Transducer is only 3 weeks old. According to Humminbird the new 1.90 software update doesn’t apply to G3 models so I am stuck with the 1.83 software for now.
No dropping, dragging of transducer, I am pretty particular and treat my gear well. I will wait and see what Humminbird says. New ice transducer is probably step #1 and if the functionality is still subpar then I’m thinking it may be a software issue.
I had it set up so the transducer was basically flush with bottom of the ice (+ or – a couple inches, ice was about 40” thick so hard to know exactly). I didn’t want it dangling too far below the ice line b/c I thought it may get tangled if a fish was on.
Do you think having it down farther well clear of the ice would give better returns?
Here is a pic of my screen in 12 ft of water max mode and full gain of twenty. Lure used was a medium size jig with a minnow on hook. Screen is hard to see b/c it was bright out but you can just see one tiny blue spot on the graph view (right window).
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do you have it set for auto depth?
Yeah auto depth most of the time. I set it manually as well which helped prevent the display from being erratic at times.
Even on max mode with gain set to full (20) I couldn’t pick up my lures very well at all. We fished in 10-20ft of water. I took pictures and a video and Humminbird wants me to send the results in so they can analyze ice mode on the Helix 7 G3. I’m sure a software update (when it becomes available for the G3 units) will improve the functionality of the unit.
Ice mode is on and yes separate transducer for ice fishing. With the gain turned up to 20 (max) in clear mode it wouldn’t pick up a jig or lure in 13 ft of water. Also with the zoom in split screen the zoom screen was quite erratic and did not know where it wanted to stay. The one thing I didn’t turn on after restoring to default options was ‘max mode’ so I’m hopeful that will drastically improve things. I was also told by Humminbird that there are no updates for G3 models (just G2 units at this time).
I just picked up a new Helix 7 G3 and I am definitely disappointed. Not trolling here but the fish hunter bobber I had was superior in recognizing bottoms and lures. I only get the odd blimp of my largest lures on max or near max settings. And lots of noise and bottom moving. I have software 1.83 and it sounds like that maybe the issue. I will try to update software and see what happens.
