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  1. #1
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    GT54-UHD SideVü in the salt

    My testing of Garmin 8410xsv (8610xsv) and GT54-UHD is coming to an end, but yesterday I took a short trip out to look at a wreck in the fjord. Saltwater, depth and range in METERS (multiply by three to get feet).















    As most brands, Garmins has zoom-functionality on their SideVü. Here you see a gaping hole in the deck of the trawler from where a winch used to be. This has fallen through the now rotten deck.


    And a school of baitfish to round it off:


    Conditions where windy, and there was quite a bit of murky freshwater from a nearby river on top of the saltwater. On my way to the spot with the wreck I got the chance to play icebreaker as well.


    The same wreck (in slightly better conditions, less wind) with Lowrance can be seen here:
    http://teamcolibri.blogspot.com/2016...oslofjord.html

  2. Member
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    #2
    Another example of very useable imaging by Garmin, but not quite at Lowrance (in this case) quality.

  3. Lowrance/Garmin/GPS Moderator fishin couillon's Avatar
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    #3
    So why is the "testing " coming to an end? Not using Garmin anymore?

    Some pretty decent pics.
    YOU are not entitled to what I have earned!!!!!

    2014 Phoenix 619 Pro / 2014 Mercury 200 Pro XS

  4. Charger Boats Moderator TOUCH OF CLASS's Avatar
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    #4
    Yes it’s usable but where is the detail as that’s the uhd unit it should be clear.

  5. Member
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    #5
    Quote Originally Posted by fishin couillon View Post
    So why is the "testing " coming to an end? Not using Garmin anymore?

    Some pretty decent pics.
    All good things comes to an end, and I send it all back to Garmin in a couple of weeks as the test-period ends in May.

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    #6
    Quote Originally Posted by TOUCH OF CLASS View Post
    Yes it’s usable but where is the detail as that’s the uhd unit it should be clear.
    You really only get the UHD-effect in high-chirp, and that is not applicable in conditions like these.

    Here is the same equipment in shallow freshwater and good conditions, look at the details on the pipeline.

  7. Charger Boats Moderator TOUCH OF CLASS's Avatar
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    #7
    We have sewer pipes that run under our lake and they look a lot like this and even on my 93 and 1042 and 1242 all look about the same so no real difference in a 1000 dollar unit to a 4000 dollar unit on sidescan .Iam just trying to figure out why one would by the 8600 over a 1042/1242 as it’s not any real difference in the pics .Yes you get a lot more features for plugging stuff in but a bass /walleye/crappie freshwater guy really only needs a Ultra or 12 series and a 93 uhd and pocket the savings.Bird doesn’t have these super high resolution screens and gets great returns.I played with the ultra and 8610 at the store and the ultra has a bigger 12 inch screen and is just as clear for 2000 less.Both are very usable but one is definitely over kill price for a bass guy.

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    #8
    What one «needs», and what one «wants», are rarely the same things my friend. ;)
    For 98% out there, this units is overkill.

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    #9
    Wow, those look really nice. The lowrance pics in the link are even better.
    Did you need to crank up the brightness on the garmin to get those returns?
    There seems to be a lot more contrast to the lowrance images.
    Did you notice an improvement in image quality @455khz after the latest update?

  10. Member
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    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by SamMule View Post
    Wow, those look really nice. The lowrance pics in the link are even better.
    Did you need to crank up the brightness on the garmin to get those returns?
    There seems to be a lot more contrast to the lowrance images.
    Did you notice an improvement in image quality @455khz after the latest update?
    The first ones are with slightly increased contrast, the rest are with standard/ auto. If I increase it, it only starts to blurr out the details.
    The Low-pics in the link are from a Gen 2, todays palettes are a bit more "relaxed". But i actually liked the Gen 2s a lot, in my eyes it was easier to spot fish before.
    No, I can`t say I have noticed any change.

  11. Charger Boats Moderator TOUCH OF CLASS's Avatar
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    #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Team Colibri View Post
    What one «needs», and what one «wants», are rarely the same things my friend. ;)
    For 98% out there, this units is overkill.
    I understand,but guys are wondering if the 8600 is a better side and it’s not .The garmin reps told me this also at the show .

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    #12
    Managed to get one more trip in before returning tne goodies. Still saltwater, still depth in meters, but close to perfect conditions today. Not the same wreck, this one is in a steep slope.




    1. The wreck itself, this time an old lighthouse-boat from before the current lighthouse was buildt. Since it is in a slope (deeper to port) you can see it has more contrast on the front and gets darker towards the back.
    2. The base of the lighhouse.
    3. Shadow from the lighhouse.
    4. Unclear due to me turning.




    To much contrast in this one, hard to get it just right due to the slope.



  13. Member
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    #13
    Ok, I hope this doesnt come off as just being critical. I still like and have Garmins.

    But these pics illustrate what i think is the inferior issue with Garmin's imaging....lack of detail in the water column.

    The bottom detail looks good, right? But its so hard to make out anything in the water column from top to bottom unless you crank up brightness real high. This is where other brands imaging is superior IMO

  14. Charger Boats Moderator TOUCH OF CLASS's Avatar
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    #14
    Yes the hard return of detail is kinda weird,I have posted some pics of hard items and it seems almost like they are transparent not much detail.Yes you can make it out but that’s about it.I really like my garmins for the simplicity of use they have and the link and maps.But you would think they could come out with a new sidescan that would up the game somewhat.

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    #15
    In my opinion SideVü is good enough and does what I need.
    What I miss is better DownVü. I have yet to get a really stunning DownVü-screenshot (and I have tried). Keep in mind this is a GT-transducer with a "proper" DownVü-element, not a CV-transducer that causes the unit to use software-generated DownVü based on SideVü.
    What I really like is the adjustable scrollspeed, also the auto-adjusting works well (with a slight offset) and you see it adjusting as the speed of the boat changes. I don`t like the auto-contrast, it adapts to changes in depth to slow. I also like how the SideVü is not compressed as much as on Lowrance.

  16. Member
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    #16
    this was my very best down shot, of dozens, from the 54. Its a screenshot from Homeport.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  17. Member
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    #17
    hey, how is better to find fish and school, 10m max 30meters, gt54 or gt52 or gt51?
    Last edited by krusty; 08-21-2020 at 10:58 AM.

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    #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Chief Brody View Post
    But these pics illustrate what i think is the inferior issue with Garmin's imaging....lack of detail in the water column.
    Lowrance is the same way with the active imaging transducers. Latest software update helped some but still not what it was before

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    #19
    The GT56 combined with the 8400/8600 GPSMap series puts Garmin at least on par with sidescan of Solix. Do Humminbird still require constant change of gain manually ? I know Garmin's auto gain settings are very useful.

    Cheers

    PS. I find contrast ramped up and brightness on auto med or auto low (but higher in deep water) gives inky black fish shadows