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Best fish finder for the money

RUGER

RUGER

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Ok so a couple years ago I got the Helix 5.
It did what I wanted to do (see bream beds and bream on the beds) but as some on here said before hand the screen was indeed small and I had trouble seeing it good.
It started acting up (down imaging wouldn't work) and I had decided to return it as I had only had it a few months.
True to my luck that very day when I pulled my trolling motor up and locked it down I cut the wire to the transducer. :bash:

If I am able to I am going to get a new one this year.
I want down and side imaging and I want it to have gps where I can mark spots.

I would REALLY like to keep it around $500.00 if possible.
Figure I will have to find a "last years" model or something to get in my price range.

I know all of them are smarter than I am but honestly I really just want to be able to find bream / shellcracker beds in deeper water.
Locating schools of crappie might come in handy too. ;)

So what would your recommendations be?
I have no clue what size screens they have but I would love to have one at least 7" wide.
Thanks.
 
Buccaneer":3euggebh said:
Garmin Striker 7 SV or echoMAP 73SV. Hands down the best value for a 7" Side View / Down View unit.
Click to expand...

i bought the 7sv last summer in florida, all of the other units were more than i wanted to pay right now. i am going to try to get it mounted this weekend and spend a day on the lake just trying it out. from the demo i compared it to the lowrance 7ti and the helix 7 and it looked clearer on the garmin 7sv and the garmins screen looked a tad bigger. we will see. the 7sv doesnt have gps maps but does have a gps waypoint system on a white screen. that was fine for me because i use navionics on my iphone 6plus, for 10 bucks a year, but i know KY lake like the back of my hand. they had some of the non chirp 73sv(with maps) on sale at cabelas for 499. the 7sv includes chirp and its also 499. the only drawback on the 7sv that i can tell is that it has no way to update the software, if that is even needed with this unit. from what i hear garmins tech support is good and i know of one guy that called them while on the lake and they helped him set up his sidevu settings on the lake.

good luck and like you i wanted a unit to find bluegill beds in deep water. oh yeah, the 7sv has the compact transducer so you can transom mount or trolling motor mount. if this one works out, im gonna get a 9inch unit for the console and move the 7sv up front in a year or 2. if i get this unit installed, i plan on making a video and posting it on here too.
 
WTM":3pb2lkus said:
Buccaneer":3pb2lkus said:
Garmin Striker 7 SV or echoMAP 73SV. Hands down the best value for a 7" Side View / Down View unit.
Click to expand...

i bought the 7sv last summer in florida, all of the other units were more than i wanted to pay right now. i am going to try to get it mounted this weekend and spend a day on the lake just trying it out. from the demo i compared it to the lowrance 7ti and the helix 7 and it looked clearer on the garmin 7sv and the garmins screen looked a tad bigger. we will see. the 7sv doesnt have gps maps but does have a gps waypoint system on a white screen. that was fine for me because i use navionics on my iphone 6plus, for 10 bucks a year, but i know KY lake like the back of my hand. they had some of the non chirp 73sv(with maps) on sale at cabelas for 499. the 7sv includes chirp and its also 499. the only drawback on the 7sv that i can tell is that it has no way to update the software, if that is even needed with this unit. from what i hear garmins tech support is good and i know of one guy that called them while on the lake and they helped him set up his sidevu settings on the lake.

good luck and like you i wanted a unit to find bluegill beds in deep water. oh yeah, the 7sv has the compact transducer so you can transom mount or trolling motor mount. if this one works out, im gonna get a 9inch unit for the console and move the 7sv up front in a year or 2. if i get this unit installed, i plan on making a video and posting it on here too.
Click to expand...

I am very interested in what you think after you get it mounted up.
Are you going to mount it to the transom or on your trolling motor?
I wonder how fast you have to be moving to get the side imaging to work?

Not totally sure I understand how you can mark a spot but yet it doesn't have mapping?
Also curious as to if the actual fish will show up on the beds like the bigger units do. Little white dot in the middle of the dimple on the screen.
 
One more:
I read somewhere on the net that one of the "cons" to this unit was if the battery was disconnected you have to reset the entire unit.
I am assuming they mean the internal battery or something?

I KNOW if you unplug it you don't lose everything? Surely not.

UPDATED

Apparently you do lose all your settings, like in how you have it set up for down / side imaging etc.
You keep your points that you have saved but if you "tweak" your settings you have to re-do it every time you turn it on. :(
That is surprising.
 
RUGER":1jtb2uef said:
One more:
I read somewhere on the net that one of the "cons" to this unit was if the battery was disconnected you have to reset the entire unit.
I am assuming they mean the internal battery or something?

I KNOW if you unplug it you don't lose everything? Surely not.

UPDATED

Apparently you do lose all your settings, like in how you have it set up for down / side imaging etc.
You keep your points that you have saved but if you "tweak" your settings you have to re-do it every time you turn it on. :(
That is surprising.
Click to expand...

well i read that review as well, BUT according to a couple of people that i asked that already had theirs mounted said that theirs kept all their settings after power down. the guy that wrote that review either had a defective unit or he is full of crap because he posted that on every site i found.

like i said, i was worried about that but i will see for myself this week. i also read a sonar throwdown where they took hummingbird, raymarine and garmin units, then sunk some bronzini in the water and tested to see which unit showed those fish the best. there conclusion was that all 3 units were about the same.

im gonna transom mount mine because the guys intalked to said that they find the best speed to sidescan is about 3-5 mph, they said trolling motor mount is kinda iffy unless there is no movement in the trolling motor. you have to be going straight to get a good image.
 
Awesome man, I can't wait to hear (read) what you think after you get it mounted up.

I am still a few weeks away from buying one and for the money I really like the looks of this one.
 
The Garmin does not have mapping/countour lines type maps capability but they do have GPS and rout "tracking" and you can mark way points to return to. I have a Humminbird unit with Hotmaps Premium map cards so it wasn't important for me as I was most interested in side and down imaging. The side and down imaging needs your boat in motion and normal trolling speeds are fine. If the transducer is mounted on the trolling motor head it will take some getting used to on the side imaging view since turning the troller will rotate the aiming of the sonar beams.
 
Why not just buy a replacement TD for you Helix 5 and keep as a spare or run it also?

I am a Humminbird guy, since the new Helix lines have come along you can pick up some of the core units very reasonable. I run a 859 DI on the TM, 999 SI at the console and adding a Helix 10 Mega g2n to the bow primarily for my 360 imaging and will replace the 999 with a Helix 12 Mega at some point in time.

The clarity and sharpness of the new Mega series is absolutely astonishing!! Of course installation plays a huge part in how the images are captured.
 
I started with 797si humminbird,moved to dual 997si humminbirds,then to dual hds 7 gen 1,then dual hds 7 gen2,then dual hds 7 touches,and now I have a touch 9 and 7 on the bow and a hds 10 gen 2 on the console with structure scan front and back.In my experience with humminbird and lowrance they both have there strengths and weaknesses.Me personally I want the largest unit I can afford,got to have good mapping (I run insight and navionics maps),and if you ever use a touch screen unit you will be hooked,they are sweet.I will add one more thing,if you don't put your poles up and learn how to use it its a waste of money.I didn't really spend enough time using mine until I started fishing with a guy from Memphis 2yrs ago and he taught me alot and still spend numerous hours scanning and playing with the unit getting even better.Also when you mark a waypoint always remember to zoom all the way in when trying to go to a waypoint or you will be way off.Also its nice to get units you can link together in the future,it sure is nice to mark a waypoint at the console and it automatically be on the bow when you move there to fish. Heres a few pics,quality isn't great cause I took them with my phone.
200defa936af5e4d1f86df414ffd5946.jpg
741ae173ea2cc9568024aac90164f82c.jpg


Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
 
Wtm you probally have fished around the tree in the top pic,picture was taken up your way :-)

Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
 
X-Tennessean":abbn1i7t said:
Why not just buy a replacement TD for you Helix 5 and keep as a spare or run it also?
.
Click to expand...

I didn't figure they would warrenty it since the very day it quit working I cut the cable to it and I figured there was no way they would believe it quit before I messed up the cable.
I might look into getting it fixed at some point but for now I just want a bigger screen.
 
spottedbass":2i765wqi said:
Here you go: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lowrance-El...933133?hash=item2ca9e53a0d:g:xtwAAOSwXeJYM4Hc

A little more than your price point.
Click to expand...

Make sure if you go with this one, you double check the transducer that comes with it. I told the vendor I purchased mine from exactly what I wanted and they still did not sell me the correct transducer. I purchased another transducer ($300 but since i luckily have a connection I paid $150) and kept the transducer that came with it for a spare.

Also, depending on what you buy, I got premium navionics cards with both of my elite 7's. Those cards are nice.
 
I just mounted a Hummingbird Helix 7 SI on my boat. I've been on the water twice with it,so far so good. It's way smarter than I am. I just need to spend more time with it but I think i'm going like it.
 
Ruger, I have a local contact that has some incredible prices on electronics. He is outfitting a lot of us Chickamauga lake Bassers. His website lists everything in retail prices but if you contact him the discounts are huge. He sold me my Lowrance Elite 7 TI with total scan for a hundreds less than I could get it anywhere else. It has most of the stuff the big expensive units have at about 1/2 the cost.

Right before Christmas I bought a brand new Motorguide X3 Digital 24 volt 70 pound thrust trolling motor from him for about 1/3 off normal cost.

Anyway if you want his contact information Pm me.
 
Kirk":ellfwyn2 said:
Ruger, I have a local contact that has some incredible prices on electronics. He is outfitting a lot of us Chickamauga lake Bassers. His website lists everything in retail prices but if you contact him the discounts are huge. He sold me my Lowrance Elite 7 TI with total scan for a hundreds less than I could get it anywhere else. It has most of the stuff the big expensive units have at about 1/2 the cost.

Right before Christmas I bought a brand new Motorguide X3 Digital 24 volt 70 pound thrust trolling motor from him for about 1/3 off normal cost.

Anyway if you want his contact information Pm me.
Click to expand...

Is he just a Lowrance/Motorguide dealer? LOL
I'm fixing to pull the trigger on a new Bird and troller :)
 
No he handles Lowrance , Humingbird, Garmin. Minkota and Motorguide.

There is also a guy on Facebook that has some good deals on electronics.

Not posting either sources information on here because they are not TNdeer.com sponsors.
 

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