What i-Pilot link fish finder do you run?

[Dgallen]

I'm on the market for a humminbird unit that will link with my i-pilot trolling motor. As much as I'd love to be able to throw down $3,500 on a solix, my budget is more in the 6-700 range. I've been looking pretty seriously at the helix 7 chirp GPS G2N, does anyone have experience with this finder, specifically linking it with your i-pilot? Thanks in advance.
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[fish_hntr]

[quote Dgallen]I'm on the market for a humminbird unit that will link with my i-pilot trolling motor. As much as I'd love to be able to throw down $3,500 on a solix, my budget is more in the 6-700 range. I've been looking pretty seriously at the helix 7 chirp GPS G2N, does anyone have experience with this finder, specifically linking it with your i-pilot? Thanks in advance.[/quote]

Make sure you keep an eye on the bargain cave at Cabela's, last year I scored a new in the box gen 2 Lowrance HDS 7 Touch for $550 and recall seeing Hummingbird units as well that were the previous year's model for about half price, not to mention they are having a huge fishing sale right now on new units. When I was researching last year I found a ton of info on Walleye central's forum with great comparison and compatibility tests, I ended up going with the Motorguide/Lowrance setup due to the more accurate anchor/GPS feature over the Minn Kota.
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[Wyo307]

I have a generation one helix 10 SI hooked into my Ipilot link and that combo is amazing! When Looking at humminbird graphs you need to decide how important imaging is to you. If you want down imaging or side imaging its is going to cost you a bit more. You will love the autochart live function of the helix! If I was on your budget these are the units that I'd be looking at arranged by price:

Helix 7 G2N GPS--------------------$518.11

Helix 7 G2N DI----------------------$599.99

Generation one Helix 9 GPS------$669.99

Generation one Helix 9 DI--------$763.99

Helix 7 G2N SI----------------------$799.99

Helix 9 G2N GPS--------------------$799.99

If I was you and imaging wasn't too important I would by the generation one helix 9 gps. It will do everything that the gen 2s will and they are cheaper. One thing to note is the helix 7 only has one micro SD card slot where the 9s, 10s, and 12s have two full size SD card slots. That will become important if you ever want to be running a mapping card and a zero lines card to record your maps to at the same time (I do this all the time).

If you want the sites that I got these prices from let me know.
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[Dgallen]

That's really helpful, thank you. If you ever need a boating companion let me know, I'd love to see it in action before I end up buying one. I'm happy to buy gas, drinks, etc.
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[Wyo307]

I'd be happy to take you out sometime if I am ever in your area (I live in Wyoming), where are you located? If you have any questions about the humminbird stuff I feel like I know it all pretty well. They are an amazing tool.
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[kentd71]

i am looking at a Helix 7G2 DI and probally the N also . My main thing I want is the Autochart Live or maybe learns Insight Genesis. So how much mapping can be stored on a sd card? A 3 square mile lake ? I know 8 hours recording time on the zero lines card but then don't you have to format it or something on a computer? can the new data be stored on a regular sd card? What is the contour spacing? I may have to look at a 9 for the dual card slots but my limit now is $6-700
I have asked these questions in the stores and no one can answer them. One of the lakes I fish at has some mapping info for it and that is all.
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[wiperhunter2]

Huminbird is a great resource for any question you might have about their product, I've called them several times with question and problems with my Huminbird and they are always helpful.
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[Wyo307]

[quote kentd71]i am looking at a Helix 7G2 DI and probally the N also . My main thing I want is the Autochart Live or maybe learns Insight Genesis. So how much mapping can be stored on a sd card? A 3 square mile lake ? I know 8 hours recording time on the zero lines card but then don't you have to format it or something on a computer? can the new data be stored on a regular sd card? What is the contour spacing? I may have to look at a 9 for the dual card slots but my limit now is $6-700
I have asked these questions in the stores and no one can answer them. One of the lakes I fish at has some mapping info for it and that is all.[/quote]

Ok I think I can help clarify some things for you.

Humminbird's Autochart live has been an amazing tool for the lakes that I fish that are un mapped. Now with the latest update you can not only map depth but weedlines and bottom hardness as well. Anytime I am out fishing I am usually recording.

So there are two different kinds of recordings that you can do. The regular recordings can be saved to a regular SD card that you can buy from wherever. In order to see the maps that you created you must first take that recording and process it though the autochart pc program. Then once it has been processed you have to save it to a Humminbird zero lines SD card and put it back into the unit itself to view it. This is kind of the old way of doing things before Autochart live came out but these new units will still do it this way if you choose to. This method works with the xx9 and xx8 legacy series of Humminbird fish finders as well.

Now the new Autochart Live way allows you to instantaneously view your maps in real time while you are out on the lake driving around. You have a few things mixed up with this so I will try to clarify. First the head unit itself will hold up to 8 hours of recordings without an SD card installed. Once that is full it will alert you and if you keep recording it will erase all of the previous work that you have done. If you wish to keep recording at this point you will need to install a Humminbird zero lines SD card in the fish finder, a regular SD card will not work here! As soon as you install it in the graph it will pop up with a window saying all of the Autochart live data has been transferred to the zero lines card. Then you can go about recording as you would normally. As long as the zero lines card is installed in the graph it will automatically save all of your recordings to it, so you don't have to manually go in and change any of the settings.

Now as far as how much a zero lines card will hold I am not sure. I was worried about that when I first bought mine as well but I was told that you will most likely not fill it up in your lifetime. I think that is a little bit embellished but you get the idea. I will tell you this, I have been mapping 6 lakes in my area that are all about 10 miles long and 4 miles wide and I have about half of each of them mapped and haven't even touched the capacity of the zero lines card.

There are some other things that you should be aware of that Humminbird doesn't publish very well. First, an autochart Live recording cannot be modified without the autochart pc program. So if you forget to turn off the recording once and go tearing off down the lake with it on and your graph looses bottom for a second, there is not way to delete those bad data points without buying the program. The best price I have found for just the zero lines card is $73 and the program which comes with a zero lines card is $140 so I would highly recommend buying the program when you buy the zero lines card.

Next, your recordings should be taken at 5mph or less and make them short ie stop and start the recording often. Don't just turn it on and fish all day without stopping it. This will make it so if you have a bad set of data you can solve just that file and not deal with the rest of the good data.

Also your autochart live recordings that are saved to a zero lines SD card are not viewable on any unit that does not have autochart live on it. So if you were to say have a helix 7 G2 at the dash that you make the recording with and then have a legacy series (any of the 6xx, 7xx, 8xx, 9xx, 11xx) at the bow and want to see those maps you will have to have the autochart pc program to do the conversion to make it in a format that the older units can use. If you do the recordings the old way they are visible on any unit that has an SD card slot.

The contour spacing of the maps that you create can by modified by you in the settings menu for the autochart live. The smaller you make the spacing the more your unit will lag when loading the maps. It will go all the way down to 1ft intervals but I personally like it at about 3ft because in my lakes there are dramatic drops so this gives me a good balance of contour lines without being too cluttered.

I would also highly recommend to anyone that you get the networking capability in any new fish finder. I realize that it is more expensive but there are many reasons that make it worth the extra expense. If you ever decide to add an accessory to the your boat like an Ipilot Link system, Cannon Link, radar, another graph etc you will need the ethernet capability. Also if you ever decide to sell your unit you will have a much more desirable unit that will in return fetch a better price. Right now the old networkable 899s are still selling for $500-$600 when the non networking 897s are only in the $200 range. Just something to think about. I have a full ethernet network in my boat and it is amazing! I have the helix 10SI at the helm, a Helix 9 GPS at the bow and a Ipilot link on the bow as well. So no matter which piece I drop a waypoint on it shows up on all 3. Pretty incredible technology.


I am sure this is a lot to take in and I'm not sure it all makes sense so if you have any further questions let me know. I can even go out into the boat and make some videos for you if you would like to see something specific. I was very frustrated when doing all of this research myself but someone on another forum helped me tremendously so now I can do the same [bobhappy]
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[kentd71]

Thanks a lot, that clarified a lot of my questions. How far must you be from the previous path when making a map in autochart live?, or in another words how wide of a map will it make supposing the water is only 20 feet deep vs 40 feet? . I may be looking at g2n helix 9 so I can have two card slots. But at $200 more than the same as a helix 7 that is a lot for an extra card slot but the larger screen would be nice. Cabelas needs to put them on sale I can use my points to Partially pay for one.
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[Wyo307]

I would say that it takes about a 40ft wide swath on each pass and that doesn't change depending on how deep you are. Obviously the closer together that you make your passes the more accurate the map will be. If you really want an accurate map you need to cross hatch the area with you passes. The first set of passes in one direction may make your map look stair stepped if the lake is dropping off quickly but the next set of passes (perpendicular to the first) will smooth that out. That happens because it automatically assumes that the lake is flat directly under the boat and then blends it between passes.

If you have anymore questions just let me know!
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[kentd71]

If I get a helix 7 G2N DI and use a navonics card will it still record a map in autochart live and save it to the internal memory? Could I pull out the navonics card then occasionally put the zero lines card in and download the internal map to the card ? then put the navonics card back in until I need to download to the zero line card again ?
Just trying to figure out how I can use a map Card and the zero lines Card with one slot. Is side imaging worth the extra cost if I am only trout and Kokanee fishing? Thanks for the information so far, it has been a big help.
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[Wyo307]

Ok well you can definitely do what you are thinking about but you have to realize that once your maps are transfered over to the zero lines card you will not be able to see them unless that card is installed. You will be able to record up to 8 hours of maps on the internal memory before you start overwriting some on the internal memory. Once a zero lines card is installed it automatically takes all that data and puts it on that card and erases it from the internal memory.

So with the navionics card installed at most you will only be able to see the last 8 hours of recorded data on the map at the same time. You can view this recorded data over the top of the navionics or lakemaster data and you can adjust transparency ect.

As far as the SI goes it is really up to you and how you fish and what kind of water you fish. I don't use it a whole lot on mine because my lakes drop off so fast that it can barely read anything on the downhill side and on the uphill side it is so close to the boat it really isn't that useful either. Now this is just because my lakes go from the shore line to 150ft in about 60 yards or so but that isn't the case everywhere. I had my boat on Henry's Lake in Idaho last year fishing for trout and used the SI the entire time. That lake has a max depth of about 30ft so what you are seeing on the 2D sonar and the DI is a very narrow picture of what is underneath you where the SI was showing fish 100ft to either side of the boat. Once I marked them I just scrolled the courser over to them and dropped a waypoint on them and then when I turned around to make another pass I could go right by where that fish was and that put a lot of fish in the boat for me. So I guess it has its place it just depends on what kind of water you are fishing and how you like to fish.

Glad I could help
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[kentd71]

I fish at Henry's like about 50% of the time. I purchased a helix seven SI G2N chirp.
I have thought about having a Navonics Card in and then using the GPS to keep track of my auto chart recordings so I have good coverage when I am mapping.
When I started looking at the zero lines cards I got because some are regular zero line cards some are zero lines pro. Do you know what the differences? does the pro version have the PC program also?Where did you find the zero Lines card and the PC program for $140 I've yet to come across a price that low ?
If I record the soner data on the zero lines card along with the mapping do you know how many hours it will take to fill it up? Can I then delete the solar data with the PC program or on the unit and not affect the mapping data?
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[Wyo307]

Here is the link for the autochart program that comes with the zero lines card.

https://www.mygreenoutdoors.com/search.p...=autochart

This is the best deal that I have come across yet, I have bought some things from them before and have had no issues.

To my knowledge there isn't two different kinds of zero lines cards so the pro version that you are talking about I am guessing is the autochart pro pc program that comes with the zero lines card.

I have never recorded sonar readings at the same time as autochart data so I don't know how that would work. My guess would be that they are two different formats so you should be able to edit or delete one without affecting the other. I do however take a lot of snapshots of the screen that go onto that card as well as the mapping data and I am now over a year in to using this stuff and have probably close to 100 hrs of map data and 300+ snapshots on there and it isn't even close to half full yet so I think you would be fine.
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