humminbird side imaging 2024

FlipnFanatic reply :

I'm playing with the idea of picking up a humminbird 997c SI and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them. If so, what do you think about them?

My other question... If you had one on your rig, would you want it on the console or the bow? Why?

Thanks, in advance, for any input.

bassboy1 reply :

I don't have one, but have a lot of friends that do. Some have them on the console, but have their bow sonar connected to it, so they can still mark GPS points with the bow one, but save them in the 997 (or 1197 as the case may be). One guy though, mounted his 797 on the bow of his fish n ski, so that he can see it from the bow, and the console. Now, his fish and ski has a shorter bow deck than most bass boats, so he can still see it well.

BTW, they are downright awesome!

Wayne P. reply :

To get satisfactory performance of the SI feature, you need to be moving faster than trolling motor speed. In addition to that is the transducer needs to be more or less non rotating to keep from getting a distorted recording of the SI image.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/

Tpayneful reply :

I really, really, really want one!

Raul reply :

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If so, what do you think about them?

Friggin ' awsom !

littlefisher reply :

I really haven't looked into these too deep but would be interested in purchasing one once I get a boat, but I just have a few questions. How the hell do you read these? lol. I realize you are viewing whats to the left and right of the boat instead of what's right below it, but how do those that use this approach fishing spots they find with it?

I know with my normal fish finder, if I mark a ledge/drop off or something I'm interested in, I usually throw out a marker bouy and fish it.

senile1 reply :

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To get satisfactory performance of the SI feature, you need to be moving faster than trolling motor speed.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/

If that is the case, then it would probably be better to run it from the console. I agree that the images I've seen are absolutely awesome, but can anyone tell me if the side imaging has made it easier, compared to other high quality depth finders, to locate fish holding structure. Are you catching more or bigger fish, or do you just like the cool images? I'm considering upgrading electronics so any information you guys can provide about these will be greatly appreciated.

surfer reply :

I want one can kinda afford it, but I can't justify a sonar that is more expensive than my boat. In a year or two when I upgrade my boat I will have one.

bassboy1 reply :

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I agree that the images I've seen are absolutely awesome, but can anyone tell me if the side imaging has made it easier, compared to other high quality depth finders, to locate fish holding structure. Are you catching more or bigger fish, or do you just like the cool images? I'm considering upgrading electronics so any information you guys can provide about these will be greatly appreciated.

Well, as i said, i don't have one, but people are constantly posting pictures on a local board I am on. Lotsa people on my local lake have them. They are posting pictures of bridge pilings, and brushpiles that many if us never knew existed, because it may have been a couple feet off of the normal sonar beam. All the structure in a creek channel can be found in one pass.

Wayne P. reply :

If you follow the comments on the yahoo site, you will see that the greatest benefit is being able to cover a wide area on each side of the boat along with getting a good idea is what is in the water column. Once an interesting object is shown, all you do is move your curser to it and save it as a waypoint to return to it. It will allow you to check a larger area faster and get an idea of what is down there. Once an interesting spot is marked, you then use the vertical beam to stay on it just like a regular sonar unit. With a regular vertical sonar beam, you are limited to what is directly under the boat and only as much area as the width of the cone at a particular depth-that may be only about 1/2 the size of your boat.

Sam reply :

That Hummingbird sidescanner looks interesting but I will wait a few years before purchasing any sidescanner as the techonology is going to improve.

I have a LMS-332 Color Monitor Lowrance on the console and an X-102 Color Monitor on the bow.

I think you would be smart installing both.

They are not in tandem.

I use the LMS-322 for sonar, depth, temperature, tracking (has a map chip) and speed.

I use the X-102 up front to see what is under us and the water temperature and depth.

So far, so good.

SkeeterZX225 reply :

They are awesome fishing tools. I have the 797c2 mounted on the console and can make a single pass up a cove, creek arm or whatever; mark all the fish holding structure on the gps and then come back to it and fish it. The best way to visualize what you are seeing is to imagine you are in an airplane looking down. Brush, laydowns, dropoffs, ledges, grass lines, etc can all be found and easily marked to fish later. Only regret I have is not getting the 997 but I couldn't mount it in the dash of my ZX225 and don't like the idea of drilling mounting holes in a brand new boat!!! ;D

bassin_man reply :

Wayne the link is not working. THanks

Catt reply :

Quote

Quote
If so, what do you think about them?

Friggin ' awsom !

I got the opportunity to use one 3 or 4 times last year & to repeat a quote Friggin ' awsom

senile1 reply :

Quote

If you follow the comments on the yahoo site, you will see that the greatest benefit is being able to cover a wide area on each side of the boat along with getting a good idea is what is in the water column. Once an interesting object is shown, all you do is move your curser to it and save it as a waypoint to return to it. It will allow you to check a larger area faster and get an idea of what is down there. Once an interesting spot is marked, you then use the vertical beam to stay on it just like a regular sonar unit. With a regular vertical sonar beam, you are limited to what is directly under the boat and only as much area as the width of the cone at a particular depth-that may be only about 1/2 the size of your boat.

The ability to cover a wide area to either side of the boat was one of things that interested me.

Bud reply :

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To get satisfactory performance of the SI feature, you need to be moving faster than trolling motor speed. In addition to that is the transducer needs to be more or less non rotating to keep from getting a distorted recording of the SI image.

I have a 997 si on the console and a 797 si on the trolling motor. They are hooked together with the interlink. The 797 on the trolling motor works great at all speeds from slow to wide open. I don't get a distorted image. The only time I will get any distortion is if you turn the trolling motor all the way around. Then it is just for a few minutes.

Wayne P. reply :

With the site address I posted, just delete the slash at the end and it will work. I just did a copy/paste of the site when I was on it and the slash was part of it. Thanks for the reply.

FlipnFanatic reply :

Bud....

I was told that hooking up 2 units only allows you to use one gps antenna. If that is the case, where do you have it placed? Close to the console unit or that unit's transducer? Or up at the bow?

Bud reply :

FlipnFanatic

Just use the Y cable that come with each unit.

I have the antenna for the 997 on the back deck right above the transductor. The antenna for the front one is on the front deck about 6 inches from the trolling motor.

I only use the interlink to manage the waypoints. The reason for this accuracy. If you are using one antenna any were you put it you are going to lose some accuracy. It could be as much as a boat length.

Also the unit you have the antenna hook to must be turn on all of the time for the second unit to give a GPS reading.

FlipnFanatic reply :

I figured the accuracy would suck if it was set up with only 1 antenna.... That's why I was asking.

Thanks for the help Bud. I am going to talk to my dealership and tell them exactly what I am looking for in terms of hooking the stuff up. If I have any more questions I will just PM you with them.

Thanks! ;D

SPEEDBEAD. reply :

How does water clarity affect the sonar picture?

Bud, you still intend on coming to Guntersville? I want to see one in action!!!!!!

Bud reply :

SPEEDBEAD

The temp and water clarity don't bother them.

Looks like I am going to miss this one. I will be in Louisiana that week on a tournament.

acar555 reply :

The Humminbird side imaging units are amazing. It is completely different technology from what anyone else is offering right now. It will save you time on the water finding productive places to fish. You can scan up to 720 feet wide with a 997c from 2 ft deep to 150 ft. As far as interpretation I feel it is much easier that traditional sonar because you get a picture. It is like having 2 video cameras mounting on your boat, but you don't need clear water for it to work. How hard is it to interpret a picture? Traditional sonar can be difficult at times to know exactly what you are looking at. The technology is already in it's 2nd generation, it is tried and true. I do know the units are expensive, but you aren't just getting side imaging, it is also a gps chartplotter with full mapping and a dual beam downlooking sonar unit as well. The demonstrations in the store don't do them enough justice.

boatnik13 reply :

Its sonar and so its a depthfinder rule not a fishfinder as commercializing wants you to think.) Its not a underwater camera so its sonar and may not show fish and for sure not show what kind of fish. So its a great breakthrew for sonar and someday we can only hope that it can show pictures like a UC but in all conditions like sonar. They need to m,ake the price more affordable.Using a UC in murky water or over a target is spooky. So we need a Underwater camera that works with sonar system.

Raul reply :

Did I mention it 's ....... friggin ' awsom ! ?

Even though not new the technology of side 3 D imaging has improved so much in the years that if it weren 't for the hefty price tag ( which is about what I paid for my fishing tub ) I would certainly have jumped all over one already, the level of detail is incredible, the fact that you can "see" something that you didn 't even know it was there is just priceless.

Needless to say that the BoatMonkey has been hollering at my ear since a buddy of mine got his and I had the chance to see it in action. :

In this case the BoatMonkey just took the place of his evil twin bro and it 's making me save some dough to get one. No tackle purchases until the Feechin Machina has one of them 3D finders. :-X

BigEbass reply :

Quote
Did I mention it 's ....... friggin ' awsom ! ?
Even though not new the technology of side 3 D imaging has improved so much in the years that if it weren 't for the hefty price tag ( which is about what I paid for my fishing tub ) I would certainly have jumped all over one already, the level of detail is incredible, the fact that you can "see" something that you didn 't even know it was there is just priceless.

Needless to say that the BoatMonkey has been hollering at my ear since a buddy of mine got his and I had the chance to see it in action. :

In this case the BoatMonkey just took the place of his evil twin bro and it 's making me save some dough to get one. No tackle purchases until the Feechin Machina has one of them 3D finders. :-X

hahaha - ditto man - I had been very interested in this before when I saw some pictures in a magazine or two, but after seeing it at the BJCC in birmingham last weekend at the expo - the boatmonkey is also on my back. I am starting to get out on my boat on my waters by myself more - used to ride around with my neighbor and he usually sticks to spots he knows and rarely "deep" structure - I intend to get this technology on my humble fishing boat so that I can learn structure faster (I do understand it is not optimal for seeing fish per se).

I am moonlighting this thursday and friday night (6pm-10pm) at CVS (I am a pharmacist) - I will quickly save up - PLan on buying it when I visit my inlaws in NJ in april - will take a quick trip to delaware and buy it (no sales taxes there )

I really need to read up though on what unit in specific I will want for myself (lowrance vs. hb and size and all that jazz)...

But I am encouraged to take the dive at this point based on what seems to me pretty postive remarks by everyone across the board.

CANNOT WAIT TO GET ONE - I just know that I will instantly become a pro with it....just kidding

I Love BassResource reply :

A bunch of guys are placing the ducers on the trolling motors instead of on the consoles. The pic below was actually taken from the trolling motor, at very low speeds. Its a lowrance unit instead of a bird, but you get the general idea.

BigEbass reply :

That looks awesome - hey everyone - I have tried to go to that yahoo forum but it seems to be more geared towards people that already have one. Where do I go to learn which one I should buy and which specific unit would be fore me? Including lowrance vs. Humminbird....?

Wayne P. reply :

BigEbass, you won't find too many unbiased opinions of what is "best"---kind of like the Ford/Chevy thing.

Your best option is to visit a retailer that carries one or both units and see for yourself and then determine how much you want to spend to get that technology. The Lowrance version has the least time on the market so the available information is not as saturated as the Humminbird version that has been around for a few years.

The top of the line for each brand to get equal features is within $100 of each other and that is about $3,000.

Paul Roberts reply :

Quote
A bunch of guys are placing the ducers on the trolling motors instead of on the consoles. The pic below was actually taken from the trolling motor, at very low speeds. Its a lowrance unit instead of a bird, but you get the general idea.

That image is a mind-blower. Am I seeing fins on those fish??

I Love BassResource reply :

Yeah, the image is pretty impressive. I'm not gonna start a HB vs Lowrance war, but I've researched it long and hard. I had an HB unit on my rig last year, needless to say I now have an HDS8 sitting in my console. The current HDS units are producing some incredible imagery.

Dogface reply :

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but I've researched it long and hard. I had an HB unit on my rig last year, needless to say I now have an HDS8 sitting in my console. The current HDS units are producing some incredible imagery.

I am asking the same questions as BigEbass for the same reasons.

I would spend the extra money for the HDS if it were worth the extra money.....So dick do you think the HDS is worth another $600?

I Love BassResource reply :

Yes I did and yes I still do. I'll be posting screen shots as I collect them. It's pretty amazing, the picture quality blows me away.

Dogface reply :

Thanks dick

I looked at both at Cabela's. The demos always make the units look better and both looked great there but the HDS screen shots I see on the web look better to me than the HB.

BigEbass reply :

I have read through some of these forums and it is very much back and forth guys....why is it back and forth so much....perhaps cause both of these units to a great job....

I dont own one YET, but my assessment based on tons of the images put out there is that lowrance images look overall "cleaner".....but one post on another site asks the more important question - how does this slightly better clarity mean catching more fish - winning more tournaments?? I have seen some great images of stuff from both brands and I am convinced this is a cannon vs. nikon like argument.....

Will both the lowrance or HB units pick up what we would see as a suberged log, rockpile, stump, roadbed, railroad track (there are some in lay lack I learned from one of my patients today), etc....will they not both essentially find the creekbeds, ditches, drop offs that surround as as we are searching?? This is a question I pose, not because I know the answer - I have seen the individual images all over the net now, but I will let someone answer this question.

Again, my intention in buying one of these units is to cruise an area of my local waters and find pertitinent structure, mark it, then fish it....Does it matter one unit can resolve a #12 swivel better than the other or a tennis ball better than the other?? Perhaps for the moste elite of the elite you could make that argument?? But for a lowly basser like me that has no clue about all that stuff underneath me - I am certain both will reveal more than enough?? Again, that is my thoughts so far in all this mish mosh of reading.

I plan on doing what was stated before - go to my local store - look at em - price em out - and make a decision and roll with it - I did it with my SLR last year - bought the nikon never looked back - I am sure this will be the same....

Having said that, the one group of loud voices I have seen on these sites were people ticked at lowrance's customer service - but I am not sure how far to take these individuals issues and was it just a transient thing....??

My head is spinning just thinking about it....

I will add this quetions too that adds to the oringinal question:

For someone buying into one of these deals - what all stuff are we going to have to buy - multiple tranducers? cables? etc??

Also, what screen size do people recommend - I am tempted to splurge and get something moderate in size - but it tacks on huge to the cost - I am wondering if the smaller one for my purpose will serve me fine (perhaps get the small one for my console to start and later get a big un for the bow )?

wow, sorry, totally hijacked the thread - please disregard if you would like to - but hopefully my questions are others as well at this time....

BigEbass reply :

Also the bass pro shops guy today when I called and spoke briefly with him was leading me away from lowrance toward HB...he was concerned about a lawsuit goin on that HB has against lowrance? Patent? and possible if they lose, concerns about what would come of that as far as warantees - I think he was likely wrong in this thought - set him strait for me people?

Wayne P. reply :

One thing you can be sure of, is the units on the market now are already obsolete in each company's development departments.

By the time the lawsuit is settled, any present unit will be way past the warranty period and obsolete, so that should not be a concern.

BigEbass reply :

Thats the annoying thing about technology >

Dogface reply :

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Thats the annoying thing about technology >

And now that there is competition between HB and Lowrance the technology will take off as they fight for our money.

bear7625 reply :

My son has the HB 798c SI and he loves it. HB also alows you to update the software in your unit and now have the downward imaging available for update. The only thing you have to do to get updates is register the unit.

I have always prefered Lowrance over HB because of a problem I had with one of their paper graphs. I believe HB tried side imaging in the past with the old SideFinder. They seem to have alot of the bugs worked out. Lowrance and HB will always be competing against each other, so I'm sure will keep seeing new things in the future.

Wayne P. reply :

bear, all the 2010 mfg units have the Down Imaging and Switch Fire feature included.

The Side Finder was a Bottomline product and that company is now owned by HB. That is why the Fishing Buddy is now a Humminbird unit instead of Bottomline. I used to have a Bottomline Side Finder that came with two transducers and a switch to choose which direction to use (down or horizonal). The Side Finder is not even close to what Side Imaging and Structure Scan is. The Side Finder used/uses the same transducer as regular down looking sonar which has a cone shaped pulse.

Jim Grouch reply :

Here's a cool little short movie clip showing the HB unit in action. Check it out.

http://www.myoutdoortv.com/show-microsite-fishing/hank-parkers-outdoor-magazine.html

Click on Humminbird Article

BigEbass reply :

Cool video!! Man I cannot wait to get it - looking to buy one in april.

Jim Grouch reply :

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Cool video!! Man I cannot wait to get it - looking to buy one in april.

Let me know when you are ready to purchase. I can get you a good deal on them. -Jim

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