Ice Helix 7 G3 or G3N Question

Looking at picking up a new Ice Helix and have a question about the gps/mapping capability.

I know it has Hummingbird Base Maps standard on the unit, is this sufficient? Or are you pretty much forced to by the Lakemaster/Navionics chip to really use the unit the way it was made for.

You can get by with the base maps but the Lakemaster chip is clearly a upgrade.
I figured if I’m going to drop $800 on a sonar/gps another $150 on a Lakemaster chip was a no brainer.

Agree with ice cap. You will be much happier with the lakemaster. If you have the extra cash

x3 On board maps may be okay for navigation but if you want contours for fishing, spring for a chip.

I usually just buy the individual lake with the iphone app… usually about $10 per lake.

I purchased this unit this year and for sure want the lakemaster card. Plus if you have the auto chart feature you will want to purchase an additional SD card so you can make your own maps.

Has anyone used the smart strike card with the helix is it actually worth the 200 being it can sorta help predict where the fish maybe depending on the phases of the moon?

lrott2003 wrote:

if you have the auto chart feature you will want to purchase an additional SD card so you can make your own maps.

Only if you’re going to use it as an open-water unit. The ducer needs to be in the water while you’re moving in order to create Autochart mapping. Hard to do that on ice.

Spencer Haugen wrote:

Has anyone used the smart strike card with the helix is it actually worth the 200 being it can sorta help predict where the fish maybe depending on the phases of the moon?

I have used the smart strike. I think it is worth the extra. $200 for smart strike, $125 for regular state chip, so $75 more to get smart strike. It doesn’t use phases of the moon. It only works on lakes that are high def. It uses the contours to predict likely areas fish would be. Depending on the lake and fish population, I would say between 50% and 25% of the highlighted spot have fish on them. 2 guys I have took fishing at different times on different lakes seen it produce fish. They both went and bought smart strike chips. I got a good price at the NW sports show from Reeds, so it was only $40 more.

lrott2003 wrote:

I purchased this unit this year and for sure want the lakemaster card. Plus if you have the auto chart feature you will want to purchase an additional SD card so you can make your own maps.

I think there’s only one card slot in the 7… might be best to get the autochart zero card and then buy individual lakes… that way, you can use it make your own maps, assuming you’ll be mounting it on your boat for open-water season.

I have a G1 SI Helix 7 and a G2 DI Helix 7 and I’m interested in using the auto chart feature on the G2 in some places I fish in Lac Seul (Ontario). I do have Lakemaster Chips in both, had the Ontario chip (Lac Seul) in the G2 and the Midwest chip in the G1 unit. I switched them because I use the G2 on the ice here in MN and WI and the chip obviously has better contours than the base map and the Ontario chip wouldn’t cover this area. Now, I will install a blank 32gb chip in the G2 unit when I fish Lac Seul using and saving auto chart data on my favorite spots, and navigate with the G1 unit with the Ontario chip. I only wish the chips were easier to change out (tweezers), and QUESTIONS: is the blank chip max set at 32gb for the G2 Helix 7 unit? How long / how much data will it store? I assume all of the Marks/Icons/waypoints/routes I have saved are saved internally and won’t be lost when I install the blank chip?

Thanks,

LM

I wanted to point out one thing… your topic title is:

“Ice Helix 7 G3 or G3N Question”

The “N” has nothing to do with mapping & only indicates that one is a networkable unit vs non-networkable.

@lazermule might be worth a separate post in the humminbird forum as this can be better suited to a new topic