Bought a used boat this summer and it came with a 698ci HD with side and down imaging. For an older unit I’ve been impressed with it. I’d like to upgrade to a larger screen to be able to read the SI more clearly, but I’d like to keep the current transducer if at all possible. The ducer is mounted pretty much perfectly with consistent performance at high speed and I’ve read too many threads from folks struggling to accomplish that, so I’m hesitant to mess with it.
The ducer I have is the “XNT 9 SI 180 T – Transom Mount Side Imaging Down Imaging Transducer” and the Bird website says it’s compatible with HELIX 7 CHIRP SI GPS G2N and HELIX 9 SI GPS and also with the 899CI HD SI. So, my questions:
1.) Which of those three units would folks recommend? Primarily looking at the 2 HELIX units as opposed to tracking down an 899. On one hand I’d lean toward the HELIX 7 because it’s the 2nd gen unit, but the 9-inch screen would be nice. Wonder why the 2nd generation of the HELIX 9 used a different ducer?
2.) Anyone run this transducer with other units that you’d recommend over the 3 listed?
Thanks.
