Humminbird 798c w/side imageing

[weld1]

Does anyone out there have any experience with this unit? in particular i was wondering if it is hard to learn how to use/read the side imageing? if your troling along is it easy to read if theres a ledge or hump off to the side? i would really like to have the bigger screen unit but the budget wont allow so i was thinking of this unit. also i think i heard you have to be going a certain speed for it to work right? and last question... i have a x-15 in the boat right now, could they be run together/at same time or would they mess up each others screen? thanks for any help!

[epkirkman]

We just picked up a 997c, bigger screen. It is very easy to use and you can pick up ledges, stumps, sticks and even baitfish with the quadra-beam transducer.

I have very little time using this unit but so far I am very, very impressed with it. I can't answer your other question but we have a lowrance on the front and two transducers for the bird on a switch so I would imagine there is a way to get that done.

[slurpie]

I've had the 997si for two years and the more you use it, the better it is. And you'll get a better understanding of the water your fishing. But the bigger the screen the better. And it works really good at 6 mph hour or less but after a while you can pick stuff out at high speeds also.

[eyebjim]

I have a 797c2si (last years version of the 798). I went from a X15 to that. It is not that hard to learn to read. I would recommend setting it up and viewing the demo mode for a while so you can get used to it. It will show rock piles, weeds, wood, baitfish clouds, fish, edges, troughs etc. I would not be out without it. You will be amazed at how much you didn't know about your favorite body of water. I just mounted the x15 in the bow now and have not had the boat out with the x15 and the bird together but I am pretty sure there will be no problem.

I set the transducer a bit on the low side and I get good SI up to about 20mpg. I also get a rooster tail but I don't care. The faster you go the less detail you get but you can still make out structure at speed.

[weld1]

eyebjim, thanks for the info! does it have a seperate puck for the gps like the x-15has? also how many transducers does it have? just one? if only one does it still read from both sides ok? like the motor dont get in the way or anything? sorry about the dumb questions just trying to learn before i spend 1200.00 on this thing, been waiting for a big C sale but have not seen anything yet! maybe soon! thanks again

[PerchJerker]

You can get the 798c SI with either an internal or external gps puck. It has 1 transducer. You need to get the transducer mounted so it has a clear view to both sides (ie. no trolling motor in the way or anything like that).

You should plan to spend some time playing around with and learning your new electronics .... don't just mount them on the boat and go out fishing. The more you use them and play around with them the more you'll learn about them. It should be a pretty short learning curve and there's lots of help and info available.

You can check them out including LOW PRICING At 798c SI from Pro Fishing Supply .

[eyebjim]

Looks like perchjerker answered your questions. One note. Don't get it expecting to see those shipwrecks and sunken bridges they show on the ads. It will show structure and many things very well but most lakes around here just don't have the many interesting things to see down there. The things you do see are far more important to fishing anyways. For more info on it there are some non official humminbird websites that have forums and all the info you want to know. Just google humminbird side imaging.

[weld1]

would the main motor get in the way do you think? just wondering, thanks

[PerchJerker]

would the main motor get in the way do you think? just wondering, thanks

No. There's tons of guys using HB side-finding with transom mount transducers. You need to get the transducer mounted right in order to get good side-imaging, but you can work around the main motor.

[reddog]

I have a 997 and a LCX 15 on the dash, and a LMS 520 on the bow. They all play well together for the most part. Here is how I operate my units. I use the X15 for GPS, with the 2D sonar ping turned off on that unit.(transducers are 5 inches apart and they will cause interference when they are both mounted together) I run my 997 in SI 90% of the time, 5 % of the time in SI with a small window of 2D sonar, and 5% of the time in GPS, when running the water with the Navionics map chip, which the X15 wont read.

Shutting off the 2D sonar on the X 15, eliminates any interference between the 2 units. The 520 on the bow and the 997 on the transom are far enough apart that they dont affect each other.

I only have one Humminbird transducer, and do have minimal problems with seeing to the left sometimes (transducer is on the right) Not worth 2 transducers to me at this point in time.

To get quality side imaging images, your settings need to be correct. Next is speed. If your initial settings are correct, (and the defaults are good, but not the very best) Side imaging works best from 2.5 to 6 mph, yes, it will read at .03 mph, and it will read at 35 mph, but those are not the optimum speeds.Too slow, and things get all drawn out, and too fast, is well, too fast. It also is imperative to drive in a relatively straight line to get the bst images. If you are turing, the side imaging still works, but the images get distorted, because the outside beam is going/scanning faster, and the inside beam is moving slower.

If you get your unit set up properly, they will show you exactly what is under the boat and off to the sides. I fish Iowa and South Dakota mainly, and I have screencaptures of bridge footings, old foundation, rock bars, sand riffles and even 3 cars in a road ditch. Oh, and also, many screen captures of walleyes and a few of white bass, and some that I just dont know what kind of fish they were.

I would buy as much screen as you can possibly afford, even if it hurts a little. If it hurts to buy the 798, then buy that unit, but if if doesnt hurt that bad, then buy the 997, If it doesnt hurt to bad to buy then 997, then buy the 1197. Heck, Id have a 1797, if I could afford it. If youre planning on spending 1200, you can find 997s for 1600 and change, I paid 1680 for mine.

I gotta tell you, some people just dont adapt well to reading Side Imaging. There is a learning curve to being able to read it, First off, some people have a problem with the screen moving from top to bottom, instead of right to left. Some guys continually say: Now, what exactly am I seeing here when they watch my unit.

Its not that different, but it is different. If you have a chance to ride with someone that has Side Imaging, and has it set up properly, you will be alot better informed in order to making a purchase decision.

With that said, I love my Humminbird.

[rocki]

good info, does any outfitter or bait shop ever put on a class on these hummingbirds??

[reddog]

good info, does any outfitter or bait shop ever put on a class on these hummingbirds??

Rocki,

Yes, there is an ability for a dealer to set up training/demonstration classes, if there is enough interest.

Monday of last week, there was a class at Soo Sports In Sioux Falls where the trainer, Dave Poort (OEM repbrings in 15 fully operational 997s for a hands on seminar. The class size is limited to 30 people and he goes thru all the menu items and settings in the machine and tells you how to set you unit up initially away from the factory defaults. From there, you can tweak it anyway you want.

The first 1 1/2 hours is spent in menu items and settings and the last 1 1/2 hours is spent on looking at 2D sonar screen captures and then side imaging screencaptures.

They note that this is a 2 hour class, but ours went 3 hours. Very, very informative and worthwile IMHO. Of the attendees at SF, only 2 actually had Humminbird equipment on their boat with experience, 2 had purchased units and were looking to get educated before they got on the water the rest were looking to gain more information, or purchase a unit in the future

I know on April 1, the same seminar was in Springfield Mo. and on April 2nd, at Grand Lake of the Cherokees.

I do not know of any other seminars, but I would guess that more could be scheduled..

[weld1]

Wow! reddog great info, im still doing some research and this helps alot!!

[eyebjim]

"I have a x-15 in the boat right now, could they be run together/at same time or would they mess up each others screen?"

Weld1,

I just had the boat out today with the x15 on the bow trolling motor and the 797 on the dash and they both worked perfect with no interference. Nice the be floating. The SI picked up a stack of wood pallets that someone evdently set up as a crappie crib. Marked it and fished. No takers but now I know it's there.

[rocki]

thanks reddog, good info, I will have to see if anyone in the area is putting on a class or if they may be interested.

[reddog]

Here are some of my screencaptures:

Bridge pilings at Chamberlain:

Trees on Lake Sharpe:

Foundation and tree and a fish( in water column) on Lake Sharpe:

3 Cars/trucks on Lake Sharpe:

Not out looking for bridges, foundations or trucks to bring home? How bout some fish?

Scattered fish in dredge hole in Francis Case:

13 walleyes in 7 fow: Francis Case.

Split school of walleyes in 13 fow, Francis Case

and the 2D sonar works pretty well also.

[polarsusd81]

Reddog, these images are making me drool more and more every time I see them. I wish I could afford to throw an SI unit on my boat.

[reddog]

Tom, It will improve your fishing, if for no other reason than to increase the enjoyment of a leisurely drive around a lake that you thought you knew.

Side note about the images:

All of the images with the information bar on the left side of the screen were taken with my 997. This is the only location you can have the info bar, (if you chose to have it shown, as its optional)

The image with the info bar at the bottom, was taken in my boat, with my buddies 1197. This also is the only location you can view the info bar at with an 1197.

Another note, If you take a screencapture with one unit, it is not viewable on another unit. The displays are unit specific, so to speak.

Heres a couple more. Can anyone take a guess as to what is going on in each of these images?

If you've seen my HSOforum explaining these images, then your not eligible to guess.

[polarsusd81]

I would say that because you are going slower, the fish you are seeing are stretched to different proportions. The top one you are at 1.7 mph and the fish seem a little easier to define, but the bottom at .3 mph they are in the SI cone much longer and stretched farther.

If I hadn't lost my job in January, the 797 was on my short list of toys with my tax return. Maybe next year.

[eyebjim]

Great info and captures Reddog. My guess is in the fist one fish on the left as you are moving stright forward but toward the top your boat moved slightly to the right. In the second one fish on the right but you are moving much slower and also moving to the left. Rocks often look like fish on bottom but you can see some seperation/shadow on some of these so I would say they are fish.

[eyebjim]

Heres one I captured this weekend. I beleive it is a bunch of pallets someone put out there as crappie structure. This is with a 797.

[reddog]

Tom,

Youre pretty close on your guesses,

In the first picture, I was going 3.5 when I first came across these fish on the left side. The initial images were good,(towards the bottom of the page, which is history) and as I throttled back to fish them the fish get stretched out as the boat slowed. I snapped the photo at 1.7, and eventually slowed to a stop, backed up and fished them.

The second photo is a classic example of speed being a function of a good screen capture. At .03 mph, you can see that the images of the fish (white stripes) are all drawn out and dont really have any shape or form or even a shadow, except the one in the middle of the screen.

Even though I am stationary for the most part, doesnt mean that the fish is. This one fish moved thru the scan fast enough to get a better image and therefore cast a better shadow. Doesnt matter if the boat is going 3.5 or the fish swims thru the beam at 3.5, the image will project the same.

Side imaging is all about being able to read the shadows. Look at the shadow of the fish to the right of the screen in the 6th picture, directly across from the date.

Keep in mind, that not all fish position themselves parallel with the boat. They can be facing it also and cast a completely different image.

[reddog]

Heres one I captured this weekend. I beleive it is a bunch of pallets someone put out there as crappie structure. This is with a 797.

Jim,

For the sake of others reading your post, you have drug the cursor over the stack of pallets and marked a gps coordinate on top of the pallet stack, correct? What once was someones secret stack of pallets, is now yours, mostly because you can see what it is, not guess, like 2d sonar. Even if you had gone over this minute piece of structure with 2D sonar, chances of recognizing it for what it truly is, would be slim, without the use of a camera. No doubt, even if you had found in in 2D sonar, you wouldnt have deemed it worthy of a gps waypoint.

It wouldve been interesting for you to post a screencapture with 2D to show what it looked like with conventional sonar.

[eyebjim]

Ya that would have been good for people to see but I didn't think about it on the water. It would have been nice to also not have the cursor over the stack in the image but like you said I had moved the cursor over it to mark it so I could then navigate directly over it and again didn't think about getting a good shot. I would agree with you. From what it looked like going over it with the 2d sonar I would not have even marked it.

[reddog]

Been there, done that Jim.

For the most part anymore , I seldom use the cursor box for a zoom feature. I simply take the SI screen and switch it to left side or right side, which in effect gives a 2X zoom, without freezing the screen scroll.

Here is a rock feature on LFC.

Again, like Jim has pointed out, you can drag the cursor over top of the rock bars points or dips and put a gps waypoint or multiple waypoints without ever going over the top of the structure.