If you are going from HB to Garmin....

[Dando]

Two new 93sv's and for me? I can reverse the advised pro's and con's.

I was told the 2d sonar would be better than HB. (okay, I agree with that)
I was told easier to use than HB. (nah, there are more touches needed to go from one thing to another, and you have to pay attention, pick and choose screens)
I was told LakeVu blew away Navionics (just an opinion here, but, WHAT????)
I was told DownView and SideView would be better on HB than Garmin. (I went from HB 998's to Garmin 93sv's, and the SI and DI seem clearer/better on the Garmins).
I sure DO like how that transducer fits the trolling motor.
These were considerably easier to install than the HB's.

I know there's a learning curve and I'll get better with it. As of now, I'm somewhat satisfied and think it'll be fine once I get more familiar with them. Being $700 cheaper than the HB's has a lot to do with that though.

Ordered another power cable so that I can power one up in front of the fireplace and play with it.
Getting a lot of static on the bow when I hit the trolling motor switch. Got some Ferrite Cores ordered to hopefully cure that. (the ferrite cores I had in the HB cables were to small diameter to install on the Garmin cables).

[Riccochet]

I went from HB to Garmin. The Garmin is easier to use once you get your custom combo's setup how you want them. Well, maybe not easier, but different in a good way. LakeVu is better, but your lakes need to have HD mapping for them to be better. Right now Navionics covers more lakes. Modern HB/Lowrance side/down imaging IMO is better than Garmin's, but current Garmin's are better than the old 998's you were running.

What trolling motor do you have? The infinitely variable ones that rely on PWM to control speed will probably put off more interference than a troller with pre-set 1-5 speeds that are voltage controlled.

[Larry3215]

Glad its working out for you!

The ferrites usually go on the trolling motor power leads - not the sonar. The trolling motor is the source of the noise. The idea is to keep it from getting back to the battery and transferring to the electronics that way or through the trolling motor power cables into the transducer cable by induction. A ferrite wont do any good on the transducer cable and probably not much on the 93 power cable.

Garmins side and downview can definitely be cleaner than Humminbird a lot of the time. They have superior noise reduction due to the CHIRP and better transducers and electronics. I still think the Humminbird makes for more detailed images though.

On the maps its definitely opinion and to a large degree, where you fish :) Where I fish, its mostly a trade off with Garmin ahead some. Garmin covers some lakes better and Navionics covers others better. On the lakes they both cover, I have found fewer errors on the Garmin maps, especially the ones Garmin scanned at <1ft. On some of the other >1ft lakes, Garmin has some significant errors. Still, Garmin wins for me over all.

[Dando]

Variable speed TM. Had interference with the HB and ferrite cores fixed that. Going to try the same with the Garmin.
HB I just pushed one button to switch screen views. (had maybe 5 different views set-up on it). Running down the lake or just wanting a different screen, I just pushed ONE button.
And the Garmins may do that to, but, I've only messed with them for one day so far. And to get a different view, so far, I have to go find, pick, and choose.

But, I'm not just real fond of the Lake Vu mapping. It was an HD lake and if that's the best it gets? (I'd be very upset if I had to buy it separate, like a Navionics Card).
Since I didn't? I'll just make myself like it.

[Dando]

Glad its working out for you!

The ferrites usually go on the trolling motor power leads - not the sonar. The trolling motor is the source of the noise. The idea is to keep it from getting back to the battery and transferring to the electronics that way or through the trolling motor power cables into the transducer cable by induction. A ferrite wont do any good on the transducer cable and probably not much on the 93 power cable.

Garmins side and downview can definitely be cleaner than Humminbird a lot of the time. They have superior noise reduction due to the CHIRP and better transducers and electronics. I still think the Humminbird makes for more detailed images though.

On the maps its definitely opinion and to a large degree, where you fish :) Where I fish, its mostly a trade off with Garmin ahead some. Garmin covers some lakes better and Navionics covers others better. On the lakes they both cover, I have found fewer errors on the Garmin maps, especially the ones Garmin scanned at <1ft. On some of the other >1ft lakes, Garmin has some significant errors. Still, Garmin wins for me over all.

I told HB about my interference, and they sent me (for free) their cure. What I received was an HB power cable with a ferrite core made onto it. (I can't get it off of there anyway).
When I saw what their cure was, I went and bought some ferrite cores for the transducer cable.
Installed both on the HB and interference was gone.
Figured I'd "start" with that on the Garmin. (ferrite cores are CHEAP). If they don't cure it, I'll dig deeper.

The map just looks "hokey" to me. The info may be better, but, the Nav looks more professional. Not sure how to describe it. I'll get used to it and it'll be fine.

And I have a power cable on the way. I plan on sitting in front of the fireplace where it's nice and warm and get comfortable learning it. It's not much fun trying to figure out what does what when it's shiddy outside.
Heck, I thought I was a genius for thinking of that!!!

[pab1981]

I came from Hbird xx98 series and I kind of a agree with you. I am happy with my 93sv/73dv setup as far as sonar/gps and still believe for the money its a hard to beat for a combo capable of sharing waypoints but the mapping isn't great. I spend most of my time on Lake Barkley which is supposed to be HD, less than a foot scanned by Garmin and its just plain not good, no other way to put it. Even an almost 10 year old Navionics card that I have never updated is more accurate, and no comparison to Lakemaster. I have no problems with the maps themselves, just the accuracy on my favorite lake that is supposed to be better. I am also within 10 minutes of Kentucky Lake which is Max Def and need to go out there and see if it is any better there. It's not a huge deal for me, I can run Lakemaster on another unit or tablet if I need to but is a little annoying.

[Todd Driscoll]

I spend most of my time on Lake Barkley which is supposed to be HD, less than a foot scanned by Garmin and its just plain not good, no other way to put it. Even an almost 10 year old Navionics card that I have never updated is more accurate, and no comparison to Lakemaster. I have no problems with the maps themselves, just the accuracy on my favorite lake that is supposed to be better. I am also within 10 minutes of Kentucky Lake which is Max Def and need to go out there and see if it is any better there. It's not a huge deal for me, I can run Lakemaster on another unit or tablet if I need to but is a little annoying.

Note that for Lake Barkley (HD lake, not a MaxDef lake), data there was sourced and not surveyed by Garmin. HD lakes do have 1-foot contours, but accuracy does vary from lake to lake and area to area since this is not data collected by Garmin. The MaxDef lakes (which Kentucky Lake is one) are the lakes that Garmin has surveyed themselves.

[pab1981]

Note that for Lake Barkley (HD lake, not a MaxDef lake), data there was sourced and not surveyed by Garmin. HD lakes do have 1-foot contours, but accuracy does vary from lake to lake and area to area since this is not data collected by Garmin. The MaxDef lakes (which Kentucky Lake is one) are the lakes that Garmin has surveyed themselves.

Thanks for clearing that up Todd, it's a little confusing trying to figure out what means what with their mapping. Like I said, not a deal breaker for me but was disappointing and hopefully Barkley will make the MaxDef list at some point.

[Dando]

I spent some quality "recliner" time with mine last night. Found my LakeVu HD lake that I described above as the map appearing "hokey" compared to my old Navionics. I wasn't sure how else to describe it, and I really thought I may have just not been used to it (you know, change is hard for an idiot).
But, I set up some shaded depths using "blue" colors. I figured I'd try to make the coloring the same as Navionics and that would help me. BUT, I decided to use a bright "red" color for a depth range that I wanted to fish. Just to make it stick out and be easy to see.
"Hokey": Humps have contour lines with a "red blob". The red blobs appear to have nothing to do with the contour lines. Looks like a little kid got ahold of a lake map with contour lines. with a dull red crayon, and didn't color within the lines.
Maybe I've overlooked some setting or something? I just assumed the shading would follow contour lines, especially on a HD map. I'm now afraid to see what "less than HD" mapping looks like.

AND, A question: Shouldn't "upper depth" be shallower than "lower depth" when shading? (that really kept confusing me).

[fishfood]

Variable speed TM. Had interference with the HB and ferrite cores fixed that. Going to try the same with the Garmin.
HB I just pushed one button to switch screen views. (had maybe 5 different views set-up on it). Running down the lake or just wanting a different screen, I just pushed ONE button.
And the Garmins may do that to, but, I've only messed with them for one day so far. And to get a different view, so far, I have to go find, pick, and choose.

But, I'm not just real fond of the Lake Vu mapping. It was an HD lake and if that's the best it gets? (I'd be very upset if I had to buy it separate, like a Navionics Card).
Since I didn't? I'll just make myself like it.

The place you purchased from did tell you that a Navionics card won't work in a garmin didn't they??

[Larry3215]

Can you grab some screen shots of that? I have not actually tried depth shading yet.

I spent some quality "recliner" time with mine last night. Found my LakeVu HD lake that I described above as the map appearing "hokey" compared to my old Navionics. I wasn't sure how else to describe it, and I really thought I may have just not been used to it (you know, change is hard for an idiot).
But, I set up some shaded depths using "blue" colors. I figured I'd try to make the coloring the same as Navionics and that would help me. BUT, I decided to use a bright "red" color for a depth range that I wanted to fish. Just to make it stick out and be easy to see.
"Hokey": Humps have contour lines with a "red blob". The red blobs appear to have nothing to do with the contour lines. Looks like a little kid got ahold of a lake map with contour lines. with a dull red crayon, and didn't color within the lines.
Maybe I've overlooked some setting or something? I just assumed the shading would follow contour lines, especially on a HD map. I'm now afraid to see what "less than HD" mapping looks like.

AND, A question: Shouldn't "upper depth" be shallower than "lower depth" when shading? (that really kept confusing me).

[Dando]

Can you grab some screen shots of that? I have not actually tried depth shading yet.

I noticed what I thought was that setting, turned "ON". Didn't pursue that though, so, not real sure how to get a screen shot. And then, how to get on here.
I assume I'll need a card in the graph to save it to, then software on the PC?

[Dando]

The place you purchased from did tell you that a Navionics card won't work in a garmin didn't they??

I knew that before I bought it.
What I meant was... The LakeVu comes already loaded on Garmins. I didn't have to pay extra for it. If I had paid extra for it? I'd be REALLY disappointed.
Since I didn't have to pay extra? I'm just mildly disappointed.

I'm going to give it a few months to see if I can get used to it.

[fishfood]

I knew that before I bought it.
What I meant was... The LakeVu comes already loaded on Garmins. I didn't have to pay extra for it. If I had paid extra for it? I'd be REALLY disappointed.
Since I didn't have to pay extra? I'm just mildly disappointed.

I'm going to give it a few months to see if I can get used to it.

I've made a lot of those mildly disappointed purchases.... :-)

[11justin22]

Did you get one of the snap together kind? Or the rings? I've been getting interference when I step on my trolling motor pedal and haven't found a solution yet. Wanting to try this.

[Dando]

Did you get one of the snap together kind? Or the rings? I've been getting interference when I step on my trolling motor pedal and haven't found a solution yet. Wanting to try this.

Snap together.