Just happened to be looking at sales info on the 8610xsv and I came across something that may be a deal breaker. It said it had 2 - micro SD card slots... on the back. Depending on where on the back is very important. If anyone knows if I will be able to access those card slots which them mounted just like my Carbons are in the pic below.
On the pic below you will see the rectangle door above the left most network plug, i believe that is the sd slots.....Like you said, if someone has a unit flush mounted not sure how they would get to the cards........
BUT i wouldn't let that keep from buying the units.....
YOU are not entitled to what I have earned!!!!!
2014 Phoenix 619 Pro / 2014 Mercury 200 Pro XS
Man.... I hope it comes with covers for all those ports. I’d be able to get to those slots on the bow unit and the unit that will replace Carbon 1. No way in 7 kinna Sunday’s to get to those slots on Carbon 2 location. It would have to be loosened up to manipulate it but it wouldn’t have to come out. Day in day out probably not the show stopper i first thought. Thanks for the pic. I haven’t been able to find anything like that...Originally Posted by fishin couillon
On the pic below you will see the rectangle door above the left most network plug, i believe that is the sd slots.....Like you said, if someone has a unit flush mounted not sure how they would get to the cards........
BUT i wouldn't let that keep from buying the units.....
Yes all ports have rubber caps that fit tight
Risen From The Ashes!!
Keep in mind that the units share mapping cards......if you have them setup like what's in your pic then put the mapping card in the units that's not against the dash....."there is always more than one way to skin a cat".....
YOU are not entitled to what I have earned!!!!!
I bought one to use with my LS and it's the most asinine engineering I've ever seen. If I actually cared to use the unit for anything but LS it would for sure break the deal for me.
That is absolutely crazy!! Who mounts their units with ready access to the backs?? Hard enough fumbling with microSD cards when you can actually see what your doing!
Here's the deal for me.... Trouble shooting the Lowrance gear has made it an absolute necessity to access the SD slots. "IF" I encounter a similar issue somewhere down the road with these units that would not be fun. Granted "most" of the time it's a non-issue. When I fish I pull the graphs every night and take them in the room. Seldom, if I'm not having problems, do I diddle with the SD cards. Put a blank card in each one plus a mapping card in one unit and I'm pretty much done with SD cards until/if I have screen captures I want to transfer to my PC. The slots for sure are not convenient and, relative to Carbon #1 position, present a risk of dropping the SD card over the side. But heck... SD cards don't cost that much. It kinna bothers me that I'm spending what I'm spending and still having to compromise.
My suggestion is to ride with someone who has the upper tier of all manufactures. The SD card may not be the only thing you are compromising on.
That is an excellent idea. Unfortunately the circle I run in has mid-range Garmin(1 person... I think). Another has Solix 15's. Many have pre-Carbon Lowrances. And then there's me. I was going to place order today. I am definitely putting that on hold until I get a tad more comfortable with my decision. Some of the hurdles I've encountered
GT154UHD - not the best side imaging range and the "best" solution seems to be adding a GT-30 for depths greater than 30' and extended range(via 455 kHz) side imaging. (Both are 12 pin transducers)
GT8HW-IH - 8 pin transducer and a good one. Not really a problem here.
Airmar TM185HW - Existing installed transducer jack plate mounted. Dropped a lot of nickles for this puppy and really want to incorporate it into whatever I end up with. The problem - requires 12 pin connection(if it's possible at all). Reviewed Garmins 12 pin diagram/adapters and did not see the TM185HW listed. But I did see Airmar transducers very similar to the TM185 that were listed. If I go with the GT154 AND a GT30 there's no place for the TM185 at the console. Might could run it to the bow 8610 but if the Garmin trolling motor has a dual channel chirp or similar transducer incorporated in the motor housing - well there goes the last 12 pin port.
SD slots on the back of the unit. While not a deal breaker it's certainly not a '+" in the favorable column.
And the of course there's the expense of switching over to Garmin.
I've been following your research and you sound a lot like me, lots of questions, and nowhere to go to get your hands on the products you are most interested in. For the most part I think you have made great selections. I was ready to dump my Solix units completely, but after talking with some Garmin Pro staffers and a few local guys, they all told me that for my style of fishing I have the best units on the market for side and down imaging, and the chirp is excellent as well. I think I just have a bad transducer or improper install on what I have now. So my plan is to get the one unit I know that I want, an Echomap Ultra 126sv in with the LVS32 Livescope and install that one on my bow. I have a 15" Solix up there now with the Mega transducer on the TM as well as 360, but after having this for several years, I rarely turn it on as it has not been a help to me. The 360 works sometimes and sometimes not. Not sure why I can't get it to turn on all the time, but it is temperamental and I'm sure it has to do with the switch I have up front. But even when it is working, I spend a lot of time looking at something I can't read effectively. Maybe it is my settings, but it is probably mostly me, maybe a faulty install, I'm not truly sure.
Will the Livescope fix all my problems? Nope, I'm sure it will not, but I plan to have it as a stand alone unit up front and use my front unit with Livescope and have the transducer located on a Low Pro Rod Rack pole so it will not be mounted directly to the TM. I'm hoping that I will be able to target fish off shore, and pull up to points and be able to check them for active fish. I plan to keep my Solix units, and although they are Gen 1, they will be more than adequate for what I need. I will use them to scan for rock and brush piles, and structure I can fish. Once I find these things at the console, I plan to check them with Livescope to see if they hold active fish.
I plan to add a second unit at the console, and at this point in time I don't know what that will be. I want to do a Garmin unit, and run it side by side with the Solix, but use it for mapping and charts. Not sure to go with the 86xx series or another Echomap Ultra 126sv. I plan to do a fresh install on the Solix and make sure it is working correctly at the console, get my 126sv installed and working at the bow, then get on the water and see what I need after spending some time behind the units that I do have.
You have really been doing a lot of research, and when you are done, should have a pretty awesome setup. I look forward to seeing your setup once you have it completed and look forward to hearing your reports on how well everything works and if it lived up to your expectations.
Thanks for the compliments on the research I've been doing... It has been an ordeal I can tell you that for a fact. I did look at the Solix as I have a friend with 2 - 15"ers on his Phoenix. They are just on the border of fitting/not fitting in the space I have available. So consideration of/for them has been marginal at best. That and I'm not "head over heels" with Hummin'birds 2D solutions.
I suppose "no decision" is a "decision" and no decision is where I'm camped at right now. Even the Lvs32 that I though was fantastic is starting to reveal some issues I wasn't first aware of. That's not to say it isn't a very good system. It's just that there's more to it than 1 or 2 youtube videos showing phenomenal images reveal.
Super91, keep in mind that the Ultra and GPSMap series do not network in case you were planning on networking them together.....they both have to be the same model to network.
YOU are not entitled to what I have earned!!!!!
Thanks for the heads up fishin couillon. I doubt I would network them together, but I guess that is why I am holding off on the console unit until get what I have working, then make a decision on what to do on the bow. So if I do add a unit at the bow and want to network, I'll stay with the 126sv. I feel that is going to all the unit I would ever need anyways.
FWIW I have ran all of them in the last 4 years and my new Solix Gen2 is the winner by a mile. I run the livescope and enjoy it but there is no way I would give up my birds at this point. I also have a Helix gen 3 and if you like something more simple to operate it has a great image also. My Lowrance units were decent but having to wait 3 months for a replacement 3d transducer and box did me in. My garmins were good units but not on the same level with the other two.
I haven't seen the UHD setup but I have seen a new 7612 with the latest transducer and honestly it was no better than mine when they first started in freshwater a few years back.
This is only my 2 cents.
They didn’t want raymarine to feel left out on the sd card placement.
Reply With Quote