Helix 7 Problems

[BrownTrout]

One of my fishing buddies had a new Helix 7 Chirp SI GPS G2 installed at a marine shop in town. His boat is an older Ranger R93. They installed the transducer that came with the unit which I believe is the XNT 9 SI 180T. It's installed on a bracket on the step off to the right of center. I helped him with the settings at his home after it was installed. Transducer selected is Compact Side Imaging and User Mode is Advanced. We took it out fishing for the first time the other day. It had no working SI or DI. Just two black screens. And no 2D sonar while on plane. Sonar works while sitting still, idling and fishing but not while running. He's taking it back on Monday but I was looking for ideas so I could help him discuss this with the boys in the shop.

Any ideas?

[Wayne P.]

Is the bottom of the transducer below the bottom of the hull that still has water contact when on plane?

That hull should use a shoot-thru for 2D sonar.

Post a picture of the transducer installation.

[BrownTrout]

The way the SI transducer looked it will be out of the water when on plane. It is even with the bottom of the step. I've seen pics of some HB SI transducers mounted "thru" the step and they work apparently. His SI and DI don't even work while he is just sitting still on the water.

He has a glassed in puck in the bilge that he was using on his old HB 597. The shop said that puck would work on the Helix 7.

I think maybe they have the cables reversed on the Y cable. Wouldn't this produce a similar problem as I described above?

[Wayne P.]

The way the SI transducer looked it will be out of the water when on plane. It is even with the bottom of the step. I've seen pics of some HB SI transducers mounted "thru" the step and they work apparently. His SI and DI don't even work while he is just sitting still on the water.

He has a glassed in puck in the bilge that he was using on his old HB 597. The shop said that puck would work on the Helix 7.

I think maybe they have the cables reversed on the Y cable. Wouldn't this produce a similar problem as I described above?

One side of a Y cable has ONLY a 2D sonar connection. The other side has the SI and Temp connection for a non-MEGA SI unit.
If they are swapped, nothing works.

Is the SI transducer and shoot-thru connected to the Helix with a Y cable?

[BrownTrout]

I called the shop and they said a Y cable was used to connect the SI and the shoot-thru transducers. They will check the Y cable on Monday to see if it is hooked up wrong.

[Wayne P.]

They need to make sure the transducer plugs are fully inserted into the Y cable so it locks into place.

[ntslam]

Sounds like the y cable is reversed. The 2d is coming from the si imaging transducer since the si transducer has 2d also.

[Wayne P.]

Sounds like the y cable is reversed. The 2d is coming from the si imaging transducer since the si transducer has 2d also.

Yes, that is a possibility. My fourth sentence in post #4 is incorrect.

[BrownTrout]

Yeah, that was my first inclination. I’ll let you’all know on Monday after they check the Y cable and reverse it if needed and then test it on the water.

[sfw1960]

$1 says that's the "pro shops" problem Jim!

[BrownTrout]

Well, the shop fixed it. It was, as I expected . . . . the Y cables were reversed. Everything seemed to work on the water this morning. The only problem I found was 1 - Unit wouldn't allow a 4th overlay on the screen. Depth, Speed and Water Temp are OK. Tried to add Voltage and it wouldn't take it. Is there a 3 overlay limit on the Helix 7?

The SI and DI seem very dull in appearance. Not bright like on my 998s. I tried the Yellow and Blue but you could hardly see anything. We settled on Green since it was much brighter for some reason. No idea why they are so dim.


I too a couple pics of his transducer install. Seems tilted down a bit. Can't adjust as the mount is the type that pulls away when you hit a stump or something but you can't adjust other than adding a shim behind part of the mount itself. Tried to post the pics but they were too large (2.4MB). Sorry.


Thoughts and recs would be appreciated.

[Wayne P.]

Well, the shop fixed it. It was, as I expected . . . . the Y cables were reversed. Everything seemed to work on the water this morning. The only problem I found was 1 - Unit wouldn't allow a 4th overlay on the screen. Depth, Speed and Water Temp are OK. Tried to add Voltage and it wouldn't take it. Is there a 3 overlay limit on the Helix 7?

The SI and DI seem very dull in appearance. Not bright like on my 998s. I tried the Yellow and Blue but you could hardly see anything. We settled on Green since it was much brighter for some reason. No idea why they are so dim.


I too a couple pics of his transducer install. Seems tilted down a bit. Can't adjust as the mount is the type that pulls away when you hit a stump or something but you can't adjust other than adding a shim behind part of the mount itself. Tried to post the pics but they were too large (2.4MB). Sorry.


Thoughts and recs would be appreciated.

You cannot choose what the overlay readouts are, they are fixed just like your 998.
You can just choose the readouts IF you use the data boxes displayed on the left side of the screen.

Are you using the transducer that came with the Helix 7 SI unit?

The transducer angle is adjustable, that is what the ratchets in the mount do. If you are using the XNT mount with the Compact SI transducer, you have to put the ratchets in according to the transom angle (there are 5 positions), then you choose the tilt you want. Instructions were included with the transducer.

[BrownTrout]

Yes, the shop installed the transducer and mount that came with the Helix 7, which I believe is the Compact SI transducer. That is the transducer selected in the unit under Sonar tab.

Under Setup, there were 5 options as I recall for setting up Overlays. I used the first three for Depth, Speed and Water Temp. They showed up in the lower left section of the screen, and were not in boxes like my 998. Wouldn’t allow another overlay even though 2 more “boxes” were available for entry.

I’ll have to go back and check the transducer and see if I can adjust the angle.

Wish I could post a pic of the transducer install but the BBC Editor doesn’t like My PC with Win 10.

[Wayne P.]

Yes, the shop installed the transducer and mount that came with the Helix 7, which I believe is the Compact SI transducer. That is the transducer selected in the unit under Sonar tab.

Under Setup, there were 5 options as I recall for setting up Overlays. I used the first three for Depth, Speed and Water Temp. They showed up in the lower left section of the screen, and were not in boxes like my 998. Wouldn’t allow another overlay even though 2 more “boxes” were available for entry.

I’ll have to go back and check the transducer and see if I can adjust the angle.

Wish I could post a pic of the transducer install but the BBC Editor doesn’t like My PC with Win 10.

What is in the readout boxes has nothing to do with the overlay readouts--they are not selectable or adjustable=fixed.

Don't need to post a picture of the transducer, I have a new Compact SI transducer on my desk that came with the Helix 7 CHIRP SI GPS G2. The reason is I don't use them. I prefer the better images that the HDSI produces.

Check here: https://www.humminbird.com/Category/...oduct-Manuals/

Go down to Installation Manuals and then Transducers, then choose XNT Install Guide. Section 3 shows how to setup the ratchets.

[sfw1960]

Grab Paint.NET Jim.

https://www.getpaint.net/download.html

It's easy peasy like Paint, but more powerful. (Did I mention it's nimble and FREE?)

Resize the pics on your PC & then they will go on the upload.

[BrownTrout]

Robert, what do you use on your PC to resize pics? My iPhone maxes out the pixels on any pics I take.

[sfw1960]

Usually the link above Jim.

https://www.dotpdn.com/downloads/pdn.html

If I have to resize on the phone, the evil Google Snapseed.

You can go into the cam setting on i-Phone or any other duhphone & turn DOWN the megapixel value for lower resolution, smaller file size pics.

This old Sony has a 21 MP CCD on it, but I only run it @ 8MP 99% of the time!


HTH,

[BrownTrout]

[BrownTrout]