Down imaging

[pikerliker]

I hear a lot about side imaging sonar units being used but not much about down imaging. I was looking at a couple down imaging units in Cabelas last week and they look really detailed almost like a picture. Who has had experience with these units and do you like them?

[dan z]

Works pretty good at seeing structure. Not a very good fish locator. But they have a purpose. We have one on the river boat and it shows logs and such below the surface.

[JohnMickish]

I use my DI more than most do. I use SI for looking for places to fish and to locate fish, but while dragging live bait around, the DI works great. I use it along with 2D sonar side by side to show what is really on the bottom. DI is a worthwhile investment IMO.

[reddog]

If you are fishing structure,(slopes) Down Imaging/Scan wont have the traditional Soner "dead zone" because the beam is so narrow. DI will show everything that 2D will show, just in a different way. You will be looking for/at much smaller items on the screen than with 2D..(fish)

My primary gripe with DI is that for anything outside the water column, you have no way of knowing where it is in relation to the boat, Left or right. No so with SI.

[PerchJerker]

I tend to agree with mnfishguy. And I definitely agree with him when he says DI is a worthwhile investment.

SI is best for looking for places to fish, and you want to be moving 2+ mph to get the clearest images. Other than trolling, it's typically not something that's going to help you when you actually have lines in the water.

DI works great at slower speeds and DI is going to show you a lot more detail than conventional sonar. I use DI more and more all the time and I use it while I'm actually fishing with lines in the water. The more I use DI the more I like it and the more helpful I find it. With conventional sonar you often can't tell if you're marking a few baitfish or a 1 or 2 smaller fish or 1 larger fish .... with a good DI unit you can literally count the fish or baitfish. With conventional sonar you often can't tell if you're marking a rock or stick or a clump of vegetation ... with a good DI unit it will pretty much draw a picture of it. With conventional sonar if you're marking a rock or a weededge or a dropoff you frequently won't mark the fish that are hanging tight to it .... with a good DI unit you can seen the fish and even count them.

Not all DI is created equal ... to get the best image and truest picture of what's down there, you need a DI transducer with a dedicated down-imaging crystal.

[dairyman]

I have been considering a down imaging unit---I currently have a "bird"788 and am looking at the 500 series with DI ---or should I be looking at a different model?? thanks

[PerchJerker]

The HB DI models have a down imaging transducer and they draw a good picture, I don't think you'd have any complaints with them.

[TruthWalleyes]

DI is never used in my boat. 2d or SI.

[mnhunter79]

DI is never used in my boat. 2d or SI.

+1

[Brad B]

I have been considering a down imaging unit---I currently have a "bird"788 and am looking at the 500 series with DI ---or should I be looking at a different model?? thanks

why not just get a 788 with the DI in it. if it was me I would stay with the 788 but in the DI model the cost is only $200 more then the 597CI HD DI and you already know the lay out of the 788. plus why would you want to loose the 3 preset buttons and the second card slot. that is what you loose plus a 597 is NOT ethernet capable and the 788's are.

I currently have the 597CI HD DI and will be upgrading to the 788CI HD DI so I can run I pilot Link when I get that too.

one thing thou if you keep your current 788 and you add a 788 DI model and you want to network them they will need to be running the same version of the software or you could have issues. I was talking to a HB rep about this at cabelas on sunday because I was going to put a non DI 788 on the bow and a 788 DI model on the console and network them so I could run the link from either unit. this is when the rep told me to get the same model for both spots. so I my case I will be putting a DI on the bow and hooking it to the US2 transducer. I know the DI won't work doing this. I asked the rep if this would be hard on the DI part of the unit. he said it won't cause problems. My other option that I might do is just get one 788 DI and have the bases networked so all I had to do is move the head from the console base to the bow base when I am up there.