Side imaGing

[adamr]

Does anyone have any advice on learning down imaging and side imaging

[thatoneguy]

Lots of good tutorials on YouTube and other sites, but there's no better way to learn SI than just spending time on the water with it.

[JohnMickish]

My advice is to leave the rods at home for a day and grab a buddy for a day on the water. Pick a body of water that you know and have the other person just drive the boat while you look at the sonar and look at things that you thought you knew. Time on the water is what it takes.

[Finns]

Might give this a read.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb...s_D#Post2805876

[reddog]

Raed online all you can, but there is no better way to learn than to just install one on the boat and watch it unfold....

[Craigums]

I'm buying a used boat that already has a Lowrance DI and SI intalled on the dash. He still has the owners manual, Would you guys say its fairly

"user friendly"? I will definately spend a day just putting around the lake and trying to learn it. But sometimes fancy electronics go over my head

[Nick Kuhn]

It's not difficult: the reason to just spend a day on the water is just to get to know what things to look for so you don't waste time fishing. Drive by a stick, learn what a stick looks like. Learn what a mud to sand/gravel transition looks like. Learn what a weedline looks like, learn what a rock pile looks like. Any of those items are pretty easy to see; it's just getting the visual in your head so say you want to fish the bottom transition you can find it quickly when you are fishing.

[RawHog]

I just purchased a Humminbird 898c si unit and just got my boat back after installation. Last year as open water season began to slip away I decided on buying a gps/si/di fish finder for this upcoming season. I have been reading, watching videos, and tutorials all winter and spring and I honestly felt like any other google searches or questions I could ask would simply be reviewing. Well, I finally got my boat back and put it in my most familiar water,my home court- Lake Miltona. All the hours and nights I spent researching SI and DI while I should have been studying definitely paid off.. but I was amazed at how much more I still had to learn once I got on the water. My best advice is a bit redundant..But I know new SI and DI users can empathize.. Find every online source you can and at least get familiar with how Side and Down Imaging technology works. Using the machine is a completely different story, Myself and other new users simply need to spend much time on the water. The reason is there so many different settings, adjustments, and personal preferences that it is nearly implausible to learn via internet, or most other sources.

[eyebjim]

Good points rawhog.

When I got mine I spent a lot of time researching on the internet and then when I got it I hooked it up to a battery in the garage and spent quite a few hours getting familiar with it in demo mode. Demo mode is automatic when there is no transducer plugged in. With this you can get to know the ins and outs of the controls etc and get a good feel for viewing the SI. After that I spent the first couple times out hardly fishing as I was having so much fun exploring the body of water i have been fishing for more than 10 years. I found a lot I did not know about it.

I am in no way trying to say it is too difficult for anyone to operate. It is actually fairly simple once you get used to reading the SI and finding how you best like to use it. Taking the time to get comfortable with it makes it all that much more useful when on the water.

[harvey lee]

A few very good videos on Humminbirds HSOforum on how to use and set up.

[Fish Head]

I'll be getting my bird installed in 2 weeks. I guess class starts now. I can't wait to get on the water with it.

[reddog]

I'll be getting my bird installed in 2 weeks. I guess class starts now. I can't wait to get on the water with it.

Fishhead. Ill send you a link if you turn your PMs on.. Congrats on the Bird!..

[Fish Head]

Fishhead. Ill send you a link if you turn your PMs on.. Congrats on the Bird!..

[reddog]

Great minds think alike... I just sent you a PM a couple minutes ago.

[fivebucks]

I am looking at the 898si - any difference between that and the 998si other than an inch of screen?

[RawHog]

Not a single difference whatsoever besides a couple hundred bucks and an inch of screen. I just went through the shopping process this winter and that was the decision I had to make. I didn't want to cough up $500 more or so.. so I ended up with the 898, love it.

Some guys are blind or they just swear by the mega-screens. I say the sonar technology is the most important part, and both machines give you that, so why not save the 500 bucks and instead pick up a sweet new rod n reel or a bunch of tackle.

[Kyhl]

To put it into perspective, that inch of screen equates to about 15% more viewing area.

Myself, I like being able to see the screen on my dash when I'm standing on the rear casting platform.

The screen also becomes really small once you put multiple views on one screen.

I have a HDS8 and when I put GPS, DI, SI, and Sonar all on one screen there is only about 3" square for each section. I'd eventually like to add a second screen just for GPS and free up some real estate for imaging.

I don't think I'd ever complain about seeing too much information on one screen, a la, having too big a screen.

[BLACKJACK]

Interesting, one guy says save the money, go small, the next guy says go bigger. Its all in what you can afford I guess. I've been debating on pulling the trigger on one of the Humminbirds, even drew up a template showing the screen sizes of the 798, 898, 998, and 1198. Seems like a no brainer to jump up to the 898 and two more inches, but that $400-500 per inch after that is a head scratcher. Why does another inch cost so much?? Is it strictly a marketing/supply and demand thing?

[reddog]

It only costs you $500 to get the extra inch.... until you buy the smaller screen. Then it will cost you $2000 to get the extra inch.

I know how many fish Si puts in the boat for me, and Id have a 1798 if they made it.

I know of hundreds that have bought larger screens after buying with a budget initially. I dont know of anyone that has sold a large screen and bought a smaller unit.

Figure out what you can afford, then go one size larger. It only hurts for a little while.

[thore]

exactly I would have 2 10" screens if I could afford it. split screen gps and sonar on one and side imaging on the other. some may call it overkill i call it awesome

[ClownColor]

Interesting, one guy says save the money, go small, the next guy says go bigger. Its all in what you can afford I guess. I've been debating on pulling the trigger on one of the Humminbirds, even drew up a template showing the screen sizes of the 798, 898, 998, and 1198. Seems like a no brainer to jump up to the 898 and two more inches, but that $400-500 per inch after that is a head scratcher. Why does another inch cost so much?? Is it strictly a marketing/supply and demand thing?

that is the million dollar question. I couldn't justify spending (after all the great deals) $800 more from going to the 5" to 7". And after closer examination, the viewable screen on the 798 is only 1" larger...though I "think" HB came out with a software upgrade to fix that (the info section took up an inch)??? So yes-I went samller but also went with the other brand cause I can later purchase a larger screen but don't have to buy the SS/DS again and only need to buy the base unit...which is a huge savings. Or I could just buy another 5" and use one screen per unit.

What ever you chose, it'll open a whole new chapter on fishing for you....small or large, HB or LOW, they ALL display the same thing!

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I paid $600 for a new 798ci on close out. I figure if I decide the screen is to small I won't loss much selling it in a couple of years.

[Mlaker3]

There are a lot of computer geeks out there. How come there are no aftermarket screens that could tag w/ a smaller HB?

[reddog]

Maybe youre onto something there...

Any Ethernet model is capable of adding a monitor. The 798 has a smaller transducer than its largers brothers, although you can run a 798 on a HDSI ducer also..