Doesn’t anyone care about SI/ClearVu any more

[DonnieG]

Any images with new software?

[grout-scout]

Hello sir, I’m still in 2015 with my graphs and SI. I’m thinking real hard about this livescope at the TM. Tell me your thoughts with it, I know you’ll only speak the truth.

[MikeF]

Sure do.

Use the SI/DI all the time.

But I kind of use them as broad radar and use the Livescope sytem as the missile target lock.

[DonnieG]

G-S, good to see you are still hanging in there. I will PM you this evening.

[TOUCH OF CLASS]

Was out with my buddies helix he has 2 10 saw fish as we do on the garmin,but with no livescope it did not help us much.Its amazing what scope does for seeing fish and catching them

[fishin couillon]

Donnie, here are a few i got from yesterday....earlier in the morning i reset sonar defaults and didnt change any settings....93+ w/GT54...

[DonnieG]

Thanks Jeremy, those are some great images. I got a couple of good images Wednesday but decided not to post them. Doesn’t seem to have much interest on this board.
Also, seems like the Default settings are very good.
Thanks again

[puhlw]

One thing you will learn right away With livescope/panoptix is how spooked fish are by the boat, especially in clear water. If you Cruising with you outboard and relying on 2D or DI you are missing a lot of fish. Deeper water and certain species are less of an issue but unless you see them on panoptix before the boat gets there how would you know if they scattered from the boat or were just never there?

Depends on conditions but been trying to rely more on SI and livescope.

[DonnieG]

One thing you will learn right away With livescope/panoptix is how spooked fish are by the boat, especially in clear water. If you Cruising with you outboard and relying on 2D or DI you are missing a lot of fish. Deeper water and certain species are less of an issue but unless you see them on panoptix before the boat gets there how would you know if they scattered from the boat or were just never there?

Depends on conditions but been trying to rely more on SI and livescope.

puhlw, I am an old school fisherman with all updated stuff. I have an all Garmin Network with (2) 122 sv sets, Livescope & 19X external antenna.. I still like and use my 2D/SI/Clearvu a lot....Of course, I also use Livescope at times..The attached image is a floating dock that I scanned..As you can see, there was a lot of fish under this dock. Also on the Left side there was a nice brush pile holding fish. I turned my boat around, hit spot lock and caught fish from under the dock and also caught them holding on the brush...The Garmin SI/DI got a lot better after a recent update. I caught several fish at this location without deploying my Livescope..These fish didn't run...

[brettw]

I had gt54 on tm and transom.
I never got happy with it.
Its on Ebay right now

[rschweissguth]

I thought I was going to upgrade to livescope but decided to go backwards and going to sell my fairly new Garmin units and replace with humminbird. I want the better SI/DI to scan around the docks to locate brush piles.

[Hooked247]

I’m with Donnie. I absolutely use 2D, SI, and CV to find fish regardless of their location, and I use my Livescope as my zoom feature.

[served_usmc]

I just picked up my dual 93SV setup early last year and it's the most "advanced" tech I've ever had. I use it quite a bit and will be using it even more as I do more research and learn the setup better.

I definitely need to fine tune the image quality and do some troubleshooting as Im getting some interference on the one mounted to the dash but even with it working at less than optimal performance Im happy with it.

I did all the software updates before I left and didn't really see any noticeable change from what I'm able to recall about using it on the same lake last year before the update

[Hooked247]

I thought I was going to upgrade to livescope but decided to go backwards and going to sell my fairly new Garmin units and replace with humminbird. I want the better SI/DI to scan around the docks to locate brush piles.

Not sure what Garmin units you have experience with, but after many years with Humminbird I sold my complete Humminbird setup for Garmin, and I should have done it sooner. I was running 3 Solix Mega SI 12’s. Had both first and second generation units, and finally gave up. Humminbird units are great quality, they have good customer service, but their software has way too many issues. You may want to look around the Humminbird boards and give it some more thought. One of the issues I had with the first generation Solix unit, still remains to be fixed - 3+ years later. They will fix one issue and it creates others. I was initially told by Humminbird because the Solix units draw so much power, my wire gauge was too small. I politely told them to fix there manual then because I was running heavier gauge wire than what was recommended. Told me to drop to 10 gauge, so I rewired my entire electronics setup. First tournament out, bam same issues. Then tried to say I need to update my software....... I had the most current software. Every time I called it was either a power source issue or software issue. I ended up rewiring my boat three times and it still didn’t fix the issues. I run 4 gauge power and ground (overkill) from the battery straight to a dedicated fuse box just for my electronics, and 8 gauge to each unit. Still blamed my power source. I purchased an Odyssey battery, no difference. I would run just one unit, same problems after 4 - 5 hours of use. Blamed power source and software again. I was chasing software updates at this point. I told them outside of pulling a small power station on a John Boat behind me this was wrong and it’s a software problem. Nope it’s your power source. Gave me a good reason to go lithium. My lithium setup runs 13.4 volts all day long and I can turn on 4 units, livewells, everything and leave it all on, still 13.4 volts after 8 - 10 hours of fishing. Said it was a power source issue (insert laughing hysterically here) Many of my buddies, same problems. Bottom line I spent a lot of money for no reason to figure out their problem. I was left blind fishing way too much. I now run 4 Garmin 12” Ultra’s, and Livescope, I can keep them all on, livewells aeration, recirc, hydrowave and not one single issue - 13.4 volts at the end of the day, sound familiar. Only thing I do is put one unit on the bow in standby mode if I’m running my Livescope to prevent the two transducers from interfering with each other.

If your concern is “picture quality” everyone is caught up on “Mega Imaging.” It runs up to 1200mhz, and has the zoom feature. Garmin’s “Ultra High Definition” runs up to 1200mhz and has the zoom feature as well!!! If your running a Garmin unit that fully supports the UHD technology, and you have the hardware installed correctly with correct software settings based on the water conditions you will be hard pressed to see much difference. I’ve owned and used both. Garmin’s processors blow Humminbirds out of the water. No glitching, and fast! Touchscreen has no comparison either. On my Ultras as fast as I touch an option it immediately changes. Humminbird has some solid (awful) hang time. You will touch the screen and I often had several second lag times if not locking up. Absolutely drove me nuts when driving and trying to move your mapping. I missed out on a lot of fishing from messing with glitchy units on the water.

So after writing this book, you may want to peruse the Humminbird pages. I’m not sponsored by anyone and my intent is not to bash any brand, just give honest feedback. So many have issues with the Solix units but will not admit it because of brand loyalty. I get it, but I stopped buying it. I’m VERY happy with my Garmin setup. Only thing I haven’t converted to is the Force trolling motor. Best of luck to you.

[rschweissguth]

I have the GCV20 sonar box and GT34UHD and the best image I can get with it is still worse than my lowrance HDS gen 2. My units are the 1242xsv and 942xs. If you have any advice on how to improve the image I am all open to suggestions. Besides the SI/DI quality I am extremely happy with Garmin.

[rschweissguth]

The only settings I have been able to find is the brightness and contrast. Is there something else I need to look at adjusting? It also has the latest updates.

Not sure what Garmin units you have experience with, but after many years with Humminbird I sold my complete Humminbird setup for Garmin, and I should have done it sooner. I was running 3 Solix Mega SI 12’s. Had both first and second generation units, and finally gave up. Humminbird units are great quality, they have good customer service, but their software has way too many issues. You may want to look around the Humminbird boards and give it some more thought. One of the issues I had with the first generation Solix unit, still remains to be fixed - 3+ years later. They will fix one issue and it creates others. I was initially told by Humminbird because the Solix units draw so much power, my wire gauge was too small. I politely told them to fix there manual then because I was running heavier gauge wire than what was recommended. Told me to drop to 10 gauge, so I rewired my entire electronics setup. First tournament out, bam same issues. Then tried to say I need to update my software....... I had the most current software. Every time I called it was either a power source issue or software issue. I ended up rewiring my boat three times and it still didn’t fix the issues. I run 4 gauge power and ground (overkill) from the battery straight to a dedicated fuse box just for my electronics, and 8 gauge to each unit. Still blamed my power source. I purchased an Odyssey battery, no difference. I would run just one unit, same problems after 4 - 5 hours of use. Blamed power source and software again. I was chasing software updates at this point. I told them outside of pulling a small power station on a John Boat behind me this was wrong and it’s a software problem. Nope it’s your power source. Gave me a good reason to go lithium. My lithium setup runs 13.4 volts all day long and I can turn on 4 units, livewells, everything and leave it all on, still 13.4 volts after 8 - 10 hours of fishing. Said it was a power source issue (insert laughing hysterically here) Many of my buddies, same problems. Bottom line I spent a lot of money for no reason to figure out their problem. I was left blind fishing way too much. I now run 4 Garmin 12” Ultra’s, and Livescope, I can keep them all on, livewells aeration, recirc, hydrowave and not one single issue - 13.4 volts at the end of the day, sound familiar. Only thing I do is put one unit on the bow in standby mode if I’m running my Livescope to prevent the two transducers from interfering with each other.

If your concern is “picture quality” everyone is caught up on “Mega Imaging.” It runs up to 1200mhz, and has the zoom feature. Garmin’s “Ultra High Definition” runs up to 1200mhz and has the zoom feature as well!!! If your running a Garmin unit that fully supports the UHD technology, and you have the hardware installed correctly with correct software settings based on the water conditions you will be hard pressed to see much difference. I’ve owned and used both. Garmin’s processors blow Humminbirds out of the water. No glitching, and fast! Touchscreen has no comparison either. On my Ultras as fast as I touch an option it immediately changes. Humminbird has some solid (awful) hang time. You will touch the screen and I often had several second lag times if not locking up. Absolutely drove me nuts when driving and trying to move your mapping. I missed out on a lot of fishing from messing with glitchy units on the water.

So after writing this book, you may want to peruse the Humminbird pages. I’m not sponsored by anyone and my intent is not to bash any brand, just give honest feedback. So many have issues with the Solix units but will not admit it because of brand loyalty. I get it, but I stopped buying it. I’m VERY happy with my Garmin setup. Only thing I haven’t converted to is the Force trolling motor. Best of luck to you.

[Gc7716]

Wish I could figure out to post pictures from my phone...recently started running the GT34 on the transom and am very satisfied with picture quality...my only complaint is range with the GT34...remember try to keep boat speed the same or close to scroll speed and that should clear up your images quite a bit.

[Titansfan2104]

The garmin maps absolutely suck. My navionics app has better contouring as well as shading!!