7608xsv :(

[MonteSS]

Pretty disappointed. Sonar is good but imaging stinks especially at slow speeds. Pixelated, grainy, blurry.

Will post pics tonite

I have a decent amount of experience with 2d si di units. Started with a HB 898si. Then a Low HDS8/LSS1. Even tried a Dragonfly. All worked well but had advantages/disadvantages in different areas

It looked like the new Garmins have what I am after. I really wanted the chirp so went for the 7608xsv and GT50 transducer on the transom.

Pic below are trees I went over in a familiar lake. The Lil Dragonfly confirmed this.

[MonteSS]

[hawgripper]

I have found that my best images come in that 3-7 mph. I noticed most of your shots like you were saying are very slow at less than a mph. At that speed the imaging is pinging the same structure for too long causing the grainy shots.

[tmann45]

You also have a low voltage problem, but that should not affect anything you are concerned about.

[MonteSS]

I ran 12 gauge straight to new battery with a fuse. Every unit says the same low voltage. (HB, Low) Meter shows proper 12.8v at plug.

[TroyBoy30]

i would do 10 at least. they are using 8 for mine

[89basscat]

10 or 8 gauge wire for a device that consumes 6.2W of power??? Thats kind of crazy. As a matter of fact, in the installation manual it says that if you need to extend the wire, do it with 20gauge. I ran 18 gauge SJ cord because I like having the wires neatly bundled. For Example:

I have 15 foot of 18 gauge wire feeding that unit and I have minimal voltage drop. I believe it was .9V. .53 A of current draw.

[TroyBoy30]

I've never heard of anyone having issues from using wire that was too big

[MonteSS]

As said I ran 12 ga which is WAAAAAY too big.

[MonteSS]

By the way, when I say I am not happy with the unit that may be misleading. For what I paid, I was expecting it to blow away all others. I mainly used Di and 2d split when fishing. The chirp is very goos and the downVu is just OK. My $500 Raymarine Dragonfly is pretty close on chirp 2d and better at Di.

The SideVu is also OK but grainey and you must be moving at least 3mph. My HDS8 worked pretty good while still or drifting. Distance to side is very good.

This thing is powerful and would excel in deep water and/or salwater use. Just not sure you need all that in most lakes.

[grout-scout]

Monte, the 2d doesn't even look right. Have you contacted Garmin about this? Might be something wrong with the graph or transducer.

[LWINCHESTER2]

How "good" a picture is depends on several things. I'm not expert nor here to defend or attack any of the brands of the electronics we use. But I may be able to offer some advice that would help you determine how bad or good your Garmin is.

First, you mention having a Raymarine Dragonfly. It only has downvision. I used a Raymarine a98 that used CP100 and CP200. That's downvision and sidevision. My guess is that the CP100 is identical to the Dragonfly, just put in a different unit and given a different name. It was good, better(more detailed) than my Lowrance HDS10G1 with LSS1 that also had downscan and sidescan in an apple to apples fair comparison. To fairly compare the Dragonfly you can only compare it to the Garmin DownVu. To make a fair comparison they both need to be on the same scale and then travel at the same speed over the same structure. Both should have the contrast set at comparable levels. Then if one is better than the other. So be it. That's life. You may get some interference if both units are on the same frequency but it still would provide a worthwhile comparison

Your SideVu shots look pretty detailed. They were taken on a 60 ft scale. I would bet that your DownVu would look just as detailed on a 60 ft scale. Remember, you can take a perfectly good 5X7 photograph and enlarge it to 9X13 and make it look terrible. Your DownVu shots were on scales of 11 to 17.

Also as others have mentioned the speed on the SideVu was faster than on the DownVu.

Nobody is blowing anyone else out of the water on down and side technology. What I think I've learned is that I have to pay a bunch of money for even a slight improvement. One can be better than another. It takes a well engineered transducer paired with top notch software to give us what we are looking at. The only way to compare the software is to buy it and use it. The technical specifications the transducers do tell us something. The Dragonfly is 1.4 degrees by 60 degrees 350 kHz . The Garmin GT50TM is 1.1 degrees by 53 degrees. 455 kHz. If both are adjusted to their best possible performance the Garmin should produce a better picture. To be blown away you'd have to set the Garmin on 800 kHz which is 0.7 degrees by 30 degrees. But then that would not be an apples to apples comparison.

[Diel11]

Those DV and 2D pictures look like there's something wrong with the transducer like grout said. This is my 2D, going a bit faster than you at 3mph but nowhere close to pixelated.

[MonteSS]

Nothing wrong with my 2d. Just going too slow/still to see a good arch plus I only showed structure and not any fish.

Thanks all for the incite and help.

[grout-scout]

Monte, the bottom with the sonar wasn't even a solid line. Something is up with that thing, call Garmin about it or email them some pictures. Don't throw in the towel yet, I bet your transducer is messed up.

The sonar won't matter with speed, it should work great (other than arches) sitting still.

[MonteSS]

Right now the unit is set to use the gt50 for 2d. I have the tm150 unplugged until they get the update to fix that.

I will plug in the TM150 and take screenshots of how that performs.

Thanks

[MonteSS]

Here is the TM150 transducer on the tm. Looks much better. I will call Garmin on the GT50 probs. ty