93sv or helix 9 mega si

[daveb990]

Ok guys I'm having some trouble deciding what one to buy for my front deck. I know if I go with the bird I will be losing the ability to network
with the other 93sv chirp I have on my dash. I have heard the hummingbird has a more clear picture and I like the fact it will Bluetooth to my cell phone.
It is a hard decision.

[LWINCHESTER2]

The 93sv's don't network. So going either way means you can't network the units. Networking is not all it's cracked up to be - all brands. Most often networking sonar also means that multiple units have to look through the same transducer. Sitting at the bow and seeing fish at the transom is good information but your 100 ft deep and the fish are 20 ft away you don't get bit. By the time you reel up and pitch back to them they are somewhere else usually.

Also wifi or bluetooth to a cell phone is cute but I doubt if it will mean more fish in the boat.

I'd probably put the mega si on the dash and the 93sv on the bow. Somebody else will have to tell you if you can cross brands and share waypoints with nmea2000. Seems like you should be able to but I've never done it.

[Larry3215]

You can share waypoints between the 93's by connecting the correct two wires in the power cables, but no sonar or charts. You can also setup a NMEA2000 network and share engine data or a heading sensor and any other NMEA2000 devices.

The Humminbird will have much nicer, sharper SI and DI images, but the Garmin wil have a lot more range. The Garmin will beat it hands down on everything else - plus you can add Panoptix :)

[bpNClgmouth]

Is there a tutorial on how to wire the 2 93s to share waypoints?

[Todd Driscoll]

Is there a tutorial on how to wire the 2 93s to share waypoints?

You simply connect blue to brown, brown to blue together on the unit power cables, then make sure data sharing is enabled on both units. Garmin offers this marine-rated wire with protective sheathing to make the connection, but any marine-rated wire will work.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/pn/010-12234-06

[MonteSS]

That Mega side only seems to show like 50' to each side. Then goes black. Nice for pretty screenshots tho

[skid00skid00]

Actually, they are posting alot of pics out to 75 feet. It's odd how the area straight down from the boat is dark, like it is at 75'. I suppose it's got such a narrow angle of coverage.

I posted up some pics last fall of my 93sv out to 600' (not much for returns at that distance, but 300' was good to go).

[puhlw]

Its not like high frequency RF is anything new, been around for years in radio. I assume just like in radio you gain detail and lose power? So the Mega will have reduced range, and may not be able to shoot through dirty water as well? I would think this is more marketing than anything since garmin/lowrance/humminbird all could have done this years ago.

[TroyBoy30]

That Mega side only seems to show like 50' to each side. Then goes black. Nice for pretty screenshots tho

higher freq equals better detail with less range.