I used my 597di with the open water transducer jimmy rigged on a rake one year, and after using the 2d exclusively last year with the ice ducer IMO no need for DI for ice. Way more info given off regular sonar.
They are unfortunately 20deg(200KHZ) and 60deg(83KHZ)
And the 60deg frequency does not play well with others? Or can they both have their setting changed to work.
Man a 60 deg must show you a huge cone footprint even in 10′ of water.
@mericaneagle what angle/frequency do you use?
In my experience with my Helix, the only time I ran into an issue with interference was in a house with another Helix…And yes, the cone footprint is something of giants. I used it on Red when hole hopping and it worked great in split screen (20/60 split), that’s about the only time it came in handy…You can see the fish in a large area around you and once it comes into view on the 20, you can really get to work on the fish. I almost always keep it in 20, but i’m used to a Proview transducer…
After a full year of use, I cannot with a sound heart say that I recommend the Helix Ice for someone as a primary unit that fishes aggressively. Mine is a secondary unit and it works great for just that purpose.
And yes, the cone footprint is something of giants. I used it on Red when hole hopping and it worked great in split screen (20/60 split)
On red…great idea. I wonder if you couldn’t tune it in nicely for shallow water weed hiding bluegills. That would be awesome.
But yes it might still be nice to keep the vex around as I would like to think I fish hard and quick….however fishing lazy is also enjoyable 
Here is a battery update. The helix 7 draws 0.9amp on max brightness. I dimmed the brightness to 1 and made the background black. The unit has been running on a 9amphr battery for 28hrs and it is still over half battery.
I don’t have a transducer attached but the GPS and sonar are enabled.
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This will allow you to use both 200/455khz 2d for ice fishing – this gives you the narrower 16* 455khz cone angle for fishing deeper water. It also works better in weeds. You can do a 200/455khz split screen graph view. I can’t stress enough how much of an advantage it is to using both frequencies while ice fishing.
Thanks Matt, is it a pain aiming the open water ducer with the cord looped or does it hang correct most of the time?
In the 200/455khz split screen, what are the different cone angles are you reading…16deg and…? EDIT found it was a 16deg and 28deg
What are some of the advantages of having both frequencies? Less interference with other units and split screen and weed fishing with 16 deg cone? Anything else?
Hey Evan,
What were you using to measure the draw on your Hummingbird? With the ice season about to start I wouldn’t mind testing my Lowrance HDS7. I used it last year and it was fun and worked great (especially the GPS+chip which was a game changer) but I would love to know what kind of setting will help my battery to last the longest.
Also, lets get out and fish soon.
The simplest way would be to buy a multimeter. The Kelvin 50LE is the cheapest I’ve used, typically found under $5. Northern Tool sells a yellow version for $8.
What were you using to measure the draw on your Hummingbird? With the ice season about to start I wouldn’t mind testing my Lowrance HDS7. I used it last year and it was fun and worked great (especially the GPS+chip which was a game changer) but I would love to know what kind of setting will help my battery to last the longest.
Also, lets get out and fish soon.
PHIL!!!! I miss you! I didn’t measure my draw. I just know from the h-bird website the max draw is 0.9amps. But mine must be drawing .2-.4amps (on black background and lowest brightness) if the 9amp is powering it that long.
Sorry for dragging this up from the basement but some comments have me confused.
It took a couple readings before it dawned on me a lot are not discussing the ICE unit.
On the 20/60 transducer (that the Ice version comes with) just what exactly is wrong with the 60 degree or should I say why would the standard (boat) transducer frequencies be “better” for ice fishing? I am not seeing why the ice ducer coming with only 20 and 60 is “unfortunate”.
No, I am not up to speed on the gazillion brands and units out there but I’ve been looking at this one for a double duty unit for ice and my small summer boat.
Another question is on the flasher mode (that I understand ONLY the ICE unit has?) is does the flasher mode have a zoom?
I’m horribly disappointed in HB’s description of the unit and lack of video(s) but some short ones are on youtube but a video showing the difference between units would be AWESOME.
I’m more thinking of buying the ICE version and going with a different transducer for summer…….but I’m up in the air on what I should get. I RARELY fish deeper than 20-25 feet and fish 10-15 90 percent of the time (open to change once I use a sonar LOL)
Again, sorry for dragging this back up but I’m flat confused about the whole summer/winter transducers being “better or worse”. I’d THINK a 60 degree (lower frequency) would be flat awesome for LOOKING in shallower water. Switching to the narrower one would be the option when fishing IF wanting to watch your jig.
For the record, research shows the 60 degree gives a “cone” with roughly one foot of diameter on lake bottom per foot of water. The 20 degree, roughly 1/3 of that.. Just a “rule of thumb” not carved in stone.
God Bless for any help.
Steve
I appreciate all the setting suggestions and have saved the link to this post should I pull the trigger on one
My apologies to Humminbird. They just sent me a link to the manual on this unit in which there is 163 pages of information with photos.
The transducers and zoom are explained in detail.
It will take me a day to read it and a week to understand….but
Thanks, Humminbird.
Steve Sr could you post the link that you received from Humminbird? I would like to take a look at that manual.
The biggest factor that I did not see discussed is the difference between the Gen 1 (G1) and the Gen 2 (G2) units. I had previously used a G1 587 and recently tried my dad’s G1 Helix 5, both of which operated “gen 1” ice software, which is what I have seen in the screenshots in this thread. These units were “usable” on the ice, but struggled with return delay and interference that took a lot of work to remedy using the noise reduction setting.
I bought a Helix 7 G2N for my boat bow this winter and rigged it up for ice. The difference between the G1 units and the G2 units with their updated processor power/software/CHIRP Iceducer is like comparing a model T to a Ferrari. The G2 unit also has very clear CHIRP IR settings that eliminates interference completely. I was dubious at first but thought hey, it is a good boat unit and can likely be a usable backup to my FL-20 on the ice. I’ve had it on the ice 3 times and the Vex is now a firm backup unit going forward. It is essentially comparable in performance to the Marcum LX units, but with mapping capability. Seriously impressed.
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The biggest factor that I did not see discussed is the difference between the Gen 1 (G1) and the Gen 2 (G2) units. I had previously used a G1 587 and recently tried my dad’s G1 Helix 5, both of which operated “gen 1” ice software, which is what I have seen in the screenshots in this thread. These units were “usable” on the ice, but struggled with return delay and interference that took a lot of work to remedy using the noise reduction setting.
I bought a Helix 7 G2N for my boat bow this winter and rigged it up for ice. The difference between the G1 units and the G2 units with their updated processor power/software/CHIRP Iceducer is like comparing a model T to a Ferrari. The G2 unit also has very clear CHIRP IR settings that eliminates interference completely. I was dubious at first but thought hey, it is a good boat unit and can likely be a usable backup to my FL-20 on the ice. I’ve had it on the ice 3 times and the Vex is now a firm backup unit going forward. It is essentially comparable in performance to the Marcum LX units, but with mapping capability. Seriously impressed.
Bioguy has nailed it. The G2 Helix will provide improved interference rejection and longer battery life. I am seriously considering this option myself. I had a conversion with a woman in tech support who was fantastic to work with.
I think using one piece of electronics for ice and open water is very beneficial. If you use the GPS version all your way points in one unit.I can also add that from past experience with my other Humminbird products firmware up dates happen quickly. If you ever have a question they answer the phone and provide good information.
Please note that if you intend to network with another humminbird graph or Terrova Ulterra trolling motor you will want the network version or N model
the issue with the 60* 83khz beam is its to wide to get a clear picture in brush, weeds and deep water
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bioguy wrote:</div>
The biggest factor that I did not see discussed is the difference between the Gen 1 (G1) and the Gen 2 (G2) units. I had previously used a G1 587 and recently tried my dad’s G1 Helix 5, both of which operated “gen 1” ice software, which is what I have seen in the screenshots in this thread. These units were “usable” on the ice, but struggled with return delay and interference that took a lot of work to remedy using the noise reduction setting.I bought a Helix 7 G2N for my boat bow this winter and rigged it up for ice. The difference between the G1 units and the G2 units with their updated processor power/software/CHIRP Iceducer is like comparing a model T to a Ferrari. The G2 unit also has very clear CHIRP IR settings that eliminates interference completely. I was dubious at first but thought hey, it is a good boat unit and can likely be a usable backup to my FL-20 on the ice. I’ve had it on the ice 3 times and the Vex is now a firm backup unit going forward. It is essentially comparable in performance to the Marcum LX units, but with mapping capability. Seriously impressed.
Bioguy has nailed it. The G2 Helix will provide improved interference rejection and longer battery life. I am seriously considering this option myself. I had a conversion with a woman in tech support who was fantastic to work with.
I think using one piece of electronics for ice and open water is very beneficial. If you use the GPS version all your way points in one unit.I can also add that from past experience with my other Humminbird products firmware up dates happen quickly. If you ever have a question they answer the phone and provide good information.
Please note that if you intend to network with another humminbird graph or Terrova Ulterra trolling motor you will want the network version or N model
Not only improved interference rejection and battery life, but zero-lag response time and exceptional target separation too.
There’s 0 lag on the g1 helix
There’s 0 lag on the g1 helix
Put a G1 next to a G2 and you’ll see what I mean.
sonar response time…0 lag on a helix 5 g1. Tell me what you mean
All I’m saying is that when I put a G1 Helix and G2 Helix side by side the G2 readout is substantially more sensitive and responsive overall on the G2. When I put a FL-20, FL-18, and FL-8 in the neighborhood of them the ability of the G2 CHIRP IR to eliminate interference is FAR better than the G1 units noise reduction. Overall the G1 units are serviceable, but I would not use one as a primary unit like I would a G2.
I’ve not fished a G2, but I’m certain the G1 units have some visual latency. I’d put it on the order of 25ms, which is marginally perceptible to most individuals. As usual, some snowflakes are more sensitive to the phenomenon than others.
Here are the settings that will negatively impact sonar response time on a helix, g1 and g2
max depth setting – if you set your max depth to greater than 5′ of actual depth it will slow the response time…cpu is translating more sonar returns than needed
noise filter – cpu is reducing display of read sonar responses and trimming them down
surface cutter – reducing visible surface clutter will induce latency
switchfire clear mode – max mode is raw returns (faster), clear mode is filtered (slower)
max depth and noise filter have the largest impact….if you leave the max depth in auto it provides some inconstant results. Turning on ice mode does the same
I typically run mine in advanced, all manual settings for max depth, upper range, lower range, surface clutter is generally pretty decent, max mode on switch fire, color a-scope on (I only use graph mode and typically run 455/200khz split screen), and I never turn on the noise filter – don’t need it. If you have a g1 setup correctly you should notice no difference in response time compared to a g2
There are a lot of people who leave their Helix in normal mode, everything set to auto, toss the transducer in the hole and complain that it doesn’t perform well. If folks don’t take the time to learn the menus, figure out what impact each setting has, and setup the unit for best performance they’ll never get the full potential out of their Helix.
I have never ran a Gen 1, but i had heard a lot of issues about the sonar being inadequate vs traditional units and the interference being an issue. It sounds like with some setup you can get it to work well.
My experience with the G2 has be just awesome, my only comment is that the depth auto range isn’t the greatest for hole hoping and i tend to leave it in manual mode and dial it to where i need it. Everything about this unit is as good or better than any mechanical flasher i have ever used.
The helix units might have a bit of a learning curve to get the settings dialed in compared to a traditional flasher but it didn’t take long to figure it out mat peirce has good info on his post. These units are awesome and i have been very pleased with it so far.
Okay so from what I have read on this thread, and trust me it is very helpful, I should not be using this with traditional flasher screen rather in 2d sonar mode?
I have the Gen 1 Helix 5 Si/GPS combo and I bought the ice ducer. I run in ice fishing mode at 200 kHz and sensitivity at 10-11 but it seems that there is a significant lag in jig reaction to my vexilar. If I run in traditional mode instead of Ice Fishing mode and use the 2d sonar view then that should eliminate that?
I love having my maps on the ice and am carrying this unit around for that and fish with my vex but would be nice to not have to do that.
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