Tennessee River Ledge Scanning Lowrance/Humminbird Comparison

[Nate4023]

I have done several searches across this forum and have found a few threads but I was unable to view screen shots and there seemed to be a lot of mixed opinions. I am currently running a Lowrance Gen 2 Touch HDS 9 and have no problem seeing schools of bass on Downscan. I typically don't use Side-Scan near as much because of screen size but do like it for looking for brush and a few other applications. With that in mind I have the opportunity to purchase some new Humminbird units and I'm just looking for some opinions about how good the Downscan on the MEGA units actually is. I have read some things about how when there was not a dedicated crystal for DI that it wasn't great but my understanding is that the new MEGA units have a dedicated crystal. I also have heard that it can be difficult to see bass with the MEGA unit, but didn't know how it would compare to my Lowrance at a lower frequency setting. I made this about the Tennessee River because that's mostly where I am using the units looking for schools and would hate to get in a situation where it is a lot more difficult to find said schools compared to my current set up. I'm not sure if it matters but when talking about Humminbirds, the units in question would most likely be the Helix 10 MEGA SI, with the possibility of that being a 12 if I just got one.



Thanks in Advance,
Nathan

[tweakjr]

I struggle to spot fish on SI/DI/360.
Been playing around with switching frequencies, seems to show more with 455k or 800k HZ.
Structure looks amazing using MEGA.
Need more practice I reckon.

[Schins]

All Mega transducers have a dedicated downscan element.

You should get better images with it than the Lowrance.

Lowrance and Hum can both record images so you can examine them better after loding on a PC. If you spot fish on structure in the recordings, go back to it and fish it.

[ntslam]

The mega units still have very good images with 455 and 800 frequencies that can also be chirped. The 455/800 frequencies are used for searching due to larger coverage area. The mega frequency is best used for getting better detail on certain structure and looking within that structure and not so much as searching and finding.

[Jww]

My mega units are great for looking long distances but show no detail on structure and certainly not within the structure. 455 is the only way I can see any structure, and it's not anything to get excited about. Seems mine works opposite from everybody else.

[Schins]

[Wallace]

I came from lowrance , I think the imaging is just as good if not better in some respects . With that said 455 will show great range but not much detail. I use mine for bait searching and finding fish. The mega is the best of course for detail. I’ll sweep back around with it to get a really good look. I did discover after reading another post to play with the chirp and discovered for me I can see fish the best if I turn off the chirp. I did notice that the detail is not quite as nice but I can see fish in all frequencies . I wish I knew why but it works for me with di and si

[Doc Samson]

I have found the 455 on my MEGA models is much better for seeing fish on DI.

[pfisher]

From someone that has owned G, L and HB in the last couple of years and fishes the TN ledges.

Garmin ........ sucks for si and di. I kept one for panoptix after I got the G3 L units and ran them together on the console for some time. There is ZERO comparison. L doesn't just blow it out of the water, it's more like dropping a nuke on it.

Lowrance....... good unit but the range in SI is very limited. I like some of the features more than my Solix though and wish HB would integrate some of them (more specifically waypoint management). Just hope it doesn't break. It took three months to get one back.

Humminbird ........ best si by a mile! I can scan at 150-200 feet on 455 and see stumps out to 150 easily. Mega is a fish finding machine to say the least. As Doc stated above the 455 is better on the di it seems. A buddy runs 2 Helix 10's on his console and they are very, very close to my solix.

I also had an issue with one of my solix. My installer called HB, they overnighted him a replacement and I was back on the water. Good luck with G or L doing that.

FWIW I would consider myself an above average user. I would have said way above average but I went out with my installer for training and he had my head spinning ....... LOL

[tweakjr]

Pfisher, do you leave chirp turned off to see fish on DI/SI better?

[pfisher]

Pfisher, do you leave chirp turned off to see fish on DI/SI better?

I haven't changed anything with the chirp. I may give it a shot on Di but the Si is very good like it is.

[Nate4023]

Thanks for all of the replies! So For those that have ran both humminbird and Lowrance do you see it being worth it to keep my HDS 9 and run that paired with a Helix 10 MEGA SI at the console or would I be better off just going dual Helix 10's? I'm just considering mapping and mega SI on the Helix and then strictly DI or DI and 2D on the Lowrance.

[pfisher]

Thanks for all of the replies! So For those that have ran both humminbird and Lowrance do you see it being worth it to keep my HDS 9 and run that paired with a Helix 10 MEGA SI at the console or would I be better off just going dual Helix 10's? I'm just considering mapping and mega SI on the Helix and then strictly DI or DI and 2D on the Lowrance.

A guy I know does just what you are thinking about. He didn't want to spend the bucks for everything so added an H10 beside his G3 12. I'll point him to this thread as he is on here but not often. He may not respond but he seems fine with it. He added the mega when they first came out.

[TroyBoy30]

Lowrance....... good unit but the range in SI is very limited.

add the 3d box and transducer and you'll get your range and clarity

[pfisher]

add the 3d box and transducer and you'll get your range and clarity

This was with the 3d box. It was better than the lss2 but not even close to the HB.

[sfw1960]

This was with the 3d box. It was better than the lss2 but not even close to the HB.

Not the 1st time I have seen posted the 3D isn't that great (being kind from the words they used....lol).

[ntslam]

Not the 1st time I have seen posted the 3D isn't that great (being kind from the words they used....lol).

Yep, and that's a lot of extra money to spend compared to the quality of what you get out of the box with the Bird units with ONE transducer

[Nate4023]

Looks like for now I am going to keep the HDS 9 at the console and buy two helix 10s. Just making sure I'm getting everything I need, I have: Helix 10 Chirp SI GPS G2N (410120-1), Helix 10 Chirp MDI GPS G2N (410510-1), 15' ethernet cable, 2 of the adapters, and a trolling motor mount for the front mega DI transducer. I'll be buying the mounts and lakemaster cards separate.

And then as far as running both the lowrance and humminbird, I'm assuming it will just be a matter of running on different frequencies to avoid crosstalk?

Thanks,
Nathan

[Wayne P.]

Looks like for now I am going to keep the HDS 9 at the console and buy two helix 10s. Just making sure I'm getting everything I need, I have: Helix 10 Chirp SI GPS G2N (410120-1), Helix 10 Chirp MDI GPS G2N (410510-1), 15' ethernet cable, 2 of the adapters, and a trolling motor mount for the front mega DI transducer. I'll be buying the mounts and lakemaster cards separate.

And then as far as running both the lowrance and humminbird, I'm assuming it will just be a matter of running on different frequencies to avoid crosstalk?

Thanks,
Nathan

The HELIX SI unit broadcasts on 200 kHz 2D no matter which frequency you choose to view. If the Lowrance can be set to just broadcast 83 kHz then you would be OK.

[TroyBoy30]

Yep, and that's a lot of extra money to spend compared to the quality of what you get out of the box with the Bird units with ONE transducer

3d is 1 transducer as well