Arizona Crappie Association

Fishing and Dock Talk => Crappie Gear => Topic started by: cousinlll on March 12, 2019, 03:10 PM

Title: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: cousinlll on March 12, 2019, 03:10 PM
So who has what electronics installed on their boats these days:  1) Brand/Model  2) Features you liked/wanted  3) Meeting your expectations

I'm still using my "old" HBird 998/1198 and feel years & years behind the times...... :greengrin:
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: OneBlade on March 12, 2019, 03:30 PM
I have 2 Humminbird 998C HD SI.  I got refurbished versions to help on cost.  Having touchscreen smart phones these days I hate not having touchscreen on my electronics.  The buttons on my front device sometimes stick - that's annoying.  I was annoyed I paid that much and the default transducer couldn't handle when I was on plane - annoying - so I had to buy another 2D transducer just for on plane.  Do my finders help me find structure and fish?  You bet!  But I'll admit I'm slow to learn on them and only though talking with others with similar models do I learn some tricks on them.  I like being able to enter waypoints on the computer and upload to the units on the boat (rather than entering waypoints on the units themselves).
I like the integration with my trolling motor for sure.  Telling the fish finder what waypoint to go to is pretty nice as is spot lock and just telling it to go a certain direction.  I downloaded nav maps and have used the feature to follow the contour so it always stays at a certain depth.  That was useful at Powell.  Each time I use one of these features though, it takes me some time to remember the process (I'm getting old).
Like all electronics, they become overtaken by newer technology within a few years. But I'm happy with my electronics and have no plans to upgrade unless I upgrade boat or one of the units dies.  I don't even know what's out there now. 
Lastly, I'm considering getting an underwater infared camera.  Ever see lots of things that look like fish on your electronics but never just quite sure what type of fish?  Would be nice to drop a camera down and verify your electronics by site.
I don't know if trolling motor counts as 'electronics' but I love my Terrova with ilink/ipilot.  Couldn't imagine not having that.
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: cousinlll on March 12, 2019, 03:38 PM
Yes, lets include the Trolling Motor in this!  That I know I'm way behind with my MK Powerdrive 2 without the AP add on!  I've been waiting for it to break so I can upgrade to the Ulterra.  And i see MK just came out with a built in Mega DI transducer
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: PhishingPhreek on March 12, 2019, 05:23 PM
I have the same fish finders that came with my boat 16 years ago...... so.... I have zero insight on this. lol
Though, I'm REALLY wanting to get new one since I currently rely on the old technique of "Oh sweet, I got a snag! That means there's a tree down there!"

I do have the Minn Kota Terrova and love that even without the iPilot or other GPS add-ons.  Even that Terrova is old compared to the new TMs that MK is coming out with.
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: timbo on March 12, 2019, 06:03 PM
I just added a second lowrance hds 7 gen 2 w/sidescan. I have a powerdrive w/i pilot
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: craigm on March 12, 2019, 08:51 PM
I have the a Garmin 94 vs and a New Garmin 93vs plus and am waiting for the Live scope to be shipped , I am also using a HDS9 touch gen2 have run them side by side and  switched to Garmin , Lowrance bought the Garmin tech for Livescope but will not have it for sale until sometime this spring ( been delayed twice maybe  til June ) . Check out a Utube demo of Livescope and it is available now .   
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: sparkchaser on March 13, 2019, 08:15 AM
I have 2 1198 SI's networked to a Terrova trolling motor (all 2013). My screens are perfect size for my boat and do everything I ask of them, which is to find fish. I really utilize all of the features at Powell with the Lakemaster chip. Following the contour lines to some is useless, but at a lake like Powell it is gold. I think i will be adding a Garmin panoptix setup to the front though in the near future.
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: sparkchaser on March 13, 2019, 08:42 AM
One thing I'd like to add is the remote battery sucks. At least for my setup. I've bought plenty of replacements, and cant come up with a solution. I don't get what i think i should out of mine. Which is 10 plus hours on the water
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: OneBlade on March 13, 2019, 03:36 PM
One thing I'd like to add is the remote battery sucks. At least for my setup. I've bought plenty of replacements, and cant come up with a solution. I don't get what i think i should out of mine. Which is 10 plus hours on the water
I agree as well.  I think the original battery in the remote may have performed better but MinnKota doesn't directly sell a replacement battery so you have to purchase one through other sources.  It's unknown how good that external source is for batteries (they could have those batteries sitting for years, which mean they won't perform as well).  I would hope they improved the remote battery life in newer versions of Terrova with iLink/iPilot but not sure.  I think ours are both several years old.  On a busy day mine will still only last 6-8 hours.  It wouldn't be as bad if I had a USB charger in the front of the boat.  And when the remote battery dies and you are on auto-pilot good luck.
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: Fishless on March 14, 2019, 08:37 AM
Ya basically a glorified watch battery, to bad they can't come up with a plug in charging system for the remote with a USB adapter so if your remote starts to fade you could plug it in a charge the lithium battery etc. like on our cell phones. 
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: Tweakjr on March 18, 2019, 10:50 PM
Cousinlll, grab yourself 2 Solix 15 gen2, Ultrex112, ethernet hub, and while you're at it throw in a Garmin LiveScope with a 15" display.
May as well upgrade to LiPo batteries while you're at it!
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: ejcrist on April 03, 2019, 09:11 PM
I've got a Lowrance Hook 5 on my dash at the moment but I'm going to upgrade to a 9"-12" with side scan/down scan/regular when I take the Tracker in for scheduled maintenance at the end of this month. When I do I was planning on moving the 5" up on the bow but the more I've been thinking about it the more I'd rather have at least a 9" up front. The front sonar wouldn't have to be anything fancy since I'd only want to use it in the regular or downscan mode to see what's directly underneath the bow, but I'd prefer it be big enough that I could see details from where I'm standing and running the trolling motor. The dash sonar would only be used to locate structure mostly with the side scan. I've never owned a side scan but they look like they'd really come in handy for identifying structure. I've been looking at the Hook2 and a couple other models Lowrance has but I wouldn't use a lot of the more expensive units' features like mapping and all since the lake levels change so much here I don't think it'd be very useful. Also stuff like Bluetooth and all that - I stow any gear that'll interrupt me while underway so I wouldn't be interested in those features either. I need to look more at some of the other brands like Garmin and Humminbird since they make some great sonars too. I've never used Panoptix or any of the real-time sonars so I don't know if I'd like them or not. I don't want to spend too much time following what's on a screen rather than paying attention to what I'm doing. I already have a hard enough time walking and chewing gum.

Gene
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: sparkchaser on March 01, 2020, 04:27 PM
I just added 1st generation 360 to my Terrova with the Cornfield crappie mount.
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: Art Chamberlin on March 01, 2020, 07:28 PM
Jeff and I built my new mount out of pvc for about ten or twelve bucks and installed on my boat with a Ram Mount. .....Art
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: craigm on March 02, 2020, 07:59 AM
I have the a Garmin 94 vs and a New Garmin 93vs plus and am waiting for the Live scope to be shipped , I am also using a HDS9 touch gen2 have run them side by side and  switched to Garmin , Lowrance bought the Garmin tech for Livescope but will not have it for sale until sometime this spring ( been delayed twice maybe  til June ) . Check out a Utube demo of Livescope and it is available now .
I have added Livescope in March of 2019 now adding prespective using precision sonar mounts and a homemade transducer bracket getting the livescope 8 inches from the trolling motor with Zero interference , We are in the process of installing the same set up on Mountainmans LUND , unbelievable view of your bait ,the fish in real time , now adding prespective a free software update giving you 360 similar to MEGA but in real time full motion . I wish I was 10 years younger to see what is coming next.
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: Art Chamberlin on March 02, 2020, 09:32 AM
I'm a Livescope wannabe but it's tough on a fixed income. I'm working very hard on my old contacts to see if something can be worked out. It is compatable with my Garmin 7" chirp model so I have my fingers crossed! ......Art
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: craigm on March 02, 2020, 11:46 AM
anyone on the fence ,I see that Bass pro has a 10% discount for all online purchases today over $50 , plus 6 months pay on Club card and Garmin has a $200 rebate til 4-12-2020 Mountainman has a7 inch screen livescope looks great on it
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: sparkchaser on April 06, 2020, 10:26 AM
I added a 93SV plus with livescope. Used a fishing specialties pole for the transducer, which connects right to my Alumacraft rail. 360 is great for finding structure and schools of fish. Livescope is on another level of actually seeing the fish live and where your bait is in correlation to each other.
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: craigm on April 06, 2020, 04:25 PM
I added a 93SV plus with livescope. Used a fishing specialties pole for the transducer, which connects right to my Alumacraft rail. 360 is great for finding structure and schools of fish. Livescope is on another level of actually seeing the fish live and where your bait is in correlation to each other.
   do not update it !!!!!! many problems with version 2.20 thru 2.33 if you have 2.10 leave it alone for now , if not you can do a forced update to revert it back to 2.10 see BBC Garmin forum for how to.
Title: Re: New Electronics - Who has what installed
Post by: cgreene on August 11, 2020, 11:42 AM
My boat is a Cobia 240 CC and I just installed a new fish finder. The old one started acting up and my friend said he can fix it so I just gave it to him instead.
SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal