Fish Finders / GPS combo, which one do you use and why?

[DEMON]

Question...What causes a depth finder to automatically turn off when boat gets on plane? Works fine drifting but when running the machine turns off everytime

More than likely your transducer is mounted to high & water is too aerated at the transducer while on plane.

[DEMON]

Looking to get a si/di/gps combo. Helix 7 or 9. Or something in that range. I'm all new to this so I know nothing. Whats the ups and downs on side imaging? Is it worth it? Trying to get some education from some of you that has figured it out.
Also, is it worth getting one refurbished for cheaper?

For inshore fishing the Sideview is not worth the extra money. Sideview needs some water depth to be of any use (think cone shape view down & out from the boat). I've always preferred Hummingbird for the sonar part & Garmin for GPS. I've always run two separate units. It's hard to read the smaller combo units using a split screen. If you are going to use just one combo unit make sure it's big enough to read in split screen while running.

Through the years of replacing aging electronics I've ended up with a Humminbird combo that I use for the sonar (but have the GPS as backup if needed) & a Garmin GPS/Downview combo that I use for navigation. I'm not going to use the sonar part of the Garmin right now because I don't want to add the huge transducer that comes with the Garmin. The thing is as big as size 10 shoe. Not sure why Garmin can't do the sonar part with a small transducer like Humminbird but that's another story.

[DEMON]

I just recently purchased the Vision G2 Blue Chart for my Garmin and I can't tell that it has enhanced my maps or bottom contours. Has anybody else had this problem? Any suggestions? I fish mainly inshore.

There's not much in this area to enhance. We don't have many contour differences. We don't have many obstructions or navigational issues. I have the G2 this area & one for the lower Gulf Coast. Once you get to the Tampa Bay Area down to the keys you start to see the enhancements. A lot of it seems to be marina info & useless stuff like that.

The only thing that may be helpful for this area are the overlay photos but you still won't see the rocks but you can see deeper holes on the flats & in the creeks.

[Swampcreek]

I'm still scratching my head on what I should buy. I'm only wanting to spend 500-700 on something. Does the split screen have different screens? Like one screen for just GPS ? I dont need to see the bottom if I am riding to a number. I don't think I need to see the gps if I am looking for bottom.

[DEMON]

I'm still scratching my head on what I should buy. I'm only wanting to spend 500-700 on something. Does the split screen have different screens? Like one screen for just GPS ? I dont need to see the bottom if I am riding to a number. I don't think I need to see the gps if I am looking for bottom.

Yes. You can use the whole screen for just one or the other.

I fish mostly inshore so I like to run both @ the same time. While I'm navigating with the GPS I still want to know if I run over a shallow spot (might be a rock) or a hole so I can mark it for future investigation. Might run over a bait pod or nice bottom. Wouldn't know any of that if I was just looking at the GPS. You sometimes find new spots by running over them going to the spot your looking for.

[SS-342]

We have the Garmin 740S because of limited space for two units on the console. I seldom use the sonar because we fish shallow water but enjoy the unit. It is easy to use.

[SaltyDon]

I use Navionics on my IPAD Air and Raymarine's Wi-FIsh. IPAD must be a cellular model as only cellular models have the built in GPS antennas. Works great for me as I now have a 9 inch screen in which I can view my chart plotter and fish finder on one screen. I actually use an IPAD mini (wifi only and 7 inch screen) to use as my Fish Finder viewer but I can get the Fish Finder screen on both and on my iPhone if I am away from the console. Great thing about this setup is that I can take my IPAD anywhere and plan my day of fishing the night before. Also works great as an IPAD too! Raymarine's Wi-Fish only gives you CHIRP view. No audio. Navionics mobile version works great on the IPAD.

[Swampcreek]

My brother uses his tablet for gps. But what happens when you dont have any signal?

[SaltyDon]

My brother uses his tablet for gps. But what happens when you dont have any signal?

I have yet to lose gps signal. It works just as well as all other plotters using gps.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Swampcreek]

I just got a helix 7 si/di/gps. I'm gonna mount it this week sometime. I have not turned it on yet. I saw a picture of the basic map it has. How do I update the map to look like google earth/maps? I found this site with a ton of numbers. I don't know if I download this and put it in my helix, if it will just add the numbers or update it all to what I want. Even if I don't buy it, I can manually add the numbers I wanna try to fish, I think.

https://fishingstatus.com/home

[Swampcreek]

I also found this one if anyone fishes bay county.
http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewe ... 12,30.2992

I guess ya just have to manually add them to the machine

[hambric85]

I have a lowrance gen3. Love the scroll back function on the sonar. Second you can make your own maps (navianics plus does this as well). I like the unit, and it works well with my Suzuki. Whatever you get, buy a navianics platinum+ card for it. It's worth every penny.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[procraftwes]

Raymarine dragonfly 4 pro

Comes with Navionics+
Downvision and the quality is amazing
Chirp
Soft touch buttons/crazy easy to use.
$280 new

Split screen is kind of small when trying to navigate. I'm usually doing one or the other though and on my 17' boat it's plenty big.
The transducer plug is insanely bulky which is a pain in the rear when trying to route cables through your boat. Especially if its a foam filled boat like mine.

[TomParis]

I have this one, read lots of reviews and this one seem to be the easiest to use and best bang for your buck

http://www.humminbird.com/Products/HELIX-5-DI-GPS/

[UFBeef]

Question...What causes a depth finder to automatically turn off when boat gets on plane? Works fine drifting but when running the machine turns off everytime

If you lose power when u get on plane odds are it's a bad ground or power connection, not a transducer. If the transducer wasn't mounted correctly thenyou woukd maintain power on plane, it just wouldn't read anything.
I have a Simrad NSS7 EVO2, if it were me I would go to BPS and fiddle with as many as you could. User interface is important, you want it to be simple and quick to make adjustments, save way points, tracks also. Another thing to consider is how much additional equipment you want under your console.or if you plan to connect your screen to anything else, ourboard, TM etc....some brands have different interfaces that will only "talk" with other brands of tm. Some units need additional "boxes" to perform alot of the functions they claim they do.
If you plan to.use the the bottom machine alot, get s thru hull transducer, best you can afford. Shoukd read at higher speeds and save you the aggrevasion of getting the transom mount mounted correctly.