First Time observations with all new stuff.

[woody135]

Installed the works this winter. Apex13 at bow with 2 Solix 12 Gen3's, another Solix Gen 3 12 and and an Xplore 12 at bow. All new units. New ML2 in forward, old ML1 in landscape mode installed on 360 rod so it is fixed to the front. Never moves. Running Quest 36volt, 360, and Targetlock and two new ethernet hubs. Ok thats the system, all new stuff. I wired everything extra careful and took no chances, all new wires and switches on everything. All updates current.
Good News/Advice: No interference issues at all, read your manuals and install stuff to the letter. So far I'm most impressed with the Solix's. Start fast, very responsive to the touch screens with Precision Sonar regular glass protectors, not a big fan of the screen protectors so far, first time I've used them. I peeled off the factory plastic and installed the screen protectors right away. No issues installing this way, but the sucktion cups they provide suck. Spelling on purpose. So my advice would be to get a few days use with the units without the screen protectors installed if you leaning that way. That way you will have a baseline to see if you experience any lag or changes with them. Like I said, the Solix's are by far the most responsive to the touch, Next is the Apex, and so far the Xplore is a shit show, hate it. Response times are crazy long if it it recognizes your touch at all. The response time with the "regular" buttons is incredible BTW, best of all the units. So now I'm stuck with the option of pulling off the screen protectors and seeing if performance improves. Im going to give it a few days for the system to "stabilize" along with my brain trying to catch up on all the settings and getting everything to gel with the phone app.

Where I may need some advice is with the ML2, I don't see a great improvement over ML1, it actually looks blurrier in forward mode. Maybe i just need to tweak more as I've been mostly using auto settings. Again, the ML2 actually looks the best on the Solix units so far. The image is way brighter and crisper on the Solix's than on the Apex where I assumed I would get the best picture on the Apex. I'll keep posting as I go along as I am on Day 3 of this system but have about three more weeks on the water every day to figure crap out. Was a long winter and just now getting out to try this stuff out. Had high hopes for ML2 on an Apex unit. Not impressed so far, hope to get it better soon.

[Phoenix Jim]

I think it is much better than ml1. Try adjusting contrast and sensitivity

[chrisansilver]

Following this, hope it all works out. Hoping to learn something here..

[SLYDoggie]

Thanks for the report. On the Mega Live 2 blurry imaging, you might try the Mega Live 2 reset in the settings were you do all the settings restores. I had a situation where mine got blurry, did the ML2 Restore, and it cleared up.

[Hydro870]

Have you tried creating new waypoints yet and checking that those waypoints show up on all your networked units?

[Derail]

Have you tried creating new waypoints yet and checking that those waypoints show up on all your networked units?

I have a ticket open with HB on the Waypoint Management since mid March. There is a software issue that they are working on.

[woody135]

Ok, Day two, moved all sonars lower into the water because I have so much crap hanging out the now. Ultrex Quest about 1 inch from being bottomed out at the top. Works just fine down there. Helped alot with pictures, especially the ML1 in landscape mode on the 360 pole. still trying to get that one lower in the water without overlapping the others. Still having issues with blurry picks on ML2 but after my latest attempt at calibration I feel I'm very close. Going to try a SLY suggested reset tomorrow. Still seems blurry to me. Question for anyone who knows...Is it ok for ML to have different settings on different units? Seems like one of my Solix's isnt changing its settings Ie: when changing sensitivity on one unit, I would expect it to transfer throughout the network, maybe not. When all the others play follow the leader, or the latest change on another unit. I Had this issue before with Helix/Sox's and could never get a clear picture on certain units, but figured it was a Solix/Helix thing, because they never got along well. Seems like if you have two graphs that are asking for different things that this could cause some confusion at the head? Like two TV's one antennae? Trying to think of all possible scenarios. Xplore is still my pain in the ass, but since it has the 3 preset buttons I'm still holding out hope that it will shape up soon. I miss my Helix's so far but I'm sure thats just a learning curve. On the Xplore I'm having to use 2 fingers to get it to respond to touch screen inputs. Bout a day away from throwing Screen protectors in the water, I hate the glare and wish i would have tried all the units prior to installing the protectors. But I repeat myself.

[woody135]

I'm pretty sure my waypoints are transferring, I'll pay more attention to that tomorrow. My head hurts from all the changes at once but overall I feel like my setup is exactly how I want it, for sure I am most pleased with the performance of the Solix's, maybe its just they are older technology and just work better with age, like most things, except the other things. LOL. Cant imagine a system with all Xplores. Maybe a whole system of APEX's would be good, but now you talking $16K in my scenario to achieve that. No thanks. Most of the time I miss my simpler days with one Helix5 and a cooler full of beer. But I am truly loving this challenge, I love tinkering with technology, but I'm not smart like Wayne, so I learn crap the hard way.

[SLYDoggie]

I really like the "native screen" on the Xplore and chose not to put a screen protector on it. In my opinion, it has the best anti-glare screen and I love the "slipperyness" of the screen when doing touch gestures. Also, it seems to not show waterspots/fingerprints and is super easy to clean with a dry microfiber cloth. Even better than my Apex units.

Of course, having no screen protector could be dangerous from a lure strike standpoint.

[woody135]

Ok, spent a couple more days out on water with the goodies. Growing very fond of all the workings and abilities on the new system. First, I'll address a question posed earlier, yes, my waypoints are all transferring, they show up on all screens at once, even live and 360, works great, sorry to those having issues.
The ML2 being blurry was a thing. By reseting the defaults to "initial" or whatever its called, then struggling through a recalibration, (that's a pain and it fails a lot), I suggest tying up to the outside of a dock in 15-25 feet, flat area. Its what the unit calls/asks for but I found it hard to attain. But it was worth it. Getting all transponders as low into the water as possible yet keeping all wires and prop wash clear of each other seems to be best combination. Units being very close to each other and at the same depth didn't cause any interference issues. Having each transponder on its own power source switch was worth the extra time at install time. This is because when you calibrate stuff, it wants you to shut down all other transponders and navigation sources. So do your calibrations with only the unit that makes sense. My system doesn't seem to care about start up sequence at all. I'm now to the point when I just start powering up stuff as soon as I get to it. All eventually come up and synch together seamlessly. Screen savers seem to be settling down a bit, or I'm learning the touch better. But i'm still not in love with Xplore and screen saver, giving it just a little more time as I watched how it seals during initial install, and feel there are air bubbles that you cant see that are working their through the glass, all units seem to be getting better with time, along with my super glue and fiberglass ridden fingers, which may have to do with 90% of my touch screen issues. Just not ready to chuck $250 worth of them into the garbage yet! Xplore still the slowest to touch, Solix the best. Apex livable. Overall, very happy with the entire setup, I would even re-install the Xplore at console if only/just for the 3 preset buttons which I use for 1 running down lake, 2 for search mode, 3 for Co-angler fishing use.

[SLYDoggie]

Just a word of advice. Running everything together without any paragraphs makes a long post like this almost impossible to read and follow. Most people will just glaze over and move on.

Try editing your post and adding several paragraph breaks, with a line breaker between each paragraph, and I guarantee you will get more follow-up.

[bamacat]

Thanks. I lost interest several days ago. Maybe he will take your advice.

[Phoenix Jim]

Just a word of advice. Running everything together without any paragraphs makes a long post like this almost impossible to read and follow. Most people will just glaze over and move on.

Try editing your post and adding several paragraph breaks, with a line breaker between each paragraph, and I guarantee you will get more follow-up.

[woody135]

Yeah I get it, The information isn't for me though. But OK. Not looking for clicks. Just passing information at the end of a day of fishing. Kisses!

ML2 is Better than 1, by a long shot. Going to use Garmin LS tomorrow. I'll try to be brief.

[bobcoy]

Maybe part of this “lesson” should be, Learn this tech one part at a time. All at once is a bit much for many of us. JMO Bob

[woody135]

I agree right now.
Don't do what I did.
Add one thing at a time.
But I am very impressed with Humminbird's newest stuff.
It works well together, eventually.
The little stuff eventually works itself out with experience. Wanted to help others with my failures, cause I'm a giver of my mistakes.
SLY and Wayne are priceless resources for knowledge about specific problems.
I was trying to relate my experiences with all new stuff.
Don't do it.
Xplore touchscreen issues is my biggest frustration right now. Good luck guys.

[Fosterfence]

Does your images on the Xplore side scan seem to translate much smaller? Ie. Like if you were scanning over a ladder or a boat, does it seem that you have to zoom in to actually tell what it is? It does on my and I have my range at 70” each side. It seems lie the detail translation is really small on the screen to me

[N9Phil]

Great information

Thanks Woody 135

[Mahomee]

Why would you want so many different units, Apex, Solix and Xplore all new?

Thats wild.

The images are not going to be the same on them all even sharing a transducer.

I had a g3 and g4 helix at my console because they sent me the 4 for a repair and they needed different settings to get the same image, despite sharing one transducer. It sucked so I swapped the 4 to the bow for m360,mapping.

[woody135]

Does your images on the Xplore side scan seem to translate much smaller? Ie. Like if you were scanning over a ladder or a boat, does it seem that you have to zoom in to actually tell what it is? It does on my and I have my range at 70” each side. It seems lie the detail translation is really small on the screen to me

My Side Imaging on the Xplore is very crisp, I use the SI Transducer from the Solix, seems the same on both units but way better than the Helix, which was very good.