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Helix 5, first time out

RUGER

RUGER

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I can't give a fair review of the performance of the unit as of yet.
It has a very clear view in down imaging but I don't think I have something set right, or there are indeed no fish in the lake I was on yesterday.
Side imaging, well, I can't make heads or tails of it and nothing I saw looks like anything that was in the instruction dvd that came with it.
Gonna double check and make sure I have the transducer mounted good and parallel with the bottom.

Again, performance wise, I am not knocking it yet, as I know I have a big learning curve with the setting and operation of it.

I can say, however, there are three things I aint' crazy about.

First, in order to rotate the unit on the vertical axis, you have to loosen both side screws, tilt it, then re-tighten.
Not crazy about it, but not THAT big a deal, as I don't move it but maybe once or twice a trip.
Secondly, there is NO way to rotate the unit on the horizontal axis.
I do not like this at all. Seems like they could have supplied a mount that would rotate, but they didn't.
Just something to keep in mind if you are thinking of buying it or if you do buy it, keep this in mind when you mount it.
Lastly, it does not come with a mounting bracket to mound the transducer to the trolling motor.
Dunno why, but it doesn't.
Wasn't a big deal as I was able to use my existing mount for the transducer.
This might be because it is not supposed to be mounted on the trolling motor? Dunno.

Anyway, had a couple people mention they were interested in it so I thought I would post what I know for now.
 
I have a 1199 on my work boat and like you, it felt like I was trying to read a Chinese bible when looking at the side imaging.
Now, I don't even think about it when I look at it. When looking for fish, I don't pay near as much attention to looking for fish as I do looking for structure that may hold fish. But when you ride over a school in f crappie or whitebass or even a school of shad, there will be no doubt what ou are looking at.
 
For side scan to be usable a 7" screen is almost mandatory, most in depthfinder industry will recommend a 7" screen. My 798, retailed for over $1000, has a 5" screen but is bigger than the helix 5" (if that makes any sense but it is) and trying to use the side scan on it is a waste of time, especially when compared to a 7" screen.

A ram mount will take care of most if not all of the positioning problems.

I will have a 7" raymarine soon and will let you know. Raymarine has a $150 rebate and comes with a $200 navionics card so it is a great deal.
 
If you are turning your trolling motor to the left and right any at all while you are using the side scan you will get very skewed images. Side scan is not designed for sharp\quick turns of the transducer. That is why most people don't mount the sidescan transducer on their trolling motors.
 
Nhill":2p5xi8yl said:
yea, don't think you should be using sidescan on the trolling motor.
Click to expand...

Yea, what he said. Sidescan transducer definitely needs to be in a fixed position, probably transom mount. Don't try to learn everything at once. Concentrate on Sonar and settings first, then go to Down Imaging, then think about Sidescan.

For instance, find some structure... rock, hump or treetop ... using the sonar or down imaging. Place a waypoint on it. Then ease by the waypoint on a parallel path... maybe 50 feet out with sidescan set to 100 feet. See what you see on sidescan. In many cases, don't look for the actual structure... but look for the shadows thrown by the structure.

Sidescan works via sound waves... in the display they look just like you were shining a flashlight in the dark. The structure causes "shadows" on the bottom. Depending upon the intesity of the structure and your display settings, you might not see the tree itself, but you should see the shadow.

But again, don't try to figure it all out at once. Take baby steps. And as bad as it hurts, sometimes it is wise to take it the lake and LEAVE THE FISHING RODS AT HOME. If you have rods, you'll be tempted to fish, not learn the electronics. You might want to consider spending some time on the water with 100% of your attention devoted to the Helix. Just a thought...

Oh yea... watch YouTube videos until you're blue in the face. :D
 
Everything rsimms said, do that. I've got the same unit and have been playing with it since last Summer. It takes some time, but it's a good unit when you learn its tricks. One thing I'll recommend when you're comfortable with it...shorten the scan range. I'm not sure what type of water you're fishing, but I shorten the scan range to improve the image on the screen as well as to fit where I'm fishing. Fish were more easily identifiable that way, although I use it more to look for structure than actual fish. Once you find a likely spot, you can zoom in and inspect it more closely.

Depending on the body of water you're on, you may find some cool stuff. We've scanned over sunken boats, a few cars, and a few remains of old houses from back before the lakes we fish on were lakes.
 

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