks of things.

[VTFlier]

Thanks desmobob. I may have a chance to go out today on the river.

[VTFlier]

Tests on the CT River today made it clear that I've reached the limit of quality with my last group of settings, on this model depthfinder, and in the conditions and locations I fish. Definitely 455 kHz produces better imaging than the 800 Khz setting for me on the Striker 7sv Vivid with the gt52hw transducer. 800kHz just produces grainy higher contrast images that are harder to interpret than the lower frequency setting. 455kHz produces more photographic-looking results.

 

As a final review judgement call, I'd say it's going to be useful for me. However It isn't as good as the demos and videos I've seen of sideview online. And the owner's manual is devoid of any useful information about settings adjustments, which are critical to getting any useful view out of this depthfinder.

 

The usable range of settings is extremely narrow. There are trillions of setting possibilities, but only a few are going to yield an understandable picture of structure in the 10-30 foot freshwater depths that I normally fish in.

 

I think the multi-color capability for this sideview sonar display is essentially pointless, and the out-of-the-box default settings will cause novice users the same level of consternation that I had on my first day out on the water. I do understand the desire in the mfr's default settings to demo all of the latest and greatest selling points of this sonar: multi-color, 800kHz chirp capability, auto-picture and range controls, etc. But unfortunately they are a bad combination for seeing anything in sideview.

 

I'd strongly suggest that the manufacturer provide useful information in the manual about settings and how to go about tuning for different water types, with actual color illustrations like mine above (or better!) showing the differences, and ship the units with a better sidescan setup so a fisherman can get reasonable results on the first day out.

[Krux5506]

@VTFlier what do you have this unit mounted on? Boat or kayak?

[VTFlier]

Hi Krux5506, it's mounted on the flat bottom of a rowing boat, completely clear of any obstructions, and directly on the centerline. Boat speed and mounting is not a problem, and there's no motor for interference.

The settings were the problem -- I've had more experience with the unit since I wrote last. Most recently on a clean smooth bottom trout lake with depths to 36'. I was able to see the occasional sunken tree or rocks of bowling ball or larger size, and even some bright pinpoints -- likely fish.

Absolutely essential for getting any kind of acceptable detail under these conditions with this unit is using the amber color and 455 kHz SI settings. Anything else degrades the image. Helpful also was a contrast setting of 40%, and brightness setting of auto-med or auto-high.

I feel the Garmin Striker 7sv sounder did help me find fish with that setup. I caught 3 rainbows, and lost or released a half dozen more. The down imaging was excellent once the side imaging found likely locations.

The screen size is small at 7" so using the right or left-only view in SI helped make the image larger and detail more apparent. The 9" version originally queried by the OP of this thread would probably be better for the both-sides view setting.

All in all, I'm satisfied with the purchase considering the price point for this unit. My only criticisms now are that it doesn't come setup with useful factory default settings for SI, and the manual is vague and generic (all Striker sizes and models) rather than geared to the Striker 7sv. Unfortunately there is no useful information on configuring the SI for good detail, so a bad first impression of its SI is almost guaranteed OTB.

[MIbassyaker]

I have a non-vivid striker 7sv I'm using this year on a kayak.   I'm mostly just looking for weedlines and the occasional tree, but feel like I've been seeing them OK, at least well enough to identify. I don't believe I changed any of the defaults on sidevu other than fiddling with colors and ranges -- I've been running it on blue with a 50ft range.  After reading this, I had to check the other settings I've been using -- auto-med gain, 75% contrast (I must have changed this from default, which was around 50) and 455khz. I'm sure I haven't changed the frequency, so it looks like the in the Vivid they may have changed the default.

[Chris at Tech]

I did end up buying the 9 and I’ve only been out with it once.

 

I was originally pleased with the default settings, but looking back after reading this thread, I do recall thinking that some of the SI returns were not what I expected.

 

I’ll keep @VTFlier’s suggestions handy for my next trip out.