Humminbird HELIX 9, 10, 12, & 15 Information Reource

[M4A1]

So if I put the 12 on the front of the boat i could connect the DI transducer to it then place the 10 at the console with the si transducer connected to it and they could share via the ethernet connection? Just want to make sure I am following you correctly. Would I need both units powered on at all times for this to occur? Thanks a lot for answering my questions. So really the only difference in the 12 si vs the di is the transducer?

No. You will need to connect the DI transducer to the DI unit.

[Chadx]

...and the SI transducer must go to the SI unit. So you can have the 12 SI at the bow and the SI at the stern, but just need to run the SI transducer all the way up to the 12 SI unit (which may require a cable extension). And the 10 DI at the console with the DI transducer on the electric bow-mount motor run back to it. If you network the two, you will be able to see the SI view on both units.

Keep in mind your SI transducer also does DI so if networked, you'll be able to pull DI from either transducer to either head unit. Also keep in mind that running the screen at one end of the boat and the transducer at the other will have the GPS waypoints, for specific structure, offset by the length of your boat. So on a 20' boat, if you are going north and mark a stump from the 12 SI screen at the front of the boat and the SI transducer is at the rear, the mark will be 20' offset, meaning if you turn around and go south, when your GPS in the 12 SI unit at the front of your boat says you are again over the stump, the front of your boat will still be 20' away from it and you'll be 40' away before your transducer, at the back of the boat, picks it up again. Long way of saying it's typically ideal to have your transducer directly under the unit. Or at least be aware of the offset our you'll be frustrated looking for very small objects or exact weedlines, etc. The way around that is only mark waypoints for specific objects when viewing an image from the transducer closest to the unit you are marking. So in the case of your 12 SI on the bow, use the networked DI transducer that is at the bow when marking objects from your 12 SI.

[chass75]

Thanks for the info guys, i think for simplicity sake i am just going to stick the 12 at the console with the si transducer on my backplate and the 10DI on the front with the DI transducer on the trolling motor and network the units together. That way I can have SI on the front with networking.

[LuckyCharm]

So after looking at a lot of setups, I came across this external transducer cable bracket by precision sonar which should make using an external SI DI transducer possible on the Ulterra TM: http://precisionsonar.com/wp-content...cableguard.mp4
Will I still need to connect the Ulterra's built in US2 for the 360 to work or show depth? If so will a Y adaptor suffice?
Is there any reason this won't work? Or am I not gaining anything more than I would with sonar US2 and 360? I should get Mega imaging on the bow right?
Obviously I will get an SI Helix unit on the bow instead of the previously planned Chirp only if there is an advantage adding the external SI DI transducer.

Thanks for your wealth of knowledge

A SI, a DI, and a Sonar unit will support the 360. The 360 can be used to create SI on the DI and Sonar models.

The 360 will not produce an image as sharp as a SI unit with a HDSI or MSI transducer since the 360 imaging crystals are shorter.

You cannot get DI by using a 360, that was discontinued when the MEGA units were introduced.

Some are using a Sonar model with the US2 and getting SI from the 360 if they want that view.

[BigMouth]

So after looking at a lot of setups, I came across this external transducer cable bracket by precision sonar which should make using an SI transducer possible on the Ulterra TM: http://precisionsonar.com/wp-content...cableguard.mp4
Will I still need to connect the Ulterra's built in US2 for the 360 to work or show depth? If so will a Y adaptor suffice?
Is there any reason this won't work?
Obviously I will get an SI Helix unit on the bow instead of the previously planned Chirp only.

Thanks for your wealth of knowledge

I have the exact setup you do, Ulterra, US2 (I do not hook this transducer up) the precisionsonar cable saver and the Transom Shield and Saver mount. First impressions are . However, I have not taken the precision sonar cable saver out onto the water yet. If you watch the video carefully you will notice that the Ulterra is manually stopped each time it rotates more than one time. I have manually tried more than several rotations and the tension causes the motor to stop and reset but I would like to wait and get on the water so that I can try it in 'spot-lock' mode before giving this 'cable-saver' my seal of approval.

[LuckyCharm]

That is exactly what I was wondering, when in spotlock the tm can do multiple 360's.
I hope it works, would be a game changer!

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=797099

I have the exact setup you do, Ulterra, US2 (I do not hook this transducer up) the precisionsonar cable saver and the Transom Shield and Saver mount. First impressions are . However, I have not taken the precision sonar cable saver out onto the water yet. If you watch the video carefully you will notice that the Ulterra is manually stopped each time it rotates more than one time. I have manually tried more than several rotations and the tension causes the motor to stop and reset but I would like to wait and get on the water so that I can try it in 'spot-lock' mode before giving this 'cable-saver' my seal of approval.

[Wayne P.]

So after looking at a lot of setups, I came across this external transducer cable bracket by precision sonar which should make using an SI transducer possible on the Ulterra TM: http://precisionsonar.com/wp-content...cableguard.mp4
Will I still need to connect the Ulterra's built in US2 for the 360 to work or show depth? If so will a Y adaptor suffice?
Is there any reason this won't work? Or am I not gaining anything more than I would with sonar US2 and 360? I should get Mega imaging on the bow right?
Obviously I will get an SI Helix unit on the bow instead of the previously planned Chirp only if there is an advantage adding the external SI DI transducer.

Thanks for your wealth of knowledge

MEGA Imaging is 1.2 MKz for Side Imaging and Down Imaging.


For the bow:
The 360 uses 455 kHz. You need a 2D source for the Depth readout--- don't have to have a depth readout, but you won't have any 2D sonar or depth readout without a source. You can share that from the console unit.
The 360 no longer provides a DI view, just SI or 360.
The US2 is a 2D sonar transducer that does 83/200 kHz or its CHIRP ranges.
No MEGA anything with the above.

You can share all sonar data from a MEGA SI console unit to the bow unit if you want including MEGA if the bow unit is a G2N.

If you want MEGA at the bow from the bow, you need a MEGA SI transducer on the trolling motor. You will get 2D, DI, SI and temp from that transducer.

[LuckyCharm]

Sounds good. I do want Mega at the bow from the bow, more so for Crappie fishing. I spend my entire day up there actually. So depth reading will be a must up there. Doesn't matter quite as much if the depth reading comes from the consoles transducer on the back of the boat, but having Mega and SI at the front where I'm actually fishing would be awesome.
Would a Y adaptor joining the Ulterra's US2 sonar and the external Mega SI solve this? Or would that create interference?

MEGA Imaging is 1.2 MKz for Side Imaging and Down Imaging.


For the bow:
The 360 uses 455 kHz. You need a 2D source for the Depth readout--- don't have to have a depth readout, but you won't have any 2D sonar or depth readout without a source. You can share that from the console unit.
The 360 no longer provides a DI view, just SI or 360.
The US2 is a 2D sonar transducer that does 83/200 kHz or its CHIRP ranges.
No MEGA anything with the above.

You can share all sonar data from a MEGA SI console unit to the bow unit if you want including MEGA if the bow unit is a G2N.

If you want MEGA at the bow from the bow, you need a MEGA SI transducer on the trolling motor. You will get 2D, DI, SI and temp from that transducer.

[LuckyCharm]

PS, both units will be G2N GPS and Ethernet networked including the transom mounted 360.

[LuckyCharm]

This is what I was originally going with.

Will this setup work well in combination or as described below, or would changing up one of the units give me any better advantage?
Id go for another SI on the bow if I were using a manually deployed trolling motor, but the self deploy/stow feature is something I don't really want to compromise on so that only leaves me sonar through the Ulterra's own built in transducer. Will be installing on a new G3 tin boat.
Im new to all this so obviously figuring out what works best or at all with what isn't quite so easy.


24v 80lb Ulterra with Ipilot Link.
Humminbird transom mount 360* transducer (which should work in tandem with the trolling motors own sonar only transducer).
Two Humminbird Helix 10 G2N GPS units (one MEGA SI at the console and one CHIRP at the bow) networked together with all three transducers on the boat should give the ability to see regular sonar, DI, SI, MEGA, CHIRP and 360* and maps/lake master from either of the Helix units, and split screen ability of most image types simultaneously.

[nematode]

Hi all,


I have combed through this thread and it looks to me you lads are quite knowledgable about sonars and 360 imaging.


I wonder if you could help me. My questions are rather simple, yet I could not find answers to them.


Probably because I am daft.


Anyway, I would really appreciate if you could help me with:


1. Do Helix units have internal (less accurate) GPS or AS GPS HS must be purchased?


2. Could GPS be switched off if needed be - to reduce power draw (if one is not that much concerned about their position)?


3. Can Helix CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G2N be set-up to be like CHIRP GPS G2N (e.g. frequency reduced, SI off, all the bells and whistles switched off)
and would this reduce power consumption to be similar to that of CHIRP GPS G2N ?


4. AS360TM works when boat is stationary (0 speed), as transducer head rotates. So it doesn't need trolling motor powered up at all?
I guess it would work perfectly well without trolling motor installed?


5. What is the depth that 360 imaging can work down to?
For example, if radius of area covered around a boat is 150ft, to what depth the transducer will make sense in that area?
100ft? 150ft?
I have seen some of you were using 360 imaging in 10-15ft of water (150ft around a boat) - what is the other depth limit one can go to?


6. As with any Ethernet standard connection, AS360TM can be directly connected to Helix unit (via adapter AS EC QDE), rather than having to go via AS ETH 5PXG switch?
(I think I have found an answer to this one already in the thread, but it would be nice to confirm)


I would not want to impose on you wasting too much time on long explanations - short answers would be more than enough for me.
Question 3. is not that critical, as I assume it can be a bit of "educated guesswork".
Much obliged.

[Wayne P.]

1. Yes, internal. The AS GPS HS is an optional accessory and is included with the purchase of a 360.

2. No

3. Yes, you can use the unit as a 2D unit with a menu setting.

4. The 360 head does not rotate, the crystals inside of the pod rotate. You don't need a trolling motor to use it. There is a transom version and some make a mount that does not involve a trolling motor for a bow 360.

5. 150' depth and radius

6. The 360 is an Ethernet accessory, it connects directly to the unit Ethernet port with the AS EC QDE Ethernet adapter. The 360 comes with a 20' Ethernet cable. If more that just the display and 360 is wanted for sharing data, that takes the AS ETH 5PXG Ethernet switch.

[nematode]

Wow! That was superb reply mate! And very quick!
I have to admit Humminbird customer support was not nearly as helpful.
Thank you very much!!!

[sfw1960]

Maybe most of the HB support staff probably doesn't use the products themselves or at least not to the level of the way we do, and some of the cats here are able to spread their experience and knowledge freely helping others....

Because they CAN.

[Kodiak16]

Have a 9 SI GPS just purchased about a month ago and upgraded to the HDSI transducer. It is mounted to my Terrova 80 24v w universal sonar. I did the cable in the shaft to run the cable up then installed the cable in the coil cord for better cable control. I got interference only in the SI views. So I moved the cable out of the coil cord and routed it away from the motor as best as possible and coiled the extra cord in a figure 8 pattern. Still get the interference in SI. THe fuse in the Terrova is fine connections clean and tight. Disconnected the 3 bank charger from the starting battery because my locator is wired to the starting battery and I thought the charger could be bleeding the interference thru. All other views do not have the interference. As soon as I stop the motor the interference goes away and the amazing SI view is clear.
HELP!

[sfw1960]

You should contact HB C/C and see what they advise.

Usually they will send you a ferrite ring to install at the plug end of the XDCR you pass the cable thru 6-7 passes and it usually helps.

[SoonerFan]

While we're on the subject of interference, could we talk about what effects the Noise Filter does?

Low, Medium, or High?

Does it affect all screens, SI and DI, or just 2D?

Does it deteriorate the images?

[sfw1960]

I try not to use it, but AFAIK - and Wayne may be able to confirm, only affects the 2D.

Any filtering reduces signals in one way or the other.

[Wayne P.]

I try not to use it, but AFAIK - and Wayne may be able to confirm, only affects the 2D.

Any filtering reduces signals in one way or the other.

Correct.

[SoonerFan]

I try not to use it, but AFAIK - and Wayne may be able to confirm, only affects the 2D.

Any filtering reduces signals in one way or the other.

That's what I figured. I'm a the starting line of tracking down some TM interference. I knew it couldn't be that easy.