New Helix 5 G2 – now how do I set it up?

Hi all. I just made the change to a Helix from a traditional flasher. I look forward to trying a mix of the flasher, sonar and combo views.

That said some of the controls are either not as intuitive as I’d expect or kick me to a different view. I’ve checked out the sparse YouTube summaries but nothing seems to clearly and completely cover zoom controls and how they apply in each view, or fully describe other optimal settings like Hz or sensitivity (I swear I see it referenced in YouTube but it doesn’t jump out at me on the machine yet). Other normal stuff such as IR/CHIRP, gain, etc seem no big deal.

Curious to learn more from this group.

-Bruce

The first thing I did was print out the owners manual and put it in a three ring binder. I Then put in tabs labeled with different sections. It took a lot of time and ink and paper but man is it nice.

Gino wrote:

The first thing I did was print out the owners manual and put it in a three ring binder. I Then put in tabs labeled with different sections. It took a lot of time and ink and paper but man is it nice.

Good call Gino. I’ve been through it once online, but a printed version with highlights and tagging will be better for reference.

-Bruce

I downloaded the manual to my phone. Then you can search and learn while on the lake. Not as easy to read as a printed manual but much more portable.

My recommendation is to put it in simulation mode and go play around, it won’t get you exactly where you want to be for the hard stuff, but it will make you more comfortable with the controls, navigating, and spending less time cursing about how to do this or that and more time watching fish bite.

luttes wrote:

My recommendation is to put it in simulation mode and go play around, it won’t get you exactly where you want to be for the hard stuff, but it will make you more comfortable with the controls, navigating, and spending less time cursing about how to do this or that and more time watching fish bite.

Do you need a ducer plugged in? i was playing around in simulation mode but it was not working correctly.

sim mode doesn’t need a transducer attached to work

user mode should be set to advanced
setup your colors and info boxes any way you want
in graph mode you will probably want to enable the color a-scope but i turn off the color bar
I find it better if I manually adjust the max depth and displayed depth settings
I never use the circular flasher view
Typically I’m on the normal 2d sonar view and rarely use the zoom
I’ll manually set my top/bottom depth range on the display
Sensitivity is adjusted to see your jig
Surface clutter setting will allow more noise not only at the surface but throughout the water column – it can enhance the sensitivity at times
Scroll speed should be on max/ultra
I turn ice mode off – ice mode will automatically override many of the manual settings and makes it harder to dial in the unit
Switch fire max/clear mode – clear mode has some smoothing and noise reduction, max mode is the full sonar return for both frequencies (though your only using 200khz based with an ice ducer)
Turn off fish id
Manually adjusting the max depth is exactly like adjusting the gain on a Vex – it increases the amount of “power” of the transducer pings
Sensitivity adjusts the strength of sonar returns which are displayed on the screen (just like a Vex)
You can adjust the chirp frequency settings anyway you wish….play around and see what you like. The g2’s allow you change the frequency range and fine tune the cone angle I believe.
Once you get everything dialed in, you typically only have to change the depths to be displayed. If you switch baits you might have to tweak the sensitivity. It seems that most people who complain about fishing with a graph never take the time to figure out how to use one – they’re used to two knobs and a spinning motor lol! These are the same settings you would run through when using a Helix in open water if you want to get the most out of it – personally on open water I typically set everything to auto on my Helix and roll with it
Have fun!!!!

That sounds about exactly what I do , I could not go into that in my post having had to drink a few beers to take the chill out of me from crawling out of my deer stand last night. Mat is right on the money

Thanks Mat Pierce. Wow! I’ll play with some of this tonight – of course with a beverage per peer pressure from Gino ^^^.

I think that the slight change in the new G2 interface (from vids online) and the fact that the menus change based on view is just something to get used to. I do expect to ditch the flasher views after a few outings too.

-Bruce

yeah the graph views really shine in weeds and brush, you’ll be blown away

Hope this helps!