Anyone have any experiance with the HB Ice 345c?

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Humming Bird ICE 345c

Would just like to hear some reviews and opinions on it.

[stretch1975]

I got one to use in open water as well as on the ice. I haven't used it yet.

[Knoc]

I just bought the hb 345ci a couple months ago. Its the portable, so Im excited to try it out as soon as I can. From what I have read, it has gotten really good reviews through the ice. I loved it on my boat.

[Norm1980]

I got one before last winter and would recommend it to anyone looking to save some money by using the same unit in summer & winter. Ive not had any problems with the screen in colder weather and my battery lasted longer than my buddies who has a vexilar. You can adjust your depth manually which is nice so if your fishing in 25' of water you don't have to have it set to 40' like on some units. Works well during open water.

The cons of this unit i have noticed are interference when fishing around flashers that have more power (better when fishing over soft bottoms). Also at times i have noticed a very very slight lag on the dial.

Over all positive reviews from me though, given the chance I would purchase the 345c again.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I got one before last winter and would recommend it to anyone looking to save some money by using the same unit in summer & winter. Ive not had any problems with the screen in colder weather and my battery lasted longer than my buddies who has a vexilar. You can adjust your depth manually which is nice so if your fishing in 25' of water you don't have to have it set to 40' like on some units. Works well during open water.

The cons of this unit i have noticed are interference when fishing around flashers that have more power (better when fishing over soft bottoms). Also at times i have noticed a very very slight lag on the dial.

Over all positive reviews from me though, given the chance I would purchase the 345c again.

How bad is the lag, and how "often" do you see it lag. If the unit lag is very much, I don't think I'd be interested in it.I can't see using a unit for ice fishing that would tell me what is happening after it happend

[PerchJerker]

The Ice-385ci (combo with gps) is more popular than Ice-345c (fishfinder only no gps), but the sonar is the same in both units. Most guys who have them seem to really like them. Pluses are that the portability is great and the screen is very clear and bright, and they work very well. Minuses are that the screen is only 3.5 inches. The Ice-385ci can take a LakeMaster card so that is another plus.

Other than the comment above I haven't heard anyone notice or complain about a lag --- imo that is a thing of the past, from units with LCD screens and the earliest processors.

I think they're ideal for someone who wants a unit for both open water and ice fishing.

Humminbird has a rebate on the Ice-385ci and the Ice-345c right now, where you get a free skimmer transducer on a portable suction cup mount for use in open water. It's like a $70 value, that's a really good rebate.

If you want you can check out both units and get details on the rebates HERE

[Norm1980]

Maybe lag is not the correct way to describe it... i'm not great at explaining things and typing on a HSOforum doesn't make it any easier. Maybe Target separation would be a better way to say it than lag? the HB has 2.5" where a vex is 1" or less. So say you were to drop your lure to the bottom then pick it up a foot quickly... on the screen the lure looks like it is still on the bottom until it is say 2" off the ground. now it only takes a split second to raise your line up that far so what i called lag is very minimal. I my self just noticed a difference when fishing side by side with a vex. if that vexilar was never there i probably wouldn't even have noticed it at all. I enjoy the HB345 and would recommend it to anyone looking for a unit they can use in summer and winter, if all you want it for is ice fishing i would go with the ICE line from HB or a Vexilar etc.. MY

I should add that the screen size of 3.5" for me is plenty especially for ice fishing.

[Esox_Magnum]

Vex's seperation is 2.5" roughly to....

[Norm1980]

very possible, I was just going by what i read online.

[fishwater]

Do those 300 series Hbird graphs have switch fire ability?

[fishwater]

Norm, I see they do, are you running that in max mode?

[mole]

Ive had my 345 for 2 yrs, this being the second and I love it. Have not noticed any interference and I fished the Brainerd with it.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Maybe lag is not the correct way to describe it... i'm not great at explaining things and typing on a HSOforum doesn't make it any easier. Maybe Target separation would be a better way to say it than lag? the HB has 2.5" where a vex is 1" or less. So say you were to drop your lure to the bottom then pick it up a foot quickly... on the screen the lure looks like it is still on the bottom until it is say 2" off the ground. now it only takes a split second to raise your line up that far so what i called lag is very minimal. I my self just noticed a difference when fishing side by side with a vex. if that vexilar was never there i probably wouldn't even have noticed it at all. I enjoy the HB345 and would recommend it to anyone looking for a unit they can use in summer and winter, if all you want it for is ice fishing i would go with the ICE line from HB or a Vexilar etc.. MY

I should add that the screen size of 3.5" for me is plenty especially for ice fishing.

Lag would be like when a unit starts to slow down from from something like the cold and then the unit shows what is happening on the screen a second or two after it happens. Doesn't sound like you were seeing lag.

What I believe you are seeing is a difference in is target ID, not target seperation.

Now the seperation is for the two is very comparable, about the same I think. Not sure if the zoom modes change the seperation or not.

Target ID is a different subject that is getting confused with Target Separation. Target ID is the depth you are fishing divided by the number of seqments the display has to show and then multiplyed by 12 (for inches). For example: 20' of water, 526 display segments. 20/526 x 12 = .45 or target ID separation.

So I'm thinking that maybe that is the difference you could be seeing is a possible difference in the Target ID between the units which would cause it to display the data a bit different.

[Norm1980]

I run the switchfire on Max in summer and have been using clear in Winter. I'll give the max setting a try. Also I think I was looking at Target id not separation

[fishwater]

Norm, ive always run the opposite, clear mode in open water most of the time and max on the ice. Are you switching the ice mode setting to ON?

Anyone happen to know what ice mode does to the sonar settings? The manual is very vague, just says they are adjusted and apply to all sonar windows universally. I've never ran ice mode, really only have toyed with my 798 a few times on ice. I ran switch fire max with the screen speed at 10. It does represent baits in really thick vex-like detail.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

After looking at the unit, I noticed that there isn't any type of arm to hold the transducer when hole hopping. I noticed that there is a little post on the ice holder that looks like a possible would screw into it to hold the ducer, but couldn't find an arm for it.

Do they make an arm that attaches to the ice stand to hold the ducer when hole hopping. If they don't what do you guys do to hold the ducer

[Agronomist_at_IA]

No body knows if they make a transducer? Anyone have some home made job?