Helix 8 or 9 ice

Has anyone used the helix 8 or 9 for ice fishing? I know the 7 is about perfect for ice fishing but would like to use it in the summertime too.
Battery consumption?
Bulky?
Carrying case
Overkill?

Humminbird.com says 1 amp of power draw for both.

I can tell you The 7 only just barely fits in a 5 gal bucket when it’s in the humminbird ice pack. Assume the 8 or 9 won’t if that’s important to you.

If you’re a wheelhouse guy or generally not mobile it might be a use case for you. On the condition that you got it for open water and don’t want another unit dedicated for ice fishing. You’ll need to make your own case or shuttle.

For me, the size and amp draw are just too much but everyone’s situation is different. My buddy is fishing a 5 right next to my 7, not seeing a big plus to the extra screen size so far on ice. Open water is a different story.

I just converted my 10 to an ice unit. I believe the 8, 9 and 10’s all have the same outer housing and the only difference is the smaller units have larger black area between the screen and the housing. I have a helix 9 as well and decided to do the 10 after doing an amp draw test on both and that they are exactly the same size and weight. The unit uses 0.75 amps on 6 brightness and I can run it for 21 hours on an amped 18ah battery that I put on the humminbird ice conversion kit.

Here it is up at LOtW last week.

Attachments:

1. 

   982A7C98-ED46-4515-84AB-73ED5D84F069.jpeg
   

And here it is in November when I built it.

Attachments:

1. 

   E7955EF4-A731-4B7F-93BE-7BEF13D0E5DE.jpeg
   

patk wrote:

If you’re a wheelhouse guy or generally not mobile it might be a use case for you. On the condition that you got it for open water and don’t want another unit dedicated for ice fishing. You’ll need to make your own case or shuttle.

For me, the size and amp draw are just too much but everyone’s situation is different. My buddy is fishing a 5 right next to my 7, not seeing a big plus to the extra screen size so far on ice. Open water is a different story.

You can buy a shuttle conversion from humminbird that is just bolt and go. Here is the kit. It comes with the better of the two ice ducers and cables and it is somewhere south of 200 bucks for the kit. No battery so grab a high AH lithium.

Attachments:

1. 

   8CE8E251-3C84-4165-B891-762E221DB25E.jpeg
   

I picked up an 8 this year. I get 14 hours off the Marcum Brute 10ah I picked up to go with it, need to set in night mode, and I keep the screen at about a 4. Only soft case that’ll fit is a Clam gear bag.

Attachments:

1. 

   20201202_183026.jpg
   

Oh yeah, I have the ice kit mentioned above too.

Attachments:

1. 

   20201024_192148.jpg
   

I like the size of the 8. Not worried about a bucket. Looking for dual-use.
Like the shuttle for the larger size Wildlifeguy.
I also see bird is not updating the 7 to G4. Would rather get new vs older model.
Thanks

My only complaint on the shuttle is I wish they’d have extended the handle a bit, or canted it back some. Unless you have the unit set up high on something, the angle you need to put the screen at to see really restricts access to the handle and makes it uncomfortable to carry around, particularly with gloves on.

Wildlifeguy wrote:

My only complaint on the shuttle is I wish they’d have extended the handle a bit, or canted it back some. Unless you have the unit set up high on something, the angle you need to put the screen at to see really restricts access to the handle and makes it uncomfortable to carry around, particularly with gloves on.

Does it come with a soft case or just the shuttle for the larger units?
Bad handle design but if in a case can use case handle.

Thanks

No factory soft case for units above 7 inch screen is my understanding. This is the bag I’m using, it fits, barely. Screen isn’t the issue so much as the round base of the shuttle.

Attachments:

1. 

   Screenshot_20210108-181341_Chrome.jpg