I just opened a birthday gift from my wife and it is a new depth finder for my Dominator. I have been wanting to get one but haven’t done much research so I am not sure if this is the one I want or not. My main goal is to have something that actually shows fish and has the depth contour. Is this a good model to have or should I return it and upgrade? I want to get the right thing the first time.
I just installed one on my boat last month. Have only had it out a couple of times, but I am liking it so far. Haven’t done much using GPS yet but it seems to do what I need it to. Haven’t decided on which lake maps chip to go with yet either.
I’d return it and get a string and tie a rock to it. Then tie a knot every foot on the string. 
Seriously, I can hardly wait to try it out. We might even get a bite on Mille Lacs now.
I just used a Helix non DI Sonar up in Ontario and it was solid. Marked fish great, just smaller.
You won’t be able to see fish on the DI like you would in 2d sonar. You can pick out pods of bait fish and sometimes fish show up as a dot. DI is more for finding structure to fish other then finding fish.
I have the Helix 5 Si what is the best video or place to learn what your are looking at in each view? Mine seems to work great just don’t know what I am looking at exactly.
I have the Helix 5 Si what is the best video or place to learn what your are looking at in each view? Mine seems to work great just don’t know what I am looking at exactly.
Try youtube, it’s been good for me to learn more. Most of the tips and lessons should be independent of which model you have as long as it’s the same brand. check out Jason Halfen and/or Doug Vahrenberg. Halfen’s SI seminar is pretty good.
Will take more than 1 video to learn your depth finder.
Start here:
http://www.bbcboards.net/humminbird-image-interpretation/
Read your manual. It explains HOW your sonar works. Understanding exactly what is happening is the only way to understand what you are seeing.
What creates an Arc for example –
What the colors mean.
How SI sonar is entirely different than 2D sonar, yet in many ways the same.
When on the water learning. Start with things you know.
Go by a dock – look at your screen. You might be surprised to see what a dock looks like. By understanding the technology and how the SI works, you’ll be able to understand why the dock shows up on your screen like it does.
Go by a sunken tree, the shoreline, weed edge, etc…Things you know – then see how it shows on the SI.
Again, Spend time on BBC. There are years of screencaptures and explainations to the images.
The other sources mentioned have bits and pieces of info.
Like mentioned, the helix operates no differently than the origional side imaging unit that’s 10+ years old. The technology didn’t change. So start reading those threads.
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