New to the site. I have been researching units for about 2 weeks now. Based on side imaging gonna make the switch to the Helix from HDS Gen 2.
For $100 less can get a 10" gen 2 vs a 9" Gen 3 . Fish 30 ' or less 95% of time. Only exception is 1 week in Canada. Looking for pro's and con's for either unit.
For that difference it would be better to have the latest model and added capability. The Gen2 models are out of production.
Wes
Helix 10 MSI+,MDI+,Ultrex IPilot
2023 Phoenix 818
Never assume there's a tomorrow
I don’t own either of these, so I will leave the real world experience up to owners of each model. But, these are my thoughts...Originally Posted by Buckeye1
The big draw to Gen 3 for me is the low-q Dual spectrum Chirp. I have used this on a Helix 7 Gen 3 and it is something I noticed compared to older generations of 2D sonar. It is nice.
The other advantage to Gen 3 is the added range of Mega SI and DI. For myself (and maybe you as well since you are from Wisconsin and probably target a lot of the same fish I do in the same types of water), I don’t see a huge advantage in more SI Mega range in the shallow waters we fish. I only usually run 60-80 feet for my side imaging anyway if I am trying to see fish, and if I want to look further I can use the 455 khz beam.
If I were if your shoes, I would try to confirm if the following would work and if yes, this is what I would likely do:
Buy a new, dedicated 2D dual spectrum chirp transducer ($90) and a y cable ($40) and install these with the Helix 10 G2N. I am not 100% sure this setup would work as I don’t know all the compatabilities or item numbers, but hopefully someone here would be able to confirm. Otherwise you could check with Humminbird.
Going this route would do a few things...1) you still get the benefit of the new low-q chirp 2D, 2) you get that extra inch of screen size, and 3) you will probably have less of a headache getting good 2d sonar signals at high speeds with the dedicated 2D transducer and Y cable. These to me are worth the extra $30 this would cost.
The cons are that you are buying an already “outdated” unit at this point so if you are the type that wants to upgrade often you might have a harder time selling it or getting a good return since it will be 2 generations back when gen 4 units eventually come out. The other thing I wonder about is updates and priority for older generation units. It is probably not a real concern, but I always feel a bit uneasy buying older generation units thinking they won’t get high priority when it comes time to updates and bug fixes. I highly doubt this is anything to worry about, but it always crosses my mind with anything I buy, not just sonar units.
Cannot do that with a G2N Side Imaging unit and still have Side Imaging. Can do it with a CHIRP unit or Down Imaging unit.
Wayne Purdum
Charlottesville, Va.
Helix 12 CHIRP MEGA+ SI G3N/G4N, Helix 15 CHIRP MEGA SI+ GPS G4N
SOLIX 12 SI/G3, Helix 8 CHIRP MEGA SI+ G4N, Ultrex 80/LINK, MEGA360,
MEGA LIVE, LIVE TL
Damn. Forget that idea then. I’d go gen 3 then. I like the 2d improvement and having the most current unit.
Thanks for the great info. So I did not realize Humminbird was so specific on the head unit capability. With Lowrance, capability is based on series and then the transducer would add DI or SI depending on what you bought. So the unit I was looking at in the store is listed at Humminbird Helix 10 CHIRP Mega SI GPS G2N Location. The transducer is XM 9 20 MSI T. It also says Sonar Standard: MEGA side imaging/MEGA down imaging CHRP Digital Sonar/DualBeam Plus. So would the dual spectrum transducer work? For $120 that would make the decision easy. Bigger is better.
Sorry if my questions seem redundant.
Hopefully Wayne or someone else can explain why it is that you can’t add the new dual spectrum to a side imaging gen 2 unit, but when he said it would work with a CHIRP unit I believe he meant the G2N units that are CHIRP 2D sonar only (no side imaging or down imaging capability).
With as fussy as these newer side imaging transducers are at getting a good 2d sonar signal at speed, I would think there will be a lot of disappointed gen 3 users if they dont have the option to use a separate 2d that has dual spectrum CHIRP connected via a Y cable. Can you confirm Wayne (or anyone else who knows), than anyone who runs a Gen 3 unit along with a separate 2d transducer hooked up via Y cable will be forfeiting the dual spectrum CHIRP capabilities of their Gen 3 unit?
All Gen 3 helix units are dual spectrum compatible. All transducers that come with Gen 3 units have the low q element. Yes you can use the y cable with a 2d dual spectrum transducer.
Wayne posted this
The limitation with G2 models is there is no setting to have Side Imaging and HW CHIRP at the same time with a G2 or G2N. Can have Down Imaging and HW CHIRP at the same time if the model is a DI or SI unit.
Basically you loose SI with a G2 if you want to have HW CHIRP.
You can use the MEGA DI transducer with a G2N MEGA Side Imaging unit. You just use the setting that makes the unit a MEGA DI unit.
Ok so you can use the 2d low-q dual spectrum transducer with a Gen 3 side imaging unit through a Y cable but cannot use the same 2d low-q dual spectrum transducer through a Y cable to a Gen 2 side imaging unit? It says it is compatible with Helix 10 G2N models on the HBird website but Wayne has pointed out you can’t use the side imaging if you go that route. So it must be “compatible” if hooked directly to the unit but causes issues when hooked up through the Y cable?
The Gen 2 si units don't have a transducer selection in the menu that allows you to run si and HW chirp dual spectrum transducer. The Gen 2 si units have the si with the dual beam. That's why you would lose si in order to get HW chirp on a Gen 2 si unit
Gotcha. Thanks for the info. There ya have it Buckeye.... problem is you can’t “tell” the Gen 2 unit to use SI + High Wide dual spectrum 2D. Seems like a capability they could add to the Gen 2 units, but I sure wouldn’t expect that to happen as it would likely really cut into sales of the new Gen 3. So if you want dual spectrum 2D + DI + SI you need Gen 3.
Thanks guys that makes perfect sense. Looks like Gen 3 if is.
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