Beware of the 788 ci DI!!!!

Unreliable GPS software clocks me at 4.8 mph in my driveway on the trailer. Cannot troll with it as it loses it’s direction at slow speeds! Other than that it’s awesome ;<(

Where do you have it mounted? I have a 788ci that performs great. Might want to consider a call to hb support

There may be a software update for it. Check that out and let us know. A friend of mine bought one and had issues out of the box until he updated the software, and it has been fine since the update.

Believe me I have been on the phone with CS more times than I care to recount. I have also tried the updates and adjustments all to no avail. I truly believe the processor just cannot handle all the demands on it. As I have used the 788 ci many times with none of the issuse the DI unit has. It doesn’t make sense that they would change software of a functioning GPS unit.

My dad’s 788 does the same thing. All updates are installed. HB tried to feed me some BS in an email that they all do that when sitting still. I called customer service while I had my Garmin in my hand and she tried to tell me the same crap. I asked her why my Garmin reads zero when sitting still then… Needless to say, they gave me an I.D.# and it will be getting sent in in November.

Just an update. Humminbird sent me a new unit because of another issue, they also sent me an external antenna because of the GPS speed issues. Eevrything works perfect now, including speeds under 0.5mph!

Interesting…I have that same unit. I don’t pay much attention to speed but have noticed that if I am going down the bank with the trolling motor then stop for any period of time it quits reading depth/structure/etc. Once I start moving again it reads fine. Do you think this is a linked issue?

The unit needs movement to read and draw the image on the screen, especially for DI. Sitting still it just redraws the same thing over and over. It should read the depth all the time though, moving or not.

I just have the 788ci and mine done the same thing. Not bad enough for action, but a little annoying while trying to troll.

My fishing partner has this same unit and it did not have an external antenna. After reading forums, testimonials, calling HB many times, he finally got the OK from HB to send the unit back in. They sent his unit back WITH an external antenna, issue SOLVED!!!! Seems some of these units had an issue with the internal GPS units and needed the puck mounted outside. I’ve fished with my partner many times and the unit is now flawless. I believe HB knows these units have issues and all it takes is a little strongarm to get them to send you puck antennas.

So how many of you have had issues with the GPS up loading data on the screen very slowly. At 30mph and the gps zoomed out to what I would think is a reasonable setting I can still out run new data showing up on the screen.

The next issue is reading bottom in shallow water. Mine typically starts acting up in depths less than 5′. Been playing around with adjusting the transducer for close to 2 months now with no better results. Moved the transducer today and now its hit and miss at anything shallower than 8′. Any thoughts on this?

That’s how mine is. I am always running out of new data. I have to drive slower and keep it zoomed way out so it can keep up. I see also that I am not the only one that has the speed fluctuating while standing still syndrome. I have been threatening myself to contact them; maybe I will have to give them a call.

I mounted mine on my ATV. I was in hopes of getting some time with it on the ice but so far that hasn’t happened much. The couple of times I did it sure was nice compared to a small hand held.

WS

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So how many of you have had issues with the GPS up loading data on the screen very slowly. At 30mph and the gps zoomed out to what I would think is a reasonable setting I can still out run new data showing up on the screen.

The next issue is reading bottom in shallow water. Mine typically starts acting up in depths less than 5′. Been playing around with adjusting the transducer for close to 2 months now with no better results. Moved the transducer today and now its hit and miss at anything shallower than 8′. Any thoughts on this?

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Mike… Set your max depth to 25 feet deeper than you ever plan to use. I think the default is 1500 feet. Mine is set to 100 max depth.

Mike,

Most of the HB units have had problems in shallow water. There is a software update available that helped my 958 out a ton. If you haven’t already, start an account at Humminbird’s website, register your unit, download the new software, and try updating the software on your 788 to see if it helps.

Can’t help you on the GPS running out of data issue. I think all you can really do is zoom out more.

At 30mph, I have to put mine to the 200ft zoom level. When I get to where I’m going, I’ll move it back into the 100′ or 50′. The lakemaster chip has a lot of information to load up. As for shallow water, I haven’t had any problems with mine. Mine seems to be accurate up to about 2-3 ft.

I had the speed issue also. That was finally fixed when Humminbird sent me at their cost an external antenna. Know all is well. I also had the problem in shallow water and fixed that by changing my max depth setting to read around 75′ to 100′ instead of the max depth limit that was listed. Everything now seems to be working correctly.