HDS 7 ice settings

[slammer]

Need a little help with getting this unit ready for ice fishing. Anything other than switching the setting to ice fishing mode?

[Fred_Bear]

Lots of settings to adjust the first time... First thing you need to do is the installation of the transducer and do not put it in ice fishing mode, use shallow water.

Make sure the sonar is in manual mode and adjust the settings properly; sensitivity, colorline, and range are the important ones along with surface clarity, noise rejection, and ping speed also being used.

Here's how I set up my sonar options:

Sonar Mode: Shallow Water

Auto Sensitivity: Off

Sensitivity: High enough so my jig is black (first color) with a little blue (second color) when my jig is moving. ~55%-75%

Colorline: Low enough so my jig is a nice thin line. ~50%-65%

Range: Custom... Upper limit between 2 feet and 10 feet depending on how deep of water I'm in and where the fish are. Lower limit 2 feet deeper than the bottom in my deepest hole.

Ping Speed: Max. If I am getting interference turn it down, but keep it as high as possible.

Noise Rejection: Low. Turn to medium or high if getting interference.

Surface Clarity: Low. Turn to medium if a lot of clutter on the screen.

Palette: Not sure what number, but it's a white background and I think it goes (from first color to last) black, blue, green, yellow, red. Usually only black, blue, and green ever show up when fishing panfish.

Couple more comments:

The default, "no split", sonar display was a lot better than the "zoom", "bottom lock", or "flasher" displays.

Don't display combo pages. Having the Chart page up while using the Sonar really slows down the readout of the Sonar. I assume the processor just isn't fast enough to keep up.