DI or SI at your trolling motor?

[jnaumuk]

Hey Guys,

Looking to buy a new Helix 10 and was wondering how often you use side imaging at the bow if you have it? It's $400 difference between the 2 units and didn't want to spend $400 on something that would rarely get used.

Thanks,
Jason

[Wayne P.]

I used SI at the bow all the time until I got a 360. Now I use which one gives me the data I want when I want it. I don't use DI at all for fishing, just demo screen shots.

It depends on where and how you fish if SI would be a benefit.

[TroyBoy30]

I’ve got si on the bow but never use it. I’m thinking of switching to the new true chirp di transducer now that the solix supports it

[jnaumuk]

2 different opinions, anybody else?

[Shakey Head1]

Same as Wayne I have both.

[Whistler]

I always use SI at the bow unless I'm fishing vertically.

[Ohio Archer]

Both my Helix 7 and 999 have SI and I have had both on the bow/TM (currently the 999 resides there). I use SI all the time up front. Takes a little while to get used to reading it since the TM turns but it is an invaluable tool.

[A Wood]

Do side imaging for both front and back.

[Lape0019]

I put a DI on the bow. Haven’t used it yet but figured I could share the transducer from the back if I really wanted. Now, I buddy of mine has SInfront and back and he uses it a lot. It was pretty cool while I was looking at the back screen and him at the front screen, we could pinpoint the beginning and end of structure by communicating.

[tweakjr]

Are there no crosstalk problems when using SI/DI from both bow and stern transducers simultaneously?

Mega SI/DI and 360 don't play nice together even though they are on different frequencies, although not on different ends of the boat (mine are both transom mounted.)

[SoonerFan]

I use SI on my trolling motor all the time. Be forewarned , the movement of the trolling motor does distort the image from just a slight line when you do a slight direction change to totally unreadable when on Spot Lock on the Ultrex. I use it mostly for scouting for large rock outcropping and points. Then when I get serious about finding fish I go to 2D or a combo screen. I find I hardly ever use DI.

[Wayne P.]

Are there no crosstalk problems when using SI/DI from both bow and stern transducers simultaneously?

Mega SI/DI and 360 don't play nice together even though they are on different frequencies, although not on different ends of the boat (mine are both transom mounted.)

SI/DI don't cross-talk as much as 2D sonar. They can only cross-talk if you turn the trolling motor 90 degrees so the front Imaging pulses can overlap the rear Imaging pulses.

[Genec]

AS ALREADY SAID,DEPENDS ON TYPE OF FISHING ONE DOES,I CRAPPIE FISH AND MOST OF THE TIME IN BRUSHPILES OR BLUFF OR ROCK PILES.I HAD SI ON FRONT BUT IT WOULD NOT DO THE JOB I WANTED IT TO DO AND DID NOT HAVE TRUE DI SO I GIVE IT TO MY GRANDSON A 998,WENT TO TRUE DI,I CAN SEE FISH IN BP THAT YOU CAN NOT SEE WITH 2D OR SI AND CLOSE TO PILES THAT 2D NOR SI WILL SHOW EASY,BUT IN COLD WEATHER FISHING BLUFF OR ROCKS THAT DROP FAST AND FISH ARE ON THE DROP NO 2D WILL PICK THEM UP AND SI IS STRONGER TO THE SIDES MAKING IT HARD TO SEE ALSO.MANY ARE SAYING THAT WHILE SETTING STILL OVER BP WITH DI YOU CAN NOT SEE NOTHING THAT IT HAVE TO BE MOVING,WELL FIRST OF ALL BOAT DOES NOT SIT THAT STILL,I SEE FISH ALL THE TIME LIKE THAT ,A 2D SITTING STILL GIVE STRAIGHT LINES OF FISH AND SO DO DI IF YOU ARE STILL AND FISH IS STILL.WHEN I GO TO FRONT OF BOAT I HAVE ABOUT FINISH SEARCHING SO NO NEED FOR SI THAT I USE TO FIND THE SPOT NOW 2D AND DI TO PICK IT APART AND EACH HELP THE OTHER THEN

[Genec]

BTW,I WENT FOR A LITTLE WHILE TODAY ,DID NOT FIND ANY CRAPPIES BUT IN THE SPOTS WHERE I HAD BEEN CATCHING CRAPPIES I COULD NOT SEE ANY FISH ON SI NOR 2D BUT DECIDED TO FISH A FEW MINUTES SO I GOT UP FRONT AND COULD BARELY SEE SOMETHING ON BOTTOM WITH DI BUT COULD NOT SEE IT ON 2D SO I DROP JIG ABOUT 6-8 INCHES FROM BOTTOM AND SAW FISH MOVE UP A LITTLE THEN IT SHOWED UP ON 2D ,IT WAS A BASS ,I DID IT A FEW TIMES ,THEY WERE FLAT ON BOTTOM,I CHECK AND COULD SEE 1/8 OUNCE JIG TILL IT GOT ABOUT 2-3 INCHES TO BOTTOM THEN IT WOULD DISAPPEAR BUT IT DISAPPEAR AT ABOUT 6 INCHES ON 2D,I HAVE A HELIX 9 DI

[91reddog]

Hey Guys,

Looking to buy a new Helix 10 and was wondering how often you use side imaging at the bow if you have it? It's $400 difference between the 2 units and didn't want to spend $400 on something that would rarely get used.

Thanks,
Jason

as a jig pitcher from the bow, I use SI extensively on my Terrova. My advice, it that SI at the bow is an advanced application that should be attempted only after becoming well versed at reading what your console unit is telling you at optimum scanning speeds and conditions. I look at my H12 a minimum of 3 times each cast, and always before placing the next cast. (This is always off shore) the image shown at slow speeds and possible oscillation do get distorted, but I know exactly what fish look like under those conditions, because I've been doing it since 2010. Would I like a 360. Probably, but I'm not willing to give up my SI yet. There are many different ways I use the trolling motor SI. Not all of them involve turning the trolling motor on. Sometimes, while drifting downwind, I will turn the trolling motor so it's looking in front of and behind my boat as I drift. This alone provides me with more information than my transom transducer can provide. Another application is when I'm scanning at 4 mph, I'll sit up front. Control the direction of the boat with the Terrova with slight turns, all the while watching the screen with my thumb on the Spot Lock button . If I spot a school of walleyes, I'll simply visually take a look while I hit the spot lock . Then I walk to the cockpit, pull the motor out of gear and shut it off, and grab my rod. All the while this is going on, my Terrovas turned me around and is taking me back to the school.. All I have to do, is simply cast out the opposite side if the boat as when I went by, and adjust each cast while the Terrova sets up on the spot. I love SI on the bow.

[jnaumuk]

Thanks for all of the replies, looks like I'll be spending the extra $400. Thanks!

[Terryg]

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[rangerbobber]

BTW,I WENT FOR A LITTLE WHILE TODAY ,DID NOT FIND ANY CRAPPIES BUT IN THE SPOTS WHERE I HAD BEEN CATCHING CRAPPIES I COULD NOT SEE ANY FISH ON SI NOR 2D BUT DECIDED TO FISH A FEW MINUTES SO I GOT UP FRONT AND COULD BARELY SEE SOMETHING ON BOTTOM WITH DI BUT COULD NOT SEE IT ON 2D SO I DROP JIG ABOUT 6-8 INCHES FROM BOTTOM AND SAW FISH MOVE UP A LITTLE THEN IT SHOWED UP ON 2D ,IT WAS A BASS ,I DID IT A FEW TIMES ,THEY WERE FLAT ON BOTTOM,I CHECK AND COULD SEE 1/8 OUNCE JIG TILL IT GOT ABOUT 2-3 INCHES TO BOTTOM THEN IT WOULD DISAPPEAR BUT IT DISAPPEAR AT ABOUT 6 INCHES ON 2D,I HAVE A HELIX 9 DI

Your post would be a lot easier on the eyes if you took your cap lock off on your keyboard.....just saying, please

[Bstandiford]

I have mega chirp si on my trolling motor but also have 360 at the bow as well. Most of the time I use 2d and 360 for fishing. I used side imaging on my 998 at the bow for years and loved it. 360 changed that for me

[SeanH]

Your post would be a lot easier on the eyes if you took your cap lock off on your keyboard.....just saying, please

+1