Sonar & Transducer System

[ChrisS]

Good morning LOU captains, looking for some advice on a new sonar system for my boat.  I recently picked up a 2017 Lund Impact 1850 for use on Oneida, Finger Lakes, and occasional Lake O trips.  The boat came with an console mounted HB 798ci and a Garmin something or other in the bow with an Airmar66 'ducer on the transom.  Both of the transom ducers are mounted on a smallish board and I picked up a Fishhawk and need to put that 'ducer on the transom too (it would be tough to fit another transducer on the board).  I've spent a lot of time trawling through the threads on here looking for inspiration.  I have a G2 Helix 5 unit that I really like and could use that in the bow, but I don't know how much bow fishing I really plan on doing to need a graph up there.  Not sure. I intend on getting a new console unit this winter probably a Helix or Solix 10-12 inch size to take advantage of the iPilot on the bow motor for auto-pilot.  I'd get a newer helix 7 for the bow (and I could use that for ice fishing too).  I'd like to avoid having 3-4 transducers off the transom or having to install a new board and drill more holes.

 

So, I'm looking for some advice on the more advanced networked systems.  If you were putting together a new system on the boat, what would you get?  Can I get away with two transducers on the transoms, one for the hawk and one for the humminbirds and use a Y-cable or network them? 

Edited June 9, 2023 by ChrisS

[FishingFool34]

On 6/9/2023 at 9:36 AM, ChrisS said:

Good morning LOU captains, looking for some advice on a new sonar system for my boat.  I recently picked up a 2017 Lund Impact 1850 for use on Oneida, Finger Lakes, and occasional Lake O trips.  The boat came with an console mounted HB 798ci and a Garmin something or other in the bow with an Airmar66 'ducer on the transom.  Both of the transom ducers are mounted on a smallish board and I picked up a Fishhawk and need to put that 'ducer on the transom too (it would be tough to fit another transducer on the board).  I've spent a lot of time trawling through the threads on here looking for inspiration.  I have a G2 Helix 5 unit that I really like and could use that in the bow, but I don't know how much bow fishing I really plan on doing to need a graph up there.  Not sure. I intend on getting a new console unit this winter probably a Helix or Solix 10-12 inch size to take advantage of the iPilot on the bow motor for auto-pilot.  I'd get a newer helix 7 for the bow (and I could use that for ice fishing too).  I'd like to avoid having 3-4 transducers off the transom or having to install a new board and drill more holes.

 

So, I'm looking for some advice on the more advanced networked systems.  If you were putting together a new system on the boat, what would you get?  Can I get away with two transducers on the transoms, one for the hawk and one for the humminbirds and use a Y-cable or network them? 

Your bow sonar should use the built-in transducer in your trolling motor (if there is one) or you should get a mount kit to mount the transducer to your trolling motor. You won't ever be able to get down to only 2 transducers on the transom as long as you have 2 different brand sonars on the boat (HB and Garmin) and a fishawk. You would need to eliminate the Garmin or settle on 3 transducers, you could always mount the fishawk transducer on the other side of the transom. Just run your probe on the same side of the boat that your transducer is on. Networking the 2 HB units wont help you eliminate a transducer from the transom either.

Edited June 12, 2023 by FishingFool34

[ChrisS]

Thanks, I managed to squeeze the Fishhawk transducer in there.  It's working for now until I re-run some cables to hide them. I'm going to mount the 798 transducer on the trolling motor and remove the garmin and airmar transducer.  I'm going to put the Helix 5 on the console for now until I replace with a bigger graph. 

 

I was also curious about the state of the state of humminbirds and if there was anything I needed to get without getting into the mega live prices.

[FishingFool34]

59 minutes ago, ChrisS said:

Thanks, I managed to squeeze the Fishhawk transducer in there.  It's working for now until I re-run some cables to hide them. I'm going to mount the 798 transducer on the trolling motor and remove the garmin and airmar transducer.  I'm going to put the Helix 5 on the console for now until I replace with a bigger graph. 

 

I was also curious about the state of the state of humminbirds and if there was anything I needed to get without getting into the mega live prices.

I'm a Garmin guy so I cant really speak on the latest and greatest HB tech. I can tell you that for salmon trolling Lake O, I find both side and down imagining to be basically useless.