Help Me Pick A Sounder/gps Combo

[Old Scaley]

I need to replace my sounder/gps combo unit.  Budget is around $1k. Going on to a 4.4 metre tinny and will be mostly used in estuaries and Moreton Bay. I have been looking at the Humminbird Helix 7 inch model with GPS, sonar, down vision and side scan, and the Lowrance Hook 2 7 inch with GPS, sonar and downscan.  Anyone got any suggestions based on personal experience?

[Nog]

I have the Bird 9 and love it. All sounders are good I think it's just personal preference and budget. Mine is linked to my Minn Kota which is even groover ( but that option mighty put you over there 1K mark on a 7.

[ellicat]

I noticed at https://humminbird.johnsonoutdoors.com/fish-finders/discontinued/helix-7-si-gps?jo-page=2

that the unit is no longer for sale. Perhaps a replacement/updated model is due out soon...

[Old Scaley]

1 hour ago, Nog said:

I have the Bird 9 and love it. All sounders are good I think it's just personal preference and budget. Mine is linked to my Minn Kota which is even groover ( but that option mighty put you over there 1K mark on a 7.

Thanks @Nog. I don’t have an electric (yet), but the networkable version is not much over the budget, especially if I can re-use my Navionics card from my current combo. 

[Old Scaley]

12 minutes ago, ellicat said:

I noticed at https://humminbird.johnsonoutdoors.com/fish-finders/discontinued/helix-7-si-gps?jo-page=2

that the unit is no longer for sale. Perhaps a replacement/updated model is due out soon...

Thanks @ellicat.  The model I have been looking at is Humminbird HELIX 7 G3 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS. Seems to be readily available. One one hand I am lusting after all the bells and whistles I can get at the price but maybe having side scan won’t really change my fishing experience? Like Nog said, pretty sure they are all good these days so I will be happy with whatever I go with.

[tugger]

I know Mick Nash had a hummingbird side scan and loved it we caught plenty of bass and yellas using it pin pointing schooling fish off to our side while trolling 

[snap1946]

i have the hook 2 7 ts very good up at somerset this is just one screen shot

[ellicat]

Are these what you are looking at ?

Good price.

[Old Scaley]

5 hours ago, ellicat said:

Are these what you are looking at ?

Good price.

The second one is on the shortlist at this stage @ellicat. I am leaning towards the Humminbird right now based on reviews but still not 100% sure.

[Junky]

Get the biggest screen you can imo. 

It may be a 7 inch screen but it's only a 3.5 inch GPS and fishfinder. 

 

[Old Scaley]

12 hours ago, Junky said:

Get the biggest screen you can imo. 

It may be a 7 inch screen but it's only a 3.5 inch GPS and fishfinder. 

 

Thanks @Junky. I would love a 10” screen but I can’t justify spending more than about $1200. Do you mean it will be 3.5” if I split-screen 2 views? 

[Junky]

On 29/10/2019 at 8:39 AM, Old Scaley said:

Thanks @Junky. I would love a 10” screen but I can’t justify spending more than about $1200. Do you mean it will be 3.5” if I split-screen 2 views? 

Yeah mate. 

For when sounding while you're on the move. It's how I find all my good spots. 

 

You would be able to get one of those hook 9s for a k. 

Echomap 9 in the garmin is a touch more. 

[GregN70]

I have a Humminbird Helix, and I think i wasted my money, never seen a fish on it. Just gimmicks.

[Old Scaley]

Looking seriously at this one https://www.anacondastores.com/water/marine/fish-finders/garmin-echomap-plus-95sv-fishfinder-gps-combo/90150981?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6eTtBRDdARIsANZWjYYPnyES4rP4DvtgaIEUGhN71kkqSA1r5FhJGqlLBUZB8QpkSqxixhIaAtpKEALw_wIt gets good reviews, looks easy to use, but I can’t find the IPX rating. Looking for IPX 7 so I can mount it on the gunwhale.  Anyone got one?

[ellicat]

It's IPX 7 according to this - https://www.chsmith.com.au/Products/Garmin-EchoMap-Plus-95sv-CHIRP-Combo.html

[Old Scaley]

4 minutes ago, ellicat said:

It's IPX 7 according to this - https://www.chsmith.com.au/Products/Garmin-EchoMap-Plus-95sv-CHIRP-Combo.html

Thanks @ellicat. I am sure I looked at that ad but must have missed the one bit of info I was looking for.  Your reward will be a deckie  spot on its maiden voyage.

[ellicat]

Let's go exploring. haha

[WAZA]

Lowrance Live 7” is a great unit and clear images , I have one in my Busta on a ram mount so I can swivel it when fishing

They are a great bit of kit, afterpay is your friend if you can stretch your budget a little more

 

[Junky]

13 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Looking seriously at this one https://www.anacondastores.com/water/marine/fish-finders/garmin-echomap-plus-95sv-fishfinder-gps-combo/90150981?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6eTtBRDdARIsANZWjYYPnyES4rP4DvtgaIEUGhN71kkqSA1r5FhJGqlLBUZB8QpkSqxixhIaAtpKEALw_wIt gets good reviews, looks easy to use, but I can’t find the IPX rating. Looking for IPX 7 so I can mount it on the gunwhale.  Anyone got one?

Not a problem at all.

I had one mounted in the weather in my old boat. It was the echomap 90 (no chirp). Other than that it was the same unit. 

 

You'll love the garmin. 

[Drop Bear]

21 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Looking seriously at this one https://www.anacondastores.com/water/marine/fish-finders/garmin-echomap-plus-95sv-fishfinder-gps-combo/90150981?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6eTtBRDdARIsANZWjYYPnyES4rP4DvtgaIEUGhN71kkqSA1r5FhJGqlLBUZB8QpkSqxixhIaAtpKEALw_wIt gets good reviews, looks easy to use, but I can’t find the IPX rating. Looking for IPX 7 so I can mount it on the gunwhale.  Anyone got one?

If you get a touch screen watch mounting it on the gunwhale as it gets splashed and wiggs out. 

[WAZA]

Ram horizontal mounts Part#: RAM-109VU

I have one of these and it’s made viewing the screen heaps easier and fishing so much easier

 

[Old Scaley]

Thanks @WAZA.  Your timing is perfect. I picked up the 9 inch Garmin today and just finished setting it up but haven’t put it in it’s permanent location yet. Because it doesn’t have a swivel mount option, putting it on the gunwhale limits the viewing options so I was just about to ask for suggestions. That bracket looks the goods.

[shakey55]

On 31/10/2019 at 5:10 PM, Old Scaley said:

Looking seriously at this one https://www.anacondastores.com/water/marine/fish-finders/garmin-echomap-plus-95sv-fishfinder-gps-combo/90150981?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6eTtBRDdARIsANZWjYYPnyES4rP4DvtgaIEUGhN71kkqSA1r5FhJGqlLBUZB8QpkSqxixhIaAtpKEALw_wIt gets good reviews, looks easy to use, but I can’t find the IPX rating. Looking for IPX 7 so I can mount it on the gunwhale.  Anyone got one?

Old Scaley - I have the Garmin 75 dv and I can’t fault it. Screen is big enough for me and I run it with a thru-hull transducer 600watt. 

You will not be disappointed in my opinion 

[Old Scaley]

Thanks @shakey55.  I installed it on the weekend and have been playing with it in simulator mode.   It looks amazing and has so many features, a lot of which I will never use.  I hope to get out on the water this week to start playing with settings and getting the transducer at the right angle. My only disappointment is that it doesn’t take a Navionics card so I will lose the few spots I had on my old sounder. 

Thanks everyone for your advice.

[kmcrosby78]

13 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

My only disappointment is that it doesn’t take a Navionics card so I will lose the few spots I had on my old sounder. 

Don't worry Steve, you'd be surprised how many good grinner spots there are in the Bay. I can PM you a few spots if you like ......

[Old Scaley]

So, just to finish off this thread, I have taken the new combo (Garmin 95sv) out twice now.  The first time I was just playing with settings and trying to get the transducer to hold bottom while travelling. I love this piece of kit - it is easy to use and the touch screen is very responsive and doesn’t seem to mind wet fingers. Holding bottom while travelling is still not as good as I would like it to be but maybe it is the boat hull that is making it hard. I know the general rule of thumb is to run a straight edge along the bottom of the hull and have that line dissect the transducer, then kick it up a notch. Using that system I lose bottom readings at 10 knots. Dropping it deeper is better and I still have a reasonable picture up to 18 knots which is probably ok, but I have seen better on other boats.

You can set up favourite views. My favourite is the split screen of traditional sonar and down view. The screen is a generous 9” so the two views are easy read and you can make either view full screen just by tapping on that view. I am still trying to figure out side view, mainly because I have never used it before. I have drifted past structure like rock walls and beacons and have not seen the detail I was expecting. I think I just need to do more research and spend more time on the water playing with different settings to get the most out of it.

The navigation side of things is easy to use. Dropping a waypoint is simple and so is editing waypoints and navigating to waypoints. You can also do your own mapping of places that aren’t mapped on the chart, but I haven’t put an sd card in it yet to enable that functionality. The inbuilt maps look a bit different to Navionics, but have at least as much detail and I didn’t need to buy a card. Updating charts is easy through wifi and a phone app. Pleased to see that all the green zones are marked.

When I put an sd card into the device I will be able to capture screen shots and will put some up if I come across anything interesting. For now, I think I can say that I am very happy with this purchase. Here are a couple of screen shots that I took with the phone camera. They don’t do it justice but you get the idea.  Cheers everyone.

Edit.  Sorry, adding photos is not working for me.  Will try again later.  

Working now, but not worth the wait.

Edited November 15, 2019 by Old Scaley
Trying add photos

[benno573]

48 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

So, just to finish off this thread, I have taken the new combo (Garmin 95sv) out twice now.  

you went fishing TWICE without me??? 

[Old Scaley]

3 minutes ago, benno573 said:

you went fishing TWICE without me??? 

“Fishing” would be an exaggeration @benno573. First time was mostly playing with the new combo and looking at some of my regular underperforming spots through a new lense. I did mark a large school of big fish in a known thready location and went back to that spot on the second trip at the top of the tide armed with prawns, squid, pilchards and an array of plastics and vibes. The school of big fish wasn’t there but there was a huge school of something down there so I tossed everything at them for an hour before something heavy finally swallowed a green prawn. It had been a lean trip of small flatties and 30cm squire so I was hoping this one was dinner. Not a lot of fight but plenty of weight so I was hoping threadie when up popped a monster catfish. I moved on pretty quickly after that but could nail a keeper. I guess I needed your expert guidance. Had 4 pots soaking for 5 hours for a total of 2 female sandcrabs. So you didn’t miss anything.

Let me know when your next day off coincides with reasonable weather and we will go smack them somewhere.

[kmcrosby78]

6 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Let me know when your next day off coincides with reasonable weather and we will go smack them somewhere.

I think you'll find his next day off probably will coincide with reasonable weather, coincidentally Steve .......  In some ways, he is very similar to that 'dentist' friend you have, I'll have to meet him one day .......

Sounder looks good mate, and also doubles as a great mirror so we can see you holding the throttle ........

[aussie123]

8 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

Holding bottom while travelling is still not as good as I would like it to be but maybe it is the boat hull that is making it hard. I know the general rule of thumb is to run a straight edge along the bottom of the hull and have that line dissect the transducer, then kick it up a notch. Using that system I lose bottom readings at 10 knots. Dropping it deeper is better and I still have a reasonable picture up to 18 knots which is probably ok, but I have seen better on other boats.

Tilting the transducer up will make it lose bottom at low speeds.

Set the transducer with the spirit level like you did and then push the rear of the transducer down 1 click.

I would also set it as deep as it will go and then slowly lift it up until just before you start losing the image.