Hey guys, fishing was a little slow today so I took a quick video going over my favorite feature of Garmin’s 2D capabilities, the zoom.
I hope a few of you can take something away from it.
Wishing you all a vurrryyyy Murrrrrry Christmas!
Absolutely adore this machine. Keep up the good work with the tutorials.
Nice post. There needs to be a like button!
I debated between the Garmin and Humminbird Helix Ice 7 G3 for quite awhile before finally deciding on the Humminbird. Probably the main reason was I was already familiar with the Humminbird settings. I knew no one who fished with the Garmin so I never seen one in action. I’m still intrigued by the Garmin and the more I read and see here the more impressed I become.
I’m actually tempted to buy one and fish both side by side and see which one I like better. The Garmin looks very intuitive and probably would not take long to learn. The touchscreen is nice. But then again it takes about the same amount of time to lean over and press a button as it does to pinch and spread a touch screen. And if you have gloves on you can still press a button.
And once I’m set up fishing I really do very little adjusting.
On Garmin’s web site they describe the touch screen as “Keyed-assist touchscreen combo” So do you have to key in some settings from a touch keyboard? I can see that being a issue as I’m known to have fat finger syndrome when it comes to keyboards. Especially if they are small like what’s on your phone.
Oh I will add that if I mark a fish in the water column my first reaction is to get my jig up or down to him and try to get him in the bucket rather than zoom in on him but that is darn slick the way it works.
So @B-man keep posting video’s and you may convert me! 
Ice Cap if you already have a new Helix I’d just stick with it and learn the system if I were you. If you tried a Garmin for a day you’d be selling your Helix 
There’s more custom page options available, and favorites buttons to save them.
The Garmin does have a touch keyboard, it’s big and easy to use, about the only time you need to use it is for changing a waypoint name or manually entering coordinates from a buddy for a new waypoint.
The Helix is a awesome piece of equipment and I like it. I also like the Lakemaster chip far better than Navionics. I had Navionics in my last Bird and like Lakemaster much better.
But the Humminbird is a complex piece of equipment. At least it is to me. I would advise anyone thinking of buying one to be prepared to read the manual probably several times if you are going to use it to it’s capabilities. The manual that comes with it is a good thumbnail but you have to download the full users manual online to really get in depth with it. Don’t know if the Garmin is similar in that respect but from what I have seen it seems to be more intuitive. So because of this it’s easy to get lazy and just use the very basic features you need. To me you have to really apply yourself to learn the Humminbird in order to get your moneys worth out of it.
For instance I still haven’t figured out how to erase tracks on my gps. I have tracks all over on my Red Lake map from several trips there running around on the lake. I’ve gone into the menu and selected the delete all way points, tracks and routes but all the tracks are still there. So it’s not hard to get frustrated using the Humminbird at times. But I’m not the most techy guy around and don’t get year round exposure to it as I haven’t used it on open water. This coming open water season that will change that as I will use my G3 on open water.
If I knew the Garmin was that much more easy to use and understand I would be very tempted to make the switch.
Good timing B-man I’ve been trying to decide between Garmin and Hbird. This tutorial is helpful. Thanks
In that video I only showed the 2D with split zoom (probably my favorite to use), but there are a ton of customizable views you can build.
If you like a traditional flasher, you can choose that alone, with vertical flashers on the sides with zoom, split screens with 2D and flasher, split screens with 2D split zoom with a flasher, flasher with a split screen with maps, etc etc. You can also choose the sizes, you might want 1/3 of the screen a flasher and 2/3rds 2D
Lots of options, when you build one you like it’s easily saved as a shortcut. Simply hit one of the four push buttons on the right side of the unit to get to it, just like a radio station.
Here’s a screen shot of a traditional flasher with a vertical flasher on the right, and the zoomed in portion on the left. One of many, many views you can pick/build.
Some other units allow you to do similar things, but Garmin is the only one with an intuitive touchscreen and favorites buttons.
Another thing I didn’t touch on was scroll speed when in 2D. I see a lot of guys have it ripping by….it doesn’t do you any good having 1 or 2 or 3 seconds of history on your screen. At that speed it’s really no different than a flasher and you’re missing the best part of 2D.
Slow that baby down. More history is better. My preferred scroll speed is 3/10 with a split screen (about 30 seconds of history).
Screenshot_20191226-093144.png
Probably a dumb question but what is the difference between the SV and CV? Is it just the transducers? As in side imaging vs 2D ClearVu down imaging?
Probably a dumb question but what is the difference between the SV and CV? Is it just the transducers? As in side imaging vs 2D ClearVu down imaging?
Exactly.
Different transducer and different software to run the side imaging in open water.
Other than that they should be identical.
I love my Echomap 73CV! So glade I went that route!
Thanks for the input you guys. That Hodges Marine link from the other thread is a pretty good deal.
Does a guy need to upgrade to a Lithium battery? I’m assuming the 7Ah in the ice bundle is a SLA that would only get a few hours of use on a charge.
Thanks for the input you guys. That Hodges Marine link from the other thread is a pretty good deal.
Does a guy need to upgrade to a Lithium battery? I’m assuming the 7Ah in the ice bundle is a SLA that would only get a few hours of use on a charge.
I tested my 73sv plus before with and without the transducer running with the blue color pallete.
The highest I could get it to draw (brightness at 100% and transducer on) was something like .47 amps, down to around .2 amps at 20% brightness.
In theory you’d get around 14 hours on a 7AH battery at or near 100% brightness, not factoring in sub freezing temps.
If you fish hard or multiple days without charging I’d definitely upgrade to a 12AH Amped Outdoors, or just pick up a spare SLA to get you through a really long day.
(hopefully) final question: Can anyone tell the difference between these 2 links? They appear identical as both include the GT10HN-IF transducer, so I can’t tell why the price difference. The Garmin SKU is different by 1 digit.
https://www.hodgesmarine.com/gar010-01893-15-garmin-echomaptrade-plus-73cv-ice-fishing-bund.html
https://www.hodgesmarine.com/gar010-01893-16-garmin-echomaptrade-plus-73cv-ice-fishing-bund.html
https://www.hodgesmarine.com/gar010-01893-16-garmin-echomaptrade-plus-73cv-ice-fishing-bund.html
The -16 has the g3 maps with Navionics data rolled in. The other is pre-navionics.
Thanks fishwater
You should get the Navionics upgrade for free with the $553 one, just need to do it within 12 months of registration. Give Garmin a call or email to confirm 
Thanks for the input you guys. That Hodges Marine link from the other thread is a pretty good deal.
Does a guy need to upgrade to a Lithium battery? I’m assuming the 7Ah in the ice bundle is a SLA that would only get a few hours of use on a charge.
I get 20 hours of use on my 10AH battery if I let it get low. I usually charge it every 2 outings.
This is a 9.8AH Lithium similar to what I have. Super light battery.
https://preview.tinyurl.com/qutmn5f
Do you need to baby these units (garmin/helix) as if the screen gets cracked I’m guessing by by unit? or is there a repair like a iphone type of thing? I’m not hard on units but just a little worried if it bumped in the right place then it would crack. I use a vex at the moment but thinking about a switch over to this type of unit
Do you need to baby these units (garmin/helix) as if the screen gets cracked I’m guessing by by unit? or is there a repair like a iphone type of thing? I’m not hard on units but just a little worried if it bumped in the right place then it would crack. I use a vex at the moment but thinking about a switch over to this type of unit
I’ve had a Helix 7 for 4 years now I guess. Never felt like I had to baby it as much as you just use common sense when handling it. You don’t just throw it in the sled or leave it sitting on a counter top when you move the house so it crashes to the floor. Just common sense care and you should not have a problem.
If you should crack or break the screen you’re only recourse would be to send it back to the factory for repair I’m sure.
is this right? you need a special card for the humminbird and just a standard SD card for the garmin?
is this right? you need a special card for the humminbird and just a standard SD card for the garmin?
Correct. I think Garmin’s support up to 32GB, but that may have increased on new units. You also get preloaded maps on Garmin.
I have a 64gb in my Echomap 73cv.
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