Humminbird Helix 7

[diamond k]

Anyone with any experience with this unit. Looking to upgrade and am considering this unit with side and down imaging

[RavYak]

If you are serious about wanting side imaging I would ditch the 7 and look at the 9. The screen on 7 just isn't big enough to realize the value of side imaging imo. Which is the reason I would then ditch the 9 and look at the 10... The 10 has a larger screen, higher definition screen and higher definition transducer. Obviously the 10 is a lot more expensive then the 7 but if you settle with the 7 I think you will find the side imaging won't be extremely useful although I believe that is what our fraser guide was using but seeing a 4+ ft sturgeon on side imaging is a lot easier then a 20 in walleye.

[deerguy]

I plan on grabbing a 7/9 for my dad's birthday for his Kayak. A 10 is way to big. If you are stuck on the 10 then wait for the 12 to come out and get that.

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by deerguy

I plan on grabbing a 7/9 for my dad's birthday for his Kayak. A 10 is way to big. If you are stuck on the 10 then wait for the 12 to come out and get that.

12 is too big for me(although on a boat with room cannot go wrong with a bigger screen).

A 9 would be nice for my kayak but considering the 10's advantages it is definitely the way I would go. The way better screen resolution alone is worth it.

Edit: I just looked at the details and the Helix 9 is the exact same physical dimensions as Helix 10, just a smaller screen with lower resolution.

[deerguy]

Originally Posted by RavYak

12 is too big for me(although on a boat with room cannot go wrong with a bigger screen).

A 9 would be nice for my kayak but considering the 10's advantages it is definitely the way I would go. The way better screen resolution alone is worth it.

Edit: I just looked at the details and the Helix 9 is the exact same physical dimensions as Helix 10, just a smaller screen with lower resolution.

Weird. I was at BPS just today and they looked sizeable different. I may have just been looking at the 7 and the 10? I thought the 7 looked pretty nice.

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by deerguy

Weird. I was at BPS just today and they looked sizeable different. I may have just been looking at the 7 and the 10? I thought the 7 looked pretty nice.

Yes the 9 and 10 are much larger then the 7.

The 7 I am sure is a decent unit. My point is simply that if side imaging is one of the main reasons you want one of these units then you should buy a larger screen if you can afford it and it works in your situation.

I currently use a 987c SI which has a 7 inch screen and it is the very smallest screen I would want for side imaging. A lot of the time it is tough to tell what you are seeing just because it is so small on the screen. I watch the videos of the pros using their 12 inch screens and the side imaging is soooo much easier to read to me it just makes sense if you want to take advantage of side imaging to buy the larger screen.

But another reason to go for the 9 or 10 which I forgot to mention before is that with the Helix 9, 10 and 12 models you can use autochart live mapping. This is not available on the Helix 7. Autochart is the reason I am interested in a Helix.

[deerguy]

Originally Posted by RavYak

Yes the 9 and 10 are much larger then the 7.

The 7 I am sure is a decent unit. My point is simply that if side imaging is one of the main reasons you want one of these units then you should buy a larger screen if you can afford it and it works in your situation.

I currently use a 987c SI which has a 7 inch screen and it is the very smallest screen I would want for side imaging. A lot of the time it is tough to tell what you are seeing just because it is so small on the screen. I watch the videos of the pros using their 12 inch screens and the side imaging is soooo much easier to read to me it just makes sense if you want to take advantage of side imaging to buy the larger screen.

But another reason to go for the 9 or 10 which I forgot to mention before is that with the Helix 9, 10 and 12 models you can use autochart live mapping. This is not available on the Helix 7. Autochart is the reason I am interested in a Helix.

I was unaware the autochart was not available in the 7 which makes then to grab the 9. Was thinking about grabbing the 9 with the autochart program for my dad for his birthday in May. Think it is too large for a kayak?

[RavYak]

For me no but depends on the angler and kayak. Trickier and more work setting up a kayak with a big fish finder like that especially cause the transducer has to hang over the side at front(too much turbulence from paddling otherwise). The worst thing is battery life since the little 7-9 ah batteries arent big enough and will only give you like 4 hrs to completely drained. If I upgrade it would be to a helix 10 and I would get a 20-30 ah LiFePO4 battery to power it but your talking 2500 bucks for a setup so I will probably just get the battery this year(need it for 987) and get helix or something next year.

Honestly unless your dad is a hardcore fisherman/kayaker I wouldnt bother with it and would just get a simple gps regular or di model that you can shoot through hull or if the kayak has a transducer mount something that will work with it.

[Dr.D]

You can use auto chart with the 7 but it does not have auto chart live. The big thing with auto chart live it's only an 8 hour preview that's non deleteable nor exportable. After its full you will need to buy the program with zero lines card

[deerguy]

Originally Posted by Dr.D

You can use auto chart with the 7 but it does not have auto chart live. The big thing with auto chart live it's only an 8 hour preview that's non deleteable nor exportable. After its full you will need to buy the program with zero lines card

I'd buy the Autochart pro. Has some features I deem neccesary