Humminbird Helix 7

[Blackhawkxp]

Anyone have experience with this unit.  I am in need of a new fish finder for the boat and i was wondering if the Ice version was the same as the standard with the addition of a ice pack and different transducer.  Basically can i buy a summer version and use it for winter with mods or am i better with the winter version and use for summer?   Trying to kill two birds with one stone! Their page is pretty vague on the features of each.  I am not sure if side imaging is as great as the advertise so mainly looking for down imaging.  Thanks in advance.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Blackhawkxp

[rundrave]

I just got the Helix 5 GPS with DI, for my kayak and hole hopping in the winter. It has a flasher mode that you can switch to with the open water ducer. Should be great for open and hard water. I haven't decided if I am going to pony up for the ice ducer yet.  Will see how much of a pain the longer cable is

 

I personally while fishing with others and using their units I like SI way better than DI especially if you were to get the 7 or bigger.  I only have DI on my 5 so for me its really not something I will take advantage of personally. I just didn't want to deal with the size of a bigger unit so the 5 fits my syle of fishing best.

[Blackhawkxp]

It will be mainly used in the boat but i figured i could use it as a spare in the winter when friends or family tag along that don't have their own.  I was able to look through the owners manual and it looks like they are pretty similar.  I am not sure which units for the summer are compatible with the ice transducer?  Maybe they all are?  Never used the side imaging personally but it would probably be a nice feature to have if it is only a bit more money over the standard.  Do they have interference rejection on them?

 

[rundrave]

I believe it is this ice ducer:

http://www.humminbird.com/Products/XI-9-20/

 

its compatible with these helix models and few others bird models:

HELIX 5 DI, HELIX 5 DI GPS, HELIX 7 DI, HELIX 7 DI GPS, HELIX 9 DI GPS, HELIX 10 DI GPS, HELIX 12 CHIRP DI GPS

[Getanet]

1 hour ago, Blackhawkxp said:

It will be mainly used in the boat but i figured i could use it as a spare in the winter when friends or family tag along that don't have their own.

 

 

Careful. I'm not sure what you currently have for ice fishing, but if you're like me you'll want the bird to be your main unit. Especially if you get the model with GPS. Incredibly convenient to have a flasher, GPS and lake maps all in one unit.

 

I plan to get the Helix 5 w/GPS and use it for both the boat in the summer and ice fishing in the winter. Hopefully it can hold up.

[Blackhawkxp]

I run a Marcum LX7 currently with no complaints but am looking for the added benefit of the GPS in winter and summer.  I do have a handheld GPS unit but my old fish finder on my boat doesn't have GPS so I was thinking it would be nice to be able to use for both seasons.  It looks like the SI version is compatible with the ducer posted by Rundrave.  Now i just need to convince Santa to bring one for Christmas!  

[Jim Uran]

In all honesty, this unit seems like a no brainer for the cost. The 5 and every other unit Hbird had to offer performed as advertised. 

[rundrave]

I have only got to use mine in the kayak but I was super happy with gps etc. And its almost fun to just explore and look at the DI screen instead of even fishing. 

 

I cant wait to get mine out on the ice. For what its worth the navionics app is pretty close. But I am going to love being able to put the helix on the atv running and gunning for perch. I have also gotten disoriented too many times coming off the lake after dark in fog, rain etc. It was just not possible to use my phone in some of those conditions with out wrecking it or exposing it to the elements. 

 

I was out last year when a front came through. I was expecting it to be snow and it ended up being heavy rain and I couldn't use my phone to navigate me back to shore for fear of it getting wet and broke. And its nearly impossible to use without using your bare hands. What should have been a 20 minute ride on the ice back to the truck ended up lasting over an hour and I couldn't find my way back. I was by myself and sent a txt to my wife that I was packing up. Got everything loaded and headed back and got completely lost on the ice. She freaked out that I wasn't responding back or checking in. Now I will be able to use the helix and not worry about it getting wet etc like I would with my phone. Sure made it a little easier to justify the purchase  to her lol. Its a saftey item honey, not just another fishing gadget

[Xplorer]

rundrave,

  Really good to hear that you're liking the unit!!    

 

I bought one (the Helix5 DI/GPS) on cyber monday from Cabela's (merry xmas to me, so I wont actually have it til next weekend LOL).  Was $310 and it came with the Navionics+ card.  

My older Lowrance x510c graph took a dump on me on a trip to Rainy in August, and at this price this unit was a no brainer.

I fish Rainy and Namakan quite a bit in summer, and am interested how the DI will work on those, with all the structure we fish.  

 

Let us know how using it this winter goes without the ice ducer.  I'm gonna stick to the vex and handheld gps for this winter,  but if the Helix works good for you in winter I may go that route next year. 

 

  When my Lowrance Globalmap dies (which I'm sure is gonna be soon, bought same time as the 510) I'm gonna really look hard at getting the Helix7 DI/GPS to replace it.  I prefer to run 2 separate units, one for gps and one for a graph side by side o the boat.

     Since I fish Superior quite a bit, if I had two combo units, if I had issues with one I could always use the other in a pinch for both functions. 

  

  

[Neiko]

I ended up selling my LX7 a few weeks ago to upgrade to the Helix 7. After talking to the Humminbird rep at the Gander event he told us to wait until the new one comes out. I am getting the Si CHIRP GPS G2N which allows me to actually create my own contour map for lakes which have no maps. We do some lakes in Canada in summer and winter so this is very exciting. The G2N will allow it to work with a IPILOT to follow a contour or depth. Don't have a IPILOT but hopefully in the future. Also it will be upgradeable over Bluetooth so if I had to do it in the boat I could. They just finished testing on it and will be shipping very soon. I already got the winter transducer and am trying to make a custom box for it.