Humminbird Question

[broken line]

Just purchased and installed a HB 859ci HD DI on the back of my boat. Does anyone know if I can also use it in the front, connecting it to the Ipilot US2 transducer. I realize the down image will not work on that transducer, but will the regular graph function for depth, etc? Thanks!.

[MikeG3Boat]

Yes it should work no problem. I believe you just need the cable that goes from 859 to US2.

[Wensel]

Not sure yhe DI is compatible with the US2

You can search minkota they have most manuals on line

[JohnMickish]

It is my understanding that the DI units do not play well with the universal transducer. If you want to run that unit up front your best bet is to mount a DI 'ducer on your trolling motor.

[DarthBaiter]

Hey Broken,what made you decide to go with the 859 Di? I am struggling to pick out the bird I want to go with. I keep thinking the 859 DI is the one, then I start thinking a SI model of some sort is the one..... I realize it depends on what you fish for, but I never just target one species I enjoy fishing of all kinds.

[broken line]

Darth...no other reason than the DI seemed more user/reader friendly. I'm not very techy so hoped I could figure out how to use this one well. Can't wait to try it on the water

[gixxer01]

Humminbird DI models don't transmit the normal 83/200khz 2D sonar signals that are used by the US2 ducer.

Take the advice from above and install the DI ducer to the trolling motor.

[h8go4s]

The 859ci HD DI is not listed in the Minn Kota compatibility chart. Before you buy the adapter cable, I'd suggest you call Humminbird and/or Minn Kota to verify. Here's the chart:

http://store.minnkotamotors.com/media/document/2014_MK_US2CompatibilityChart.pdf

[Brad B]

my suggestion is to go to a store that has a 859DI on display and check out the menu screen. if the 859 is like the 899 there will be a section in the menus that let's you choose the transducer you want to use. if the 859 DI has this you can set it to run only the 2D sonar on that head unit and then it would work with the US2 Transducer. if the 859 DI doesn't offer this then you won't be able to use it with the US2 Transducer but Humminbird does offer a mounting kit to hook your DI transducer to the outside of the motor.

[h8go4s]

my suggestion is to go to a store that has a 859DI on display and check out the menu screen. if the 859 is like the 899 there will be a section in the menus that let's you choose the transducer you want to use. if the 859 DI has this you can set it to run only the 2D sonar on that head unit and then it would work with the US2 Transducer. if the 859 DI doesn't offer this then you won't be able to use it with the US2 Transducer but Humminbird does offer a mounting kit to hook your DI transducer to the outside of the motor.

Brad,

Do all HB 800 series units use the same pin-outs for the ducer cable? If not, the adapter cable as listed on Minn Kota's HSOforum would not work. That's why I suggested talking directly to the manufacturers.

[Brad B]

the only difference in the pins in the end of the transducer plug is that with the side and or down imagine there is one extra pin for that. if you look at the adapter for the US2 transducer that does not have that fifth pin. so if you hook a si or di unit to the adapter there won't be a pin going into that fifth hole on the unit. the regular 2D transducers only have 4 pins instead of the 5 like the di/si do. the si/di units will hook to the adapter but you will only have 2D sonar. the thing is that some of the units you have to go into the menus and set the unit to only read the 2D signal. I know the 899 is like that but don't know for sure on the 859 di unit if the menus give you the option to switch to different transducers. I will have to look at a 859DI the next time I am at cabelas and see if the switching option is in the menus. it's kind of like that discussion on how people were wanting to use a ice transducer on their 597 DI units. at first you could not then HB updated the software and gave the 597DI the option to choose different transducers. without looking at the 859 DI I would have to guess that the switching of transducers should be a option but I could be wrong.

[Brad B]

Humminbird DI models don't transmit the normal 83/200khz 2D sonar signals that are used by the US2 ducer.

Take the advice from above and install the DI ducer to the trolling motor.

actually on some DI units the 2D sonar has 3 options (83/200, 200 only, or 455 khz) and the Di sonar part has 2 options (455 or 800 khz). yes the easiest option would be to buy the mounting kit from HB and just hook the DI transducer to the outside of the motor but then you have to deal with the cable on the outside of the motor shaft (which I guess is not that big of deal if you secure it correctly so that it doesn't get damaged).